2025 07 19
Looking down on The Loop. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Here’s an image made with my relatively new Ricoh GR3 (not the X, the wider lens!), which I haven’t been using as much as I’d planned to (lack of time). Also, I haven’t been writing (here or in general) as much as I want to (lack of time). What is the point in telling you, dear reader, all of this? I’m not sure. I guess it’s simply a reminder to myself that, while there are many things I would love to do, there is only so much time to do them. Prioritization is crucial! Stacking images for the rest of my life, like a modern-day Garry Winogrand, is realistically not the best use of my time in today’s age of image over-saturation.
-Clayton
PS- on the subject of not having spare time: if you happen to see this post on or prior to July 20th between 10am-2pm, you should totally come to our Realm photobook popup (happening from 10am-2pm at New Wave Coffee in Chicago’s Logan Square). In addition to myself, Jack Garland, and a bunch of amazing photobooks that you can buy, we’ll have fellow photographer Cengiz Yar in person signing copies of his new book This Alabaster Grave. Hope to see you then!
2025 07 16
Greed. Do you see it? Chicago, Illinois. June 2025. © Clayton Hauck
You don’t need to leave your neighborhood to make good photos. This is what my dog Buddy has taught me. He’s also harassing me to finally print those zines I’ve been meaning to get to. Okay, Buddy. I’m on it!
-Clayton
2025 06 27
Another Busted Car. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
As I post another Busted Car image to this here blog (content!), I’m reminded of this banger Noah Kalina post from a few days back.
-Clayton
2025 06 22
Open. Be Back Tuesday. Dixon, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s wild how quickly time moves on once you de-prioritize something from your life.
-Clayton
2025 06 16
A happy barn! Kingdom, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
At least, that’s how I see it (as a happy barn).
I’m going to be spending a lot of time in Kingdom, Illinois in the coming years. More on this another day. In fact, likely much more on this many more days…
-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 09
Buddy, the dog. Chicago, Illinois. 2025. © Clayton Hauck
This will not become a dog blog; this will not become a dog blog; this will not become a dog blog.
That said, we have a dog now! Or, at least, we are co-parenting a dog now. Buddy, the dog. He’s the best. He’s a weirdo. And surely I will be making many more photos of the dude. But I promise not to post any of them here. Unless they’re too good not to, of course.
-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 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 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 05 15
Man walks downtown. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
This afternoon, I have a portrait shoot downtown. Perhaps I will have some time to sneak away and do some street shooting. In reality, I won’t. In a wild and depressing Sign of the Times: I am being paid more to make corporate portraits than I would be had I accepted a commercial project that is also shooting today. Commercial jobs are how I built a life in photography, and for the rates to be as bad as they have become, the struggle to stay afloat in the endless hustle of photography is real.
This is why I’m considering getting a “real job*.” But more on this another day, soon.
*job will still be of my own making and fully photography-focused.
-Clayton
2025 05 09
Are we coming or going? Under the El, Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Kyla is rapidly becoming my favorite writer. Her piece on friction that just hit my inbox, and then seeped directly into my brain, is one that (per her usual) I think we all should digest. I don’t have any grand proclamations to add here, only that I think we’re all sensing these big, structural, and cyclical shifts. And it’s causing everything to feel off. Behind the scenes, there is a battle over what our lived world will even be in another decade or two. More thoughts another day, perhaps.
-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 02 06
I’ll admit it, my strategy for keeping sane during the early days of Trump’s second term has been rapidly deteriorating the last few days. Talk of tariffs on our allies and a takeover of Gaza had me doomscrolling and contemplating the need to find a new home more than I’d like to admit. Avoiding the coverage morphed into obsessing over it and my mood began to match.
Fortunately, amidst the doom scrolling, I was reminded by Senator Chris Murphy that this is precisly Trump’s plan: to distract and overwhelm while they sneak through the actual agenda. Then, today, this great video below popped into my feed. Ezra managed to calm my nerves and restore some sanity.
While this storm is far from over, it’s a valuable lesson that we should keep calm and carry on, as our friends across the pond (who surely will soon be threatened with tariffs or much worse) so like to say.
-Clayton
Caution: Falling Ice, Tariffs, Invasion, Nuclear War… Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’ll admit it, my strategy for keeping sane during the early days of Trump’s second term has been rapidly deteriorating the last few days. Talk of tariffs on our allies and a takeover of Gaza had me doomscrolling and contemplating the need to find a new home more than I’d like to admit. Avoiding the coverage morphed into obsessing over it and my mood began to match.
Fortunately, amidst the doom scrolling, I was reminded by Senator Chris Murphy that this is precisly Trump’s plan: to distract and overwhelm while they sneak through the actual agenda. Then, today, this great video below popped into my feed. Ezra managed to calm my nerves and restore some sanity.
While this storm is far from over, it’s a valuable lesson that we should keep calm and carry on, as our friends across the pond (who surely will soon be threatened with tariffs or much worse) so like to say.
-Clayton
2025 02 03
It’s days like today I’m glad to not be working in retail… or global trade and finance, homebuilding, agriculture, automotive and aviation, crypto, anything dealing directly with Canada or Mexico, steel, arts nonprofits, USAid, Temu customer support… fortunately I am merely a humble photographic button pusher. Let me push my buttons for you?
-Clayton
PS: I should probably get back into shooting weddings.
Dresses for sale! Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s days like today I’m glad to not be working in retail… or global trade and finance, homebuilding, agriculture, automotive and aviation, crypto, anything dealing directly with Canada or Mexico, steel, arts nonprofits, the Democratic Party, USAid, Temu customer support… fortunately I am merely a humble photographic button pusher. Let me push my buttons for you?
-Clayton
PS: I should probably get back into shooting weddings.
2025 01 28
Buddy the dog. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
One of the first images made with my new Ricoh GRiii (it has a wider lens, hdf filter, and less dust on the sensor than my Ricoh GRiiix).
It’s always nice to have a pet in the house to use as a test subject when working with new cameras. Buddy didn’t mind.
-Clayton
