2025 06 13
Main Street, minus the character. Canton, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Today, something I wrote for my See You Soon studio newsletter that just went out. If you want in on that action, you can sign up over yonder!
As the space continues to evolve, I myself can feel an evolution happening within me. It only makes sense, considering the world around us is changing in ways beyond our control. The commercial photography landscape, too, is unrecognizable compared to what it was when I got my start in it just over a decade ago. Difficulties aside, I continue to see all the changes as a positive (because you gotta stay positive!).
One big example of why I’m seeing the glass as half full is that I’ve had time to focus on areas of photography that have gone neglected for the last ten years, namely: Art!
Earlier this month, we said goodbye to a dear friend, Don’t Fret. While his passing is one that I am continuing to process, there are two immediate and actionable takeaways for me: (first, an obvious one) we have limited time on this planet; (second, a less obvious one) make shit happen; don’t fret.
Don’t Fret the artist was great at translating his endless flow of thoughts & ideas into the artwork he scattered throughout our fair city. My own personal final memories of my friend (…let’s make this about me!) will always be with regret — I hesitated to act. We’d begun filming a documentary about his life and his art, but due to my own perfectionism or hesitancy or whatever, we didn’t get nearly as much shot as hindsight could’ve allowed.
So for that reason, I am now entering my Don’t Fret Era. To sum it up: I’m focusing on the Art and Making Shit Happen. All of my photography obsessions which have been shoved into the closet because they aren’t commercial or sellable are now what I’m focusing on — the fact that Chicago does not have a photobook shop, a fact that has bugged me for years, is now my number one target.
On that note, and I swear we’ll wrap it up here, I would love it if you check out what we’re up to both here at the space and at the hopefully-soon-to-be new home of Realm, our collective answer to fill the hearts of Chicago’s photography obsessed.
-Clayton
2025 06 12
Summer storms are the best. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Lately, as I struggle to check all the things off of my daily mental to-do list, I’ve been finding myself walking around the house saying, “One thing at a time!”
Really, it’s a dozen things at a time, but if I just tell myself one thing at a time, perhaps I will eventually listen?
-Clayton
2025 06 11
Haley and Allison. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Short one today, as I am knee deep in tasks. Taking a moment to appreciate these two lovely people I have in my life. As I get older, it becomes increasingly clear just how necessary it is to have loving and supporting people in your life. It’s something I neglected for years, as I spent far too much time focused on myself and advancing my own interests. Sure, I’m still full of interests and realistically take on more than I can handle, but if it wasn’t for these two, who knows how damaged my brain would be at this point.
-Clayton
2025 06 10
A glance back in time. Pontiac, Illinois. June, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I was sent this video (below) and told to watch it, after seeing it pop into my feed and deciding not to (I follow Smarter Every Day but am trying my best to cut down on my youtube time lately). I’m glad it did seep into my brain (thanks Dave!). Honestly, the video resonates with me in so many ways I’m not even sure where to begin. Instead, I will only suggest you give it a watch yourself and see what you take away from it (it’s entertaining, too!).
The one thing I will relate it to here is my ongoing “Ill Wandering” photo project. While out exploring the state, I encounter so many places that clearly feel lost to time. This idea that America has declined, or at the very least changed beyond recognition, is real for so many people. I won’t even begin to get into the complexities here, but will say it’s something I spend a lot of time pondering and hopefully even more time documenting in the months and years ahead.
Oh! Also, I will be showing a few images from the series, for the first time ever, on June 20th during a photography show at my studio… just need to figure out which ones, which is always the hard part for me.
-Clayton
2025 06 08
Business, man. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Today, Sunday, I was supposed to work but decided to take the day off, still exhausted from the shoot that wrapped the day prior. Making photos for a living has evolved quite dramatically in the twenty-odd years I’ve been doing it. Things move much faster and expectations are far higher, these days.
One quick story I’m reminded of that made me laugh:
My friend, and fellow commercial photographer, decided to capture his son’s prom night through well-lit portraits. He grabbed a bunch of his equipment from the studio, brought it home and set it up, and made a bunch of photos as the kids were getting ready to head out for the night. The kids then expected him to send them the photos immediately, surely so they could post them to social media, as people do. My friend, however, does not work that way. These photos had to first go off to his retoucher for touch-ups and processing before they could be considered finished. A week, maybe two weeks, then you can see the images, kids!
It’s both interesting and depressing to consider how value of images is lost, often immediately, by the inevitable passing of time. Like a new car driving off the lot, the photos you made last night that had everyone so excited, are often forgotten next day.
Last week, I had a stylist email me asking to see images from a campaign we shot a decade ago (!). My first thought was to laugh about how little value those images must have now. It was the largest budget for any production in my entire career, but after ten years, surely all of those images have met their end — replaced by cheaper images from nicer cameras, right? To my surprise, the stylist emailed back with some screen grabs she pulled off the client’s website, still proudly showing our decade-old images.
-Clayton
2025 06 07
The moon over White Pines Forest State Park, Oregon, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
On Saturday mornings, my routine is to watch my rocket show after waking up. I put on my glasses, stumble downstairs, grab some cold brew and see what sort of wild adventures humans are up to this week. The show is a weekly youtube production by Marcus House which succinctly recaps whatever space exploration news happened during the week. This new hyper-focused DIY sort of media is one of the reasons I continue to be obsessed with youtube and spend far too much time consuming it.
Anyway, if you’re like me and find space exploration fascinating, check out Marcus’ channel.
-Clayton
2025 06 06
Beer and a shot. Sportsman’s, Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Friday is for beers (even though I’m posting this on Monday, because I was busy working over the weekend, so treating today as a “working weekend day” to allow myself some mental and physical recovery — that all makes sense, right?).
This photo is special because they handed me this High Life and the label was applied upside-down, which made me feel like I won some kind of Golden Ticket For Alcoholics to tour the Wonka brewery factory.
-Clayton
2025 06 05
Church. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Now that we have a Chicago Pope, I’m thinking of being Catholic again. I think I’ve taken enough photos of this church over the years to be forgiven for my sins.
-Clayton
2025 06 04
I am fashion! Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s cute to make this declaration in a nondescript storefront off Western Avenue across from the Shell station. But people gotta dream, and I commend them for it! I’ve got a dozen or so dreams cooking up right now myself and surely a few of them feel as silly to others as this one does to me.
Keep dreamin’
-Clayton
2025 06 03
Walking through a bygone era. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’ll admit it, I’ve been severely slacking on my Creative Resolution this year. Only a few days have I gone out with the Ricoh GRiii to make street photos. Not much to show for it, however, I do aim to work the camera into a commercial project later this week, which is a fun development as far as my camera equipment goes.
One ongoing realization I’ve had recently is that I already have a ridiculous amount of photos. It would probably be beneficial to spend more time publicizing my existing work and less time making new work. Alas, the act of photographing is far more enjoyable.
-Clayton
2025 06 02
Boys, on the move. Bucktown, Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025 © Clayton Hauck
Another image that has been nearly deleted a dozen times, but stuck around because it has a lil something I like. The something, I think, is a distinct feeling of early summer in Chicago. The weather has turned and things are happening; people are on the move. Plus, I just love the older buildings in the older neighborhoods of the city, like this one.
-Clayton
2025 06 01
Don’t Fret art. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
While Don’t Fret is no longer with us, he will live on, through his art and through his spirit, for some time.
We were in early production on a documentary about his life. While this project has been derailed, it will eventually be turned into something worthwhile. More on this another day. More on all of this, in fact, another day, as I surely have quite a lot more thoughts to share once I both find the time to share them and fully process the realities.
Until then, don’t fret.
-Clayton
PS- thank you to all who attended and helped plan the lovely memorial service
2025 05 30
A spring scene. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Something about this snap speaks to me… I love the transitional times of year, when time shows its hand and nature leaves its mark. Soon the yard will get tidied up, fresh mulch will be laid and flowers will come and go, just in time time for earth’s rotation to once again shift and coldness to take hold again.
-Clayton
2025 05 29
Another Busted Car. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It feels like an appropriate day for another Busted Car. While making this image on my walk home from work, a woman came out of her house and asked, clearly suspicious of my actions, “Why are you taking a photo of the car?”
“Art.” I replied, as I walked off into the sunset.
-Clayton
2025 05 26
Show me your point and shoot. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
One major reason I started this here blog was that I was finding myself spending far too much time consuming and not nearly enough time creating.
This video is filled with great little reminders about the importance of being creative and making things.
-Clayton
2025 05 25
Road consruction. Galesburg, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Today was our second Realm photobook popup. The response thus far has been very good and has us excited about the future potential for our ideas.
Loosely speaking, for a few years now myself and Jack Garland have been obsessing over the idea that Chicago needs a shop dedicated to photography — specifically photobooks. The aim is to open up a physical space, once we can prove there is a demand for this through popping up (what the kids do, these days), that will sell photobooks, zines, and other photography merch, while also hosting openings, gatherings and workshops. The exact concept is still being formulated and will depend on the realities of things, namely: rent, labor costs, government bureaucracy, and assessed demand. That said, considering how the first two popups have gone (we have three more now scheduled), I think it’s safe to say you will be hearing a lot more from me about all of this on this here blog in the coming months.
Enjoy the holiday, y’all.
-Clayton
2025 05 24
North & Kedzie. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Right angles and straight lines are easier.
Here’s a nice video that popped into my feed.
-Clayton
2025 05 22
Warlord, Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
My sister still swears the fries at Warlord are shipped in from McDonald’s, which I think is funny.
I wonder if there’s an actual business model there? You open up a cool dining room right next to an existing restaurant — your entire menu is outsourced to the actual restaurant, but you charge a significant mark up for the elevated dining experience. Honestly, I think it would work. It’s sort of what the actual economy is becoming anyway. We interact with slick “skin” layer without much thought about all of the layers below. Maybe we’d call the place WinAmp and swap out the theme every few months to keep up with what’s in style.
Now Hiring: Image Consultant, Marketing Manager, and Social Media Liaison
-Clayton
2025 05 21
Where we’re going, there won’t be roads. Oregon, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Kyla’s newsletter continues to be my favorite thing to read these days. She’s able to describe the ominous feels of our current existence in ways that make it make economic sense, and which make me better understand my own urge for the weird and the inconvenient.
And not to get too abstract here in my economic newsletter - but rejection, convenience, and absence of surprise are all economic questions. When enough people choose friction over convenience, markets respond. We're seeing early signs of this: the (slow) revival of independent bookstores, the rise of deinfluencing, the growing market for durability over disposability, especially as the economy turns.
These are emerging from the simple recognition that the frictionless life is ultimately unsatisfying. Even the secular, modern, economic soul hungers for something deeper than convenience!
Slightly on this topic, and also because my existing “job” isn’t quite working like it used to, I’m opening up a photobook shop! Well, at the very least, we are running a “proof of concept” that a photobook-dedicated shop is, in fact, the good idea we strongly feel it is. Last Sunday was our first popup and this Sunday is our second. If you want to come check it out, we will be at New Wave Coffee (2557 N Milwaukee Ave) from 10am-2pm on May 25th. After two dates are in the books, and after we assess the response (early signs: good!), I will get into more detail here about what we plan to do.
Give us a follow on Instagram in the meantime (actual website coming later) @Realm.Chicago — oh yeah, we’re called Realm.
-Clayton