2025 11 04
That Tiny House. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
That Tiny House. You can’t not take a photo of it.
-Clayton
2025 11 03
Moon in the early night sky. Chicago, Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 11 02
Rural road in rural Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This image was made a year ago during one of my Ill Wandering outings, in which I scour the part of Illinois that is not Chicago for images that inspire me. The series has been loosely in the works for a few years now, however, it’s still largely a vague idea forming in my brain and I haven’t shared much of it publically. I bring all this up for a reason. [Preface: things take time] One major takeaway of mine has been that I’m still learning how to make artistic images. The end goal is not commercial photography (which I’m very trained in) or even photojournalism (which I’m also trained in), but images which provoke feeling more than anything. This specific image, I like, but it doesn’t do anything beyond being just okay. It’s a scrap pile image. A miss.
One other thing of note: this image was made just after a deer darted across the road. The deer was a bit too far down road any my reaction time a bit too slow, so he’s lost in the shadows. I feel like this is a perfect analogy for my mental place in the medium while this image was made. I’m still sharpening my senses and improving my skills, even after pushing the button for two decades. Each style of photography requires a different approach; a different mentality. We’ll get there. Maybe.
-Clayton
2025 10 31
Shoes. Chicago, Illinois. August, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Happy (nine days post) Halloween! I’m slowly (but maybe not surely) catching up on my daily posts!
-Clayton
2025 10 30
Famous thing in Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s kind of interesting that, being a Chicagoan all of my life, I almost never make images in the popular tourist places in my own town. This scene, had I stumbled upon it in another place I was less familiar with, would immediately become a photogrpahy obsession. Here, however, it’s mostly something to avoid. Maybe I should better embrace these places? If I get into the “Chicago Project” I have brewing in my brain, it will definitely be worth revisiting.
-Clayton
2025 10 28
A very old bank. Old Shawneetown, Illinois. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
brb learning how to pay sales taxes for our photobook shop so the govna does not get mad at me.
-Clayton
2025 10 27
Reach for the light. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
My first photozine project is now at the printer and due out next week (November 15th at Staple + Stitch, to be precise). It has been a fun (and wildly time consuming for being relatively simple) project and I hope just the beginning of many more printed works. While I have many bigger concepts for more “proper” photobooks dancing in my head, I’m easing into this by committing myself to two more smaller-scale personal zines next year. In a sense, I’m riding with training wheels while I learn more about the processes involved, of which there are more than I previously had considered.
If you want to pre-order the zine and snag a free print as a thank you, you can do so here.
-Clayton
2025 10 26
Behind-the-scenes. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Time keeps on slipping past me this year! I’ve been meaning to get up another post about how I’ve fared with studio portraits this year (spoiler: poorly). Likley, because things got so tough, it’s why I’ve been focusing on other things. That said, I’m still aiming to do both one more run of portraits this year and will get around to writing more about the difficulties when I find the time.
-Clayton
2025 10 25
Wires. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Everything is connected. Humans have been busy the past century connecting everyone together as best we can, in new ways we continue to imagine. While convenient, surely this might also explain some of the madness going around lately?
-Clayton
2025 10 23
Sidewalk closed, be back soon? Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
As always seems to be the case, This Here Blog has (for some reason — not being self-deprecating, just honestly don’t know any details) gained some attention recently. I’m not sure where the eyes are coming from, but they’re coming much more that usual. Of course, I’m absolutely buried in work, without a moment to spare to post new images and catch up on days (it’s October 28th as I write this, not October 23rd). Ho hum; so it goes. While in the midst of un-burying my studio both physically and metaphorically, I’ve also been editing personal images I made back in July (on top of the client edits, calls, treatment writing, etc). So yeah, I’m roughly four months behind on life. Be back soon.
-Clayton
2025 10 22
Brad and Lenny. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Sure, cell phones make calls, however it might be more fitting to rename them cameras. I’d wager they get far more use making images of our pets and kids (and doom scroll social media) than they do make calls.
-Clayton
2025 10 21
Cool tree, bro. Chicago, Illinois. August, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Oftentimes, I’ll make friends with a tree and visit and photograph it regularly. This is my new bud, which I esp love because of its wily bark trunk.
-Clayton
2025 10 20
No exit. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Between cleaning up the studio after a morning shoot in preparation for a bookshop popup tomorrow morning and studio event tomorrow evening, this video (below) popped into my feed and was thoroughly enjoyed by myself. As I’ve been unable to travel much these days in lieu of giving myself too many jobs back home, I really enjoy watching how Mike Okay traverses the world by himself with minimal plans or support. It’s an extreme way to do it, sure, but it often illuminates the positive side of humanity in ways that are hard to articulate in words. Maybe I’ve shared his videos here before, I forget. But if you haven’t yet seen one of his travelogs, I highly recommend checking the out.
-Clayton
2025 10 19
Not Dead. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’m not dead! I’m just busy. Busy with work, mostly (but also a game: see below). It’s strange how when my main gig (commercial photography) is as slow as can be, I’m somehow the busiest I’ve been in years due to other jobs I’m using to fill in my downtime. In reality, I’m working far more hours for far less money, but as a freelancer with home repairs to make, I’ve gotta do something to pay the bills.
In the moments of downtime I have had lately before shaming myself to get back to work, I’ve been enjoying a new game called Subway Builder. It’s been fun to dream about what Chicago would be like if we had a loop line (yes, technically we have The Loop line, but let my imagination cook!). Also, I’ve really been enjoying taking the train more often lately. Hell, I’ve been falling for Chicago in many ways lately. I should write more about that if I can find the time between rolling out new train lines and editing month old photos.
-Clayton
2025 10 18
Night scene. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Having lived in the same general area for twenty-some years now, it’s always a memorable moment when I stumble down a street that I’d never previously been down. This was one of those streets and I loved the vibes of this house.
The other day, I had the thought that it would be nice to make this blog a bit more robust, immediate, and interactive. I could post and write about things as they happen in my life and make the whole thing a bit more purposeful, instead of the random spur-of-the-moment grab bag it has been lately. But considering I’m days behind on posting and severely behind on other life tasks, I’m not sure how realistic of an idea this is. All that said, I think a bit part of why I’m so behind on various parts of my life lately is in fact because they are lacking a defined purpose. Posting a photo a day just because is nice in theory, but what’s the deeper meaning behind doing so? Is is just because I have folders full of images and I need to put them somewhere? That’s nice, but it’s not keeping the creative juices flowing as much as it had been and perhaps it is time to find a new angle around here.
-Clayton
2025 10 16
A photo representing my brain, lately. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Yes, I’m way behind on posting and now I’m cheating by catching up days later. As per usual lately, I’ve been all over the place and need to cut it out and rediscover my blog focus.
-Clayton