2025 09 13
Neon art. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I have a friend who is having weird thoughts. I’m beginning to get concerned. He wants to be an artist, he says. He’s doing all sorts of things that don’t make any logical sense. He wiped his social media clear of all normal photos. No selfies, no family, no friends. People are calling him, asking him what’s the meaning of all this. To this, he calmly explains himself, but this only gets the people even more riled up and angry. I think a wellness check is in order. Maybe he’s got a couple screws loose. I think I need to distance myself from him; to claim I never met the fella.
-Clayton
2025 09 08
Dave sports Don’t Fret. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 09 06
Anderson Japanese Gardens. Rockford, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 09 05
Another Busted Car. May, 2025. Chicago, Illinois. © Clayton Hauck
They should move Labor Day to September 5th. Nine to Five. Get it?
-Clayton
2025 09 03
Playing music alone in the park. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
As I learn to navigate being an artist, I think it’s vital to manage your voice. What are you saying, both literally and visually through your work. To be candid, this is not something I’m good at. I’m not even sure it’s something I want to be good at. This is perhaps the biggest hurdle that has been keeping me relegated to an artistic tradesperson.
I was reminded this week that the things you say and do are interpreted differently by every single person digesting them. Perhaps it’s an ego thing, but I often forget this and speak as though we’re all on the same page. We’re all in on the same knowledge and have the same perspectives, when clearly the exact opposite is true.
I think one of the amazing things about art is that is unifies and bridges gaps between everyone’s unique perspectives. This is not a profound statement by any means, and perhaps I should’ve been writing this a few decades ago as a student, but I mean it merely as a reminder to myself. Focus more on what I want to say through my work, and less on posting stuff just because: it’s pretty; I’m supposed to; to feed the algorithm; to remind people I exist.
We all can play music alone in the park, but those of us playing with purpose will find the audience they are seeking.
-Clayton
2025 09 02
RIP Don’t Fret. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Have I mentioned I run a photobook shop now? www.realmbooks.co
I’m busy adding a dozen or more new titles to the website over the next few days. Check it out, and buy a book maybe?! All the money we make on books, for the foreseeable future, goes to purchasing more books. It’s just smart business. See you on Shark Tank!
-Clayton
2025 09 01
Industry. Lemont, Illinois. June, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Today was one of those days I got my ass handed to me. Rejection after rejection. Every single job I was bidding on myself and every hold on the studio had on the calendar evaporated into thin air as the world reminded me I am mortal and shit is hard. Then, as icing on the shit sandwich, the bank alerted me that our brand new Realm bookshop credit card had been stolen from my mailbox (along with a few new shirts I was excited to wear) and used at Target to try and purchase $2,000 worth of stuff.
With all this crap happening, my only response can be to take a deep breath or two and refocus my energies back onto myself and the work I’m excited to make. I’m at the studio working on a personal zine and, as I type this, my watch has alerted me that Marine Layer has refunded me for my stolen clothing. Deep breath. Deep breath.
One good thing that happened was this video (below) popped into my feed. It’s a glorious video, insanely well made, and a nice reminder on this difficult day about how dedication to a craft tends to pay off in the long run.
-Clayton
2025 08 28
Haley at Consignment Lounge, Chicago, Illinois. June 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Yes, behind on posting again. We’ve been out visiting family over the weekend. Specifically, at my sister’s new spot in rural Illinois. Lots of fun and lots of photos, as well. I’m so behind on editing. Aiming to get a bunch of that done this coming week, which will hopefully then lead to more regularly-scheduled posting around here.
-Clayton
2025 08 27
Catalpa tree and sunset storm clouds. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 08 24
Side of house at sunset. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 08 23
It’s important to have friends. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
A quick self check-in today, as I scramble to get a bunch of shit done before tomorrow’s tenth Realm photobook and portrait popup. I’ve been putting a lot of hours into this new side project (thanks, Covid!), and it’s important to take a moment to consider why. The monetary gain is far from guaranteed, so why sink countless hours of my already precious time into an endeavor with no promise of success? There are many reasons, really, most of which I won’t get into here today. But perhaps the biggest reason for doing a photobook popup shop, for me, is to get out of my comfort zone. Much as this here blog has been an outlet for me to post dumb photos on the internet for not many people to look at, the larger mission is to retrain my brain to see and think about things differently than I had previously. To expand my horizons.
This image is one I’m a fan of and it was made solely because I was out of the house working a Realm popup. While this example is quite literal (and you don’t need a bookshop to get out of the house and make photos), the larger benefits of putting time into a book shop have all been far more indirect and even abstract. The simple act of spending time looking at the work of other talented photographers has felt a lot like school (in a good way, not the shitty way). It has reshaped my view of what is possible with my own photography and it has changed the way I see my relationship with the medium and that has me quite excited. And perhaps most importantly, I’m making new connections and forming new friendships with other photo-obsessed humans like myself.
Yesterday, our humble lil Realm got its business banking account (after snagging an LLC and EIN the week prior), so we are legit in the eyes of our government. I hope that in the weeks and months to come, we can turn the venture into something that both feels legit to us and to the broader photography community in Chicago and beyond. Stop by Parson’s tomorrow (Sunday) from 12-6pm and see what we have going on. It should be a fun one.
-Clayton
2025 08 20
Free chair (free advice). Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
Agency. It’s something that, when I look back, seems to account for quite a lot of my success through the years. I don’t think it’s even something I’ve actively worked to improve. Maybe it’s luck, maybe it’s learned, probably it’s a bit of both.
I’m not going to write some big in-depth blog post about how valuable agency is today, but instead I’d like to link to two things I ingested that both made me feel slightly better about our mostly-automated futures and felt like valuable calls to actions in a way that might help me improve on myself (and perhaps you, too).
First, a recent favorite thinker of mine, Cate Hall, dedicated her Ted Talk to the subject. You can watch that talk here.
Second, a web search of the quote she mentioned in the talk led me to this blog post, which does a nice job of summing things up from a tech perspective.
And now I get back to getting shit done… how agentic of me.
-Clayton
2025 08 17
Skyline at sunset as seen from the Ike. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s an always-elusive sight: the Chicago skyline as you’re driving back into town, the setting sun low on the horizon, bouncing light off the massive towers of glass and steel back into your direction. Lit up brilliantly, contrasted by the almost-night’s sky in the space beyond, the sight is elusive because managing to capture its brilliance in a photo is near impossible. For me, it’s more of a feeling I get at this time of day. People are on the move, going places and doing things. There’s an energy in the air. Aside from the traffic that comes along with it, it’s my favorite time of day to be in a big city.
While sitting on the couch recovering from Covid, youtube served me the video below and it brought a big smile to my face. As a hopeless cheerleader for the city of Chicago, it’s very cool to see creative young people doing all of the things I myself wish to do. If only I was a bit younger, I’d start a magazine. If only I had a bit more time on my hands, I’d get a creative agency going. I shouldn’t sell myself too short, I’m doing plenty of cool things (imo), but there’s a definitive feeling of being old and out of touch that often holds me back these days. Play to your strengths, I tell myself. Get started on that epic Sears Roebuck & Company biopic screenplay, I tell myself. Jokes?
-Clayton