2025 04 29
Bare trees at sunset. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
One issue with being a commercial photographer for well over a decade is that you are distinctly aware that most people don’t want to look at pictures of bare trees and old houses. “Post more bangers!” my brain tells me, relentlessly.
“But I’m doing this here blog for myself,” I constantly remind myself. And I like these pictures. If I like them, surely a few other people might also enjoy them, right?
Summer is almost here. Soon it will be hot girls in bikins filling these pages, with subliminal ads for liquor & cigarettes. I’m working on securing a few sponsorship deals.
“But I haven’t had a blog comment in almost a year! What am I even doing here?” my brain wonders. The sponsors have also been concerned about my engagement.
On another note, I use this space to experiment and explore. I’ve been editing images in new and different ways and I quite enjoy how this one in particular came out. I’d post a before and after but that would ruin the magic, so I’ll let you use your imagination.
It’s the small things. Do them every day and they will add up, after a while. Maybe.
I hope you enjoy bare trees as much as I’ve learned to enjoy them. Nature’s fireworks.
-Clayton
2024 04 26
Abandoned house. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how time slowly eats away at things. This tree on our block has been slowly losing limbs. This house, behind the tree, has been sitting abandoned for years now, exposed to the elements, the wood surely rotting away and losing its strength. It’s a decision we can make, to hold on and keep gripping. But after enough storms, even the strongest among us eventually choose to allow nature to take its course.
Without death, life is not possible.
Eventually, the for sale sign goes up, and if luck plays any part, new life is breathed in and a new start can begin. The train depot becomes a hotel. The hotel becomes apartments. The cobbler becomes a scarf shop, then a music studio. Time is a flat circle, you hear on television show, a line the writers lifted from a book, which was stolen from a spoken tale. With luck, your circle will be one filled with joy and adventure.
-Clayton
2025 04 24
Bare trees. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
The weather is turning and it’s beautiful outside. I love living in a location with defined seasons, and it is peak spring right now, so I am scrambling to post all my pretty pictures of bare trees before they are filled with leaves and it feels wrong.
Back outside I go to listen to the birds.
-Clayton
2025 04 23
Another Day, Another Busted Car. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025 © Clayton Hauck
I’ll get to that zine printing one of these days…
-Clayton
2025 04 19
Joseph during a Keep it 100 session. See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. October, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Another run of Keep it 100 in the books. This month I did 16 sessions, down from 19 sessions last run. Anecdotal evidence for sure, but it seems like thoughts of recession are starting to resonate with people. I figured having my new everyoneisfamous.com website up would help drive bookings to my affordable portraits, but it had no noticeable effect. Maybe it’s still too early? I’m not sure. But what I am sure about is photography is fucking hard lately. I think there will be a lot of used camera gear on eBay soon. Good luck out there, everyone.
-Clayton
2025 04 18
Note from a vaguely anonymous artist. Dont Fret. Home Away From Home, Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
We lost a real one today. More thoughts another day, as I have yet to fully process the stark reality.
Today, we fret.
-Clayton
2025 04 16
Studio plant. See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Haven’t had any spare time to write lately, which has been bumming me out. I think that’s a good thing, though! The part about me wanting to write, that is.
A few months back I had a story idea that came to me in a dream. I’m convinced it was delivered to me by creative powers beyond my comprehension and that my lack of action in writing the idea will lead to undesired consequences, such as the withholding of future divine inspiration.
-Clayton
2025 04 15
A house in winter. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Sometimes my inner voice just tells me I need to make a photo of something. This house was one of those instances.
As I was making this photo, a man walked out of the front door to grab the mail.
“I like your house.” I told him, to take an edge off of the awkward moment.
“Really?” he asked, calling my bluff. “It’s probably going to be for sale soon.”
I told him I already had a house as I walked off, regretting not asking him a dozen other questions (why are you selling? where are you going? how did we get here?).
Curiosity is how I got here. I know that much.
-Clayton
2024 04 14
Sheena. Keep it 100 at See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I’ve got my “Keep it 100” portrait setup going all week long. You should book a session if you want some new photos of yourself!
As long as I’ve been doing this setup, I’ve been drawn to darker, more abstract styles. Lately, however, perhaps as a response to everything going on around me, I’m craving brighter, more colorful images. I will spend this week tweaking and adjusting the vibes and then, next time the setup is being offered, perhaps we will go for something quite different.
-Clayton
2025 04 11
Another Busted Car. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Some days you find the Busted Car, and some days the Busted Car finds you.
-Clayton
2025 04 10
Winter tree. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
This is a photo of a helicopter. I promise.
-Clayton
2025 04 09
Car. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Spent too much time writing the studio newsletter. I’m still getting over the mental hurdle that despite the time it takes and the relatively low number of people who will see it, much like this here blog, the benefit is more so to myself than in some quantifiable metric. Perhaps if I was trying to make money off of the newsletter, things would be different. I’m not not trying to do that, but it’s not the motivation.
-Clayton
2025 04 06
A downtown dog walk. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’m very much slacking on my weekly exploration goal. While I haven’t been hitting the streets nearly as much as I’d planned, I have been putting a lot of time towards personal work and development, so I’m not considering it a loss… it just hasn’t played out as I’d hoped. That said, I’m excited to get back out on the street and make some new work. I think the nicer weather will very much be a catalyst to make this happen.
-Clayton
2025 04 05
Central Camera, Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I spend way too much time lately thinking on ways to make money through photography. You’d think making photos in exchange for money would be the obvious answer, and it is, but it’s increasingly complicated. I think it’s never been easier to make a living as a photographer, with the crucial and complicated stipulation that it is also a constant grind. But because it’s easier than ever, the supply and demand marketplace is also way out of whack, and it’s increasingly challenging to make good money doing it.
-Clayton
2025 04 04
Car. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
There’s this car on my block that I have obsessively been making photos of. I don’t know enough about cars to know why I like it, but I think it’s a Japanese import, and I love the old-school lines. This is one of the pictures I made, edited in a style that I don’t normally do. The digital grain melting into the fine snow particles is nice, I thought.
-Clayton
2025 04 02
Allison, wondering how long I will be looking at used photobooks. Powell’s Books. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Today is officially the day we started a photobook shop. Or, at least, committed to a popup to explore the idea of starting a photobook shop! You gotta pop it up first to gauge interest, learn, and grow into what will hopefully be a physical location one day. More on this soon, hopefully!
-Clayton
2025 03 29
Bridal shop. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Don’t tell anyone but I added that blurred out person using generative Ai. I snapped this image as I was driving by in my automobile and I kinda liked it… but it needed some mysterious human energy involved.
The recent release of GPT 4o or whatever it’s called has me moving up the expiration date for my job. If anyone is hiring a college dropout, please let me know!
-Clayton
2025 03 28
Craig, in the studio for a Keep it 100 session at See You Soon. Chicago, Illinois. October, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
My new website is now live! Give it a look, it’s called everyoneisfamous.com.
I’ll likely be spending a bit less time here as I get situated over there, but I won’t quit you, Pointing at Stuff dot com!
-Clayton
2025 03 26
The city at night. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Recently I was downtown for an event and afterward, I made an effort to wander a bit. The streets were eerily silent. I dipped into Billy Goat for a burger and a beer along with the three or four other humans (more staff than guests) who seemed to be out, for whatever reason, either running away or towards something.
A great idea then struck my brain: I would get a scooter and ride home like the wind. This led me astray in search of one when the big lights in the distance caught my eyes. “Hooter’s,” it said. Not yet having my fill of adventure, and recalling the news of the likely demise of yet another fine American establishment, I stepped in.
“Seat at the bar okay?” I asked the greeter (again, more staff than guests), and she motioned me inward. The wings came soon after and boy did I wonder why the joint wasn’t full of customers enjoying them. These things are delicious! I kicked myself for being too timid to frequent Hooter’s all my life for the wings alone.
I left as they were locking up. The man alone at the bar turned out to be an undercover security guard or manager, as I suspected (more staff than guests). I guess everyone gets their wings delivered to them from some other chain these days?
Across the street sat a fully charged scooter glowing in the darkness with my name on it. I rode like the wind just as I’d imagined I would, turning here and there into which ever dark street didn’t look familiar. This was an adventure and I had the city to myself. All the way home I rode and contemplated how cool it would be to start a scooter gang. Surely, this must be how the first gang was formed way back before the police cornered the market on gangs.
-Clayton
2025 03 25
Hawk? Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’ve been seeing this guy around the neighborhood lately.
-Clayton