2024 10 12
What does the porn industry tell us about the current state of commercial photography? Well, quite a lot it turns out! Oftentimes while editing photos, I’ll play youtube videos in the background to keep me entertained. Former commercial photogrpaher turned youtuber Mark Laita (trend alert!) runs a channel called Soft White Underbelly where he interviews a steady stream of interesting and flawed people on the fringes of American society. This particular episode was a good one, in which a male porn actor talked with Mark about his career in adult film.
The part that got me thinking was how, when he talked about the industry currently being in a state of change and decline, it was remarkably relatable to the industry I participate in. Sure, we may have somewhat less sexually transmitted diseases in commercial photography, but the general sense that everything has changed rapidly and definitively is there. In Alex Jett’s career, the rise of OnlyFans has allowed porn to go from the actor straight to consumer, thus cutting out all of the middle men. There’s no longer a need for production companies and distribution companies, which has made porn cheaper and more plentiful as anyone brave enough to bare it all on the internet can now do so from the comfort of their own home and without the need of anyone else even being involved.
production company > actor > distribution company > store > viewer
actor > tech company > viewer
This is when I started to think about commercial photography. Massive systems and businesses have been in place for decades to help companies manage their marketing and advertising. If a company wanted content of any form made, sure, they could do it themselves but usually it’s far easier and far more effective to outsource the process and let professionals execute it for them. This is where I come in! Clayton Hauck, at your service, ready and able to drop everything and help you produce high quality photos and videos to help you move your companies image forward! You want me to cancel my vacation to shoot an ad campaign for you? No problem! You need me to travel across the country to photograph farms in Wisconsin or furniture stores in Utah? Sounds great! I’ll do it all. For money, of course. That is the catch. The money part.
As content creation (whether it’s porn or not) has become remarkably easy for anyone to do (do well, is another debate), the entire industry which has grown up in support of it is now struggling to stay afloat. A business needs some photos made so they hire an ad agency, who then goes out and hires a production company, who then goes out and finds a photographer, through their agent, to make the work. There are a lot of layers and steps, some of which are good and some of which wasteful and unnecessary, but they are all there for a reason. The problem is nobody wants to pay for any of the middlemen any more when it’s so easy to make images, good ones even, yourself or through your cousin who works at a law firm but likes to make photos and will happily do it for free because it takes her mind away from looking at legal documents all day long.
company needing content > ad agency > production company > photo agent > photographer
company needing content > content creator or hobbyist
Everyone is a photographer now. Those of us who try to use photography as a way to make a living will continue to have a much harder time doing so. Companies want quick, easy, and cheap. It’s hard to blame them, it’s literally the point of a corporation to maximize profits. I lost two projects this month because we are more expensive than whoever else was hired to do the jobs. I’m up for another project but they are asking me to cut my rate by half of what I’d normally charge. On the flip side, I also was hired for a job recently because the client was burned from this approach and the images they tried to get made cheap turned out to be garbage. This is why I still have a job, however, it’s only going to continue to become harder to make a good living through taking photos, as companies continue to try to figure out ways to remove the layers of support which they no longer deem necessary.
It’s probably time I finally start that youtube channel I’ve been meaning to start! I’m not giving up that easy, though. We’re planning on producing a bunch of high end spec projects this winter, while things are slow. I’m still oddly confident that the best of the best image creators will forever be in high demand and companies will continue to advertise as long as we have a functioning economy. The ability to make a living through making images, while increasingly difficult, is still an honor and joy and worth fighting for. Plus, I don’t have what it takes to make it on OnlyFans so I’m kind of stuck.
-Clayton
It's all business. Chicago, Illinois. August, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
What does the porn industry tell us about the current state of commercial photography? Well, quite a lot it turns out! Oftentimes while editing photos, I’ll play youtube videos in the background to keep me entertained. Former commercial photogrpaher turned youtuber Mark Laita (trend alert!) runs a channel called Soft White Underbelly where he interviews a steady stream of interesting and flawed people on the fringes of American society. This particular episode was a good one, in which a male porn actor talked with Mark about his career in adult film.
The part that got me thinking was how, when he talked about the industry currently being in a state of change and decline, it was remarkably relatable to the industry I participate in. Sure, we may have somewhat less sexually transmitted diseases in commercial photography, but the general sense that everything has changed rapidly and definitively is there. In Alex Jett’s career, the rise of OnlyFans has allowed porn to go from the actor straight to consumer, thus cutting out all of the middle men. There’s no longer a need for production companies and distribution companies, which has made porn cheaper and more plentiful as anyone brave enough to bare it all on the internet can now do so from the comfort of their own home and without the need of anyone else even being involved.
production company > actor > distribution company > store > viewer
actor > tech company > viewer
This is when I started to think about commercial photography. Massive systems and businesses have been in place for decades to help companies manage their marketing and advertising. If a company wanted content of any form made, sure, they could do it themselves but usually it’s far easier and far more effective to outsource the process and let professionals execute it for them. This is where I come in! Clayton Hauck, at your service, ready and able to drop everything and help you produce high quality photos and videos to help you move your companies image forward! You want me to cancel my vacation to shoot an ad campaign for you? No problem! You need me to travel across the country to photograph farms in Wisconsin or furniture stores in Utah? Sounds great! I’ll do it all. For money, of course. That is the catch. The money part. (seriously, though, hire me!)
As content creation (whether it’s porn or not) has become remarkably easy for anyone to do (do well, is another debate), the entire industry which has grown up in support of it is now struggling to stay afloat. A business needs some photos made so they hire an ad agency, who then goes out and hires a production company, who then goes out and finds a photographer, through their agent, to make the work. There are a lot of layers and steps, some of which are good and some of which wasteful and unnecessary, but they are all there for a reason. The problem is nobody wants to pay for any of the middlemen any more when it’s so easy to make images, good ones even, yourself or through your cousin who works at a law firm but likes to make photos and will happily do it for free because it takes her mind away from looking at legal documents all day long.
company needing content > ad agency > production company > photo agent > photographer
company needing content > content creator or hobbyist
Everyone is a photographer now (thanks, iPhone). Those of us who try to use photography as a way to make a living will continue to have a much harder time doing so. Companies want quick, easy, and cheap. It’s hard to blame them, it’s literally the point of a corporation to maximize profits. I lost two projects this month because we are more expensive than whoever else was hired to do the jobs. I’m up for another project but they are asking me to cut my rate by half of what I’d normally charge. On the flip side, I also was hired for a job recently because the client was burned from this approach and the images they tried to get made cheap turned out to be garbage. This is why I still have a job, however, it’s only going to continue to become harder to make a good living through taking photos, as companies continue to try to figure out ways to remove the layers of support which they no longer deem necessary.
It’s probably time I finally start that youtube channel I’ve been meaning to start!
I’m not giving up that easy, though. We’re planning on producing a bunch of high end spec projects this winter, while things are slow. I’m still oddly confident that the best of the best image creators will forever be in high demand and companies will continue to advertise as long as we have a functioning economy. The ability to make a living through making images, while increasingly difficult, is still an honor and joy and worth fighting for. Plus, I don’t have what it takes to make it on OnlyFans so I’m kind of stuck.
-Clayton
2024 10 11
Oops, I did it again. I missed a day. I’m going to blame Buddy for this one. He’s a dog, yes, and it’s his fault that I forgot to post yesterday. It’s not my fault. Seriously, though, we are watching Buddy and he distracted me with cuteness. This whole daily blogging thing is really starting to become problematic for me! I have so many things I want to write about but lately it’s just post after post of me explaining why I’m not posting anything.
-Clayton
Buddy the dog. Chicago, Illinois. Summer, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Oops, I did it again. I missed a day. I’m going to blame Buddy for this one. He’s a dog, yes, and it’s his fault that I forgot to post yesterday. It’s not my fault. Seriously, though, we are watching Buddy and he distracted me with cuteness. This whole daily blogging thing is really starting to become problematic for me! I have so many things I want to write about but lately it’s just post after post of me explaining why I’m not posting anything.
-Clayton
2024 10 10
Blog out of order. Today was one of those days the content just wasn’t there. Like listening to a rap song on the radio when a stretch of bad words are silenced, today it was illegal to post good content on the internet for free, therefor we had to skip a day in order to be compliant with the law. Don’t blame me, blame the government. Much like they control the weather, they have infiltrated our creative hobbies, as well. Fuck.
-Clayton
Urinal out of order. Chicago, Illinois. August, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Blog out of order. Today was one of those days the content just wasn’t there. Like listening to a rap song on the radio when a stretch of bad words are silenced, today it was illegal to post good content on the internet for free, therefore we had to skip a day in order to be compliant with the law. Don’t blame me, blame the government. Much like they control the weather, they have infiltrated our creative hobbies, as well. Fuck.
-Clayton
2024 10 09
This morning, I was reading the newsletter of one of my favorite photographers, delivered conveniently to my inbox, and the last line hit me as being very nice. Spoiler alert, the line is this: Maybe the real adventure isn't in escaping to breathtaking vistas, but in finding wonder in the places everyone else is trying to leave behind.
I love the sentiment. Maybe one day I will deliver profound insights directly to your inbox. Until then, you have to come to this here blog to find whatever it is I’m putting down.
Oh yeah, you can find Noah’s newsletter here.
-Clayton
Artist's rendering of what photographer Noah Kalina might look like. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This morning, I was reading the newsletter of one of my favorite photographers, delivered conveniently to my inbox, and the last line hit me as being very nice. Spoiler alert, the line is this: Maybe the real adventure isn't in escaping to breathtaking vistas, but in finding wonder in the places everyone else is trying to leave behind.
Being a midwest boy for life, I love the sentiment. Maybe one day I will deliver profound insights directly to your inbox. Until then, you have to come to this here blog to find whatever it is I’m putting down.
Oh yeah, you can find Noah’s newsletter here.
-Clayton
2024 10 08
It’s been a busy few months and I’m still way behind on photo editing and life. I’m still working through a backlog of images from mid-summer. My to-do list of projects is long and I’m hopeful I will be able to start digging into some of the projects I aim to do as the days get colder, the sunlight less abundant, and the idea of staying in to buckle down on work starts to make more sense.
I pulled a photobook off my shelf this afternoon while waiting on batch processing of portrait edits. It was Tim Barber’s Untitled Photographs book, which I hadn’t peeked at in years. This led me to Tim’s website, which I also hadn’t been to in years. His website kept my attention through the entire series of one-at-a-time images and I thought the minimalist approach was something I might want to steal. As I get older, the urge to re-focus my photography web presence also grows. My site is currently far more catered to a commercial client audience, which makes sense as this is how I’ve made a living for two decades. But I’m beginning to wonder if a less on-the-nose and more minimal and artistic approach might be a smart move. Looking at Tim’s website got me excited. Much like after leaving an inspiring photo exhibit at a museum, I was walking around the studio seeing inanimate objects in a new light and taking photos of things I’d normal ignore. I love when this urge takes over and drives me to create new work. The trick is to make sure the subjects aren’t dying flowers on the kitchen counter. Get out and live a little, after you catch up on the photo editing, that is.
-Clayton
Cat on farm. Thawville, Illinois. June, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
It’s been a busy few months and I’m still way behind on photo editing and life. I’m still working through a backlog of images from mid-summer. My to-do list of projects is long and I’m hopeful I will be able to start digging into some of the projects I aim to do as the days get colder, the sunlight less abundant, and the idea of staying in to buckle down on work starts to make more sense.
I pulled a photobook off my shelf this afternoon while waiting on batch processing of portrait edits. It was Tim Barber’s Untitled Photographs book, which I hadn’t peeked at in years. This led me to Tim’s website, which I also hadn’t been to in years. His website kept my attention through the entire series of one-at-a-time images and I thought the minimalist approach was something I might want to steal. As I get older, the urge to re-focus my photography web presence also grows. My site is currently far more catered to a commercial client audience, which makes sense as this is how I’ve made a living for two decades. But I’m beginning to wonder if a less on-the-nose and more minimal and artistic approach might be a smart move. Looking at Tim’s website got me excited. Much like after leaving an inspiring photo exhibit at a museum, I was walking around the studio seeing inanimate objects in a new light and taking photos of things I’d normal ignore. I love when this urge takes over and drives me to create new work. The trick is to make sure the subjects aren’t dying flowers on the kitchen counter. Get out and live a little, after you catch up on the photo editing, that is.
-Clayton
2024 10 07
The clock just struck midnight and I haven’t posted yet today (yesterday). Been a busy boy, still.
It’s been a minute since I’ve posted a Busted Car™️ and this might be my favorite one yet! This was photographed while briefly in downtown Milwaukee on our way home from vacation in the Northwoods. The RNC was happening and this is probably the best photo I made in the few hours we spent in the hellscape that it was.
On a semi-related note, I can’t believe the election is right around the corner. Fuck.
-Clayton
Another busted car. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
The clock just struck midnight and I haven’t posted yet today (yesterday). Been a busy boy, still.
It’s been a minute since I’ve posted a Busted Car™️ and this might be my favorite one yet! This was photographed while briefly in downtown Milwaukee on our way home from vacation in the Northwoods. The RNC was happening and this is probably the best photo I made in the few hours we spent in the hellscape that it was.
On a semi-related note, I can’t believe the election is right around the corner. Fuck.
-Clayton
2024 10 06
The recent flooding caused from Hurricane Helene was obviously disastrous. One depressing observation I’ve had since then is the discourse on social media. A large number of people (and/or bots, influencer accounts, foreign hostile disinformation campaigns, conspiracy theorists, etc, etc) have been commenting about how the government has been either actively involved in “controlling” the weather or delaying the response, for any number of reasons.
My current thinking is that I need to finally rid myself of the twitter app, as it seems to be actively working to increase tensions ahead of the election. The videos being fed to me are wild, terrifying, grim, and hard to turn away from. All this to say, the video below popped into my youtube feed while editing images tonight and, while also intense, was a rather authentic representation of what it was like to live through the current disaster from a first person perspective. It was definitely eye opening in a number of ways.
If you are curious about what went down but want to avoid the extreme social media spin takes, the video below is worth your time.
-Clayton
Water. It is you, yet it will kill you every chance it gets. St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
The recent flooding caused from Hurricane Helene was obviously disastrous. One depressing observation I’ve had since then is the discourse on social media. A large number of people (and/or bots, influencer accounts, foreign hostile disinformation campaigns, conspiracy theorists, etc, etc) have been commenting about how the government has been either actively involved in “controlling” the weather or delaying the response, for any number of reasons.
My current thinking is that I need to finally rid myself of the twitter app, as it seems to be actively working to increase tensions ahead of the election. The videos being fed to me are wild, terrifying, grim, and hard to turn away from. All this to say, the video below popped into my youtube feed while editing images tonight and, while also intense, was a rather authentic representation of what it was like to live through the current disaster from a first person perspective. It was definitely eye opening in a number of ways.
If you are curious about what went down but want to avoid the extreme social media spin takes, the video below is worth your time.
-Clayton
2024 10 05
I started writing this after hearing Jon Stewart’s interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates and continued writing it this morning while listening to a This American Life’s episode from firsthand accounts of the kidnappings in Israel/Gaza, along with seeing this tweet about a possible impending strike or invasion of Iran happening right now.
I won’t claim to have any answers or point any fingers. I am merely trying to better understand, which, if I did have any ideas on what to do, it would be this (while acknowledging that mass-understanding is a remarkably hard, if not impossible, task).
Ta-Nehisi Coates said something on Jon Stewart that really stuck with me. On his recent trip to Lebanon, he was struck by the simple act of hearing, from Palestinians, what their issues are. It’s a common-sense idea that usually goes ignored. Hearing, and understanding, the perspective of the other side. Once you realize they are also humans with similar thoughts and concerns as yourself, it becomes quite hard to justify the endless bombing campaign being made against them.
Tit for tat forever.
The conflicts in the Middle East are vastly complicated to the point they have become a cliche. Personally, I’ve been critical of Israel’s handling of their response to the brutal invasion of their territory, in large part because I have been to Lebanon and talked with Palestinians myself. They were sane, and logical, and passionate. One guy, roughly my age, told me he would never in his lifetime be okay with Israel… existing. Then we went and casually grabbed beers at a bar (where he also described horrific events that happened during the previous war). These extreme thoughts and ideas are commonplace on both sides because of the decades of back-and-forth violence and escalation.
Once you see this perspective firsthand, you realize the price that will need to be paid in order for one side to get their way, and it quickly becomes untenable. Surely, diplomacy is the only possible solution, and for that you need give, not just take.
This is all to say, I also think Israel has been right and justified to an extent. Both sides are guilty of horrible behavior and both sides have been victims of it as well. When you are the clearly dominant force, as is Israel and the United States in most conflicts to have taken place in our lifetime, if you act as the bully you should expect the bruise to your reputation. What worries me most about this conflict, which gets largely ignored, is that it’s not as one-sided as most people realize. Iran is an active participant. That is where things can snowball, quickly. That is where I now fear Israel sees an “opportunity” to act, now, swiftly and dramatically, in order to cease the moment, regardless the consequences.
We’ll eventually reach a tipping point and opinions will change. Possibly after millions of people are dead — but let’s pray it doesn’t come to that. It’s ironic that religion is so much at the core of these issues because praying is really the only option for most of us looking on in horror at what is now playing out. Praying, and hopefully, despite the darkness, a bit of understanding.
-Clayton
Money: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems! St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I started writing this after hearing Jon Stewart’s interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates and continued writing it this morning while listening to a This American Life’s episode from firsthand accounts of the kidnappings in Israel/Gaza, along with seeing this tweet about a possible impending strike or invasion of Iran happening right now.
I won’t claim to have any answers or point any fingers. I am merely trying to better understand, which, if I did have any ideas on what to do, it would be this (while acknowledging that mass-understanding is a remarkably hard, if not impossible, task).
Ta-Nehisi Coates said something on Jon Stewart that really stuck with me. On his recent trip to Lebanon, he was struck by the simple act of hearing, from Palestinians, what their issues are. It’s a common-sense idea that usually goes ignored. Hearing, and understanding, the perspective of the other side. Once you realize they are also humans with similar thoughts and concerns as yourself, it becomes quite hard to justify the endless bombing campaign being made against them.
Tit for tat forever.
The conflicts in the Middle East are vastly complicated to the point they have become a cliche. Personally, I’ve been critical of Israel’s handling of their response to the brutal invasion of their territory, in large part because I have been to Lebanon and talked with Palestinians myself. They were sane, and logical, and passionate. One guy, roughly my age, told me he would never in his lifetime be okay with Israel… existing. Then we went and casually grabbed beers at a bar (where he also described horrific events that happened during the previous war). These extreme thoughts and ideas are commonplace on both sides because of the decades of back-and-forth violence and escalation.
Once you see this perspective firsthand, you realize the price that will need to be paid in order for one side to get their way, and it quickly becomes untenable. Surely, diplomacy is the only possible solution, and for that you need give, not just take.
This is all to say, I also think Israel has been right and justified to an extent. Both sides are guilty of horrible behavior and both sides have been victims of it as well. When you are the clearly dominant force, as is Israel and the United States in most conflicts to have taken place in our lifetime, if you act as the bully you should expect the bruise to your reputation. What worries me most about this conflict, which gets largely ignored, is that it’s not as one-sided as most people realize. Iran is an active participant. That is where things can snowball, quickly. That is where I now fear Israel sees an “opportunity” to act, now, swiftly and dramatically, in order to cease the moment, regardless the consequences.
We’ll eventually reach a tipping point and opinions will change. Possibly after millions of people are dead — but let’s pray it doesn’t come to that. It’s ironic that religion is so much at the core of these issues because praying is really the only option for most of us looking on in horror at what is now playing out. Praying, and hopefully, despite the darkness, a bit of understanding.
-Clayton
2024 10 04
95 50 (random) Opinions:
roller coasters are fun
pizza is delicious
tacos are delicious and equally as good as pizza
trains are severely underrated in the US
Europe, while great, is an overrated American tourist travel destination
Rome is much better than Florence
cats are better than dogs, but the best dogs are better than average cats
photography is amazing, however, steadily losing its edge
if I dedicated my entire life to being a musician, I could probably make it work
being very poor and being very rich can give people similar carefree mindsets, while being middle class can be a constant hassle
My half-drank Wisconsin Old Fashioned at Blink Bonnie, the best supper club in all the land. St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
95 50 (random) Opinions:
roller coasters are fun
pizza is delicious
tacos are delicious and equally as good as pizza
trains are severely underrated in the US
Europe, while great, is an overrated American tourist travel destination
Rome is much better than Florence
cats are better than dogs, but the best dogs are better than average cats
photography is amazing, however, steadily losing its edge
if I dedicated my entire life to being a musician, I could probably make it work
being very poor and being very rich can give people similar carefree mindsets, while being middle class can be a constant hassle
my opinions are getting longer as I go
simple is usually better
Mexico is a massively underrated country
Japan is easily one of the best countries
Pittsburgh is one of the best cities in America
bitcoin is fascinating, while polarizing, no matter what the origin actually is
Ai will change the world, but more so in the less obvious ways that currently worry us
nuclear power should be far more utilized by modern society
nuclear fusion power generation will eventually be figured out and either solve all world’s big problems or create a human-induced hellscape
the sun is amazing. like, how does that even happen?!
the fact that the sun is one of trillions of other suns doesn’t make any sense
this very well could be some kind of simulation
god, which ever one you believe in, likely isn’t a thing, but surely something god-like exists, beyond our comprehension
the best US state is probably California
Texas is good, but I’d never want to live there
the best city in Texas is Houston, actually maybe it’s Austin?
Chicago is leagues better than Houston
San Antonio is an underrated city
Austin is an overrated city
professional sports leagues have lost some of their charms as they’ve become such big business
baseball is the best sport, but far from the most entertaining one
books are better than movies but movies are far more accessible
shows are really just long ass movies
one fun thing to do in a city you are visiting is take the train to the last stop and get off
opinions are like, your opinion, man
The Big Lebowski is not the Coen Brothers’ best film, but it is great
Barton Fink is the Coen Brothers’ best film
There Will Be Blood is probably my favorite film
acting, as a job, is a crazy job
rivers are neat
massive solar flare is a natural disaster that worries me, probably because I live in Chicago and don’t have to worry about the obvious ones
Chicago is an underrated city
rivers are better than lakes
the US relies far too heavily on cars and trucks and should better utilize our waterways
China is a fascinating place
Russia is a fascinating place
both China and Russia will look far different than they do now in a few decades in ways we probably can’t predict
history is written by the winners
school is overrated but also very important for a functioning society
Jet Lag the game on youtube is one of my favorite shows and I wish I came up with the idea and did it myself
-Clayton
2024 10 03
One weird abstract thought I often revisit is the sheer amount of events happening all over our solar system at any given moment. Like a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to see it, there are so many epic and amazing things happening right now, as you read this, that nobody will ever know about. Massive storms on Jupiter bigger than our entire planet; rocks colliding into other rocks at speeds we can only imagine; long-scrapped human-made exploration devices so remote and lonely, existing in a void without any planet nearby to give them a sense of belonging. And all of this just within our own home system, which, while relatively close, still remains largely a mystery to us due to the remarkable size and distance.
Once you start to view the Milky Way in the sky and get a better sense of the scale we exist in, things quickly get impossible to comprehend. Then, when you consider our galaxy system is one of billions of other galaxy systems, each comprised of billions of stars and likely trillions of planets, it’s no wonder we mere humans have a countless number of Gods we call on to meekely attempt to make some sense of the whole thing.
-Clayton
Brian setting up his telescope. St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
One weird abstract thought I often revisit is the sheer amount of events happening all over our solar system at any given moment. Like a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to see it, there are so many epic and amazing things happening right now, as you read this, that nobody will ever know about. Massive storms on Jupiter bigger than our entire planet; rocks colliding into other rocks at speeds we can only imagine; long-scrapped human-made exploration devices so remote and lonely, existing in a void without any planet nearby to give them a sense of belonging. And all of this just within our own home system, which, while relatively close, still remains largely a mystery to us due to the remarkable size and distance.
Once you start to view the Milky Way in the sky and get a better sense of the scale we exist in, things quickly get impossible to comprehend. Then, when you consider our galaxy system is one of billions of other galaxy systems, each comprised of billions of stars and likely trillions of planets, it’s no wonder we mere humans have a countless number of Gods we call on to meekely attempt to make some sense of the whole thing.
-Clayton
2024 10 02
Self-promotional Wednesday! Today, through next Wednesday, I am doing my “Keep it 100” portrait setup at my See You Soon studio. If you’re in the Chicagoland area, check it out and come shoot with me! It’s a ton of fun, super affordable, the images are great, and I’m having a hell of a time getting people to come out for it!
Seriously, though, I’m being a bit hard on myself. I’ve already done at least fifty of these sessions if not many more (brain blur) but in my head the deal is so good there should be a line down the block. I’ll get up some more thoughts about all this later this week, I think.
In the meantime, click this link, book a session, and come shoot with me why don’t you?!
-Clayton
Portrait of Anne. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Self-promotional Wednesday! Today, through next Wednesday, I am doing my “Keep it 100” portrait setup at my See You Soon studio. If you’re in the Chicagoland area, check it out and come shoot with me! It’s a ton of fun, super affordable, the images are great, and I’m having a hell of a time getting people to come out for it!
Seriously, though, I’m being a bit hard on myself. I’ve already done at least fifty of these sessions if not many more (brain blur) but in my head the deal is so good there should be a line down the block. I’ll get up some more thoughts about all this later this week, I think.
In the meantime, click this link, book a session, and come shoot with me why don’t you?!
-Clayton
2024 10 01
Notes From a Podcast (a semi-regular ongoing series??)
PhotoWork with Sasha Wolf episode 82 - Matthew Genitempo
While editing an endless pool of images, I often listen to Sasha’s great podcast full of interviews with fine art photographers (is there a better label than fine art photographer? photographer, I guess?). I feel the need to specify: not commercial photography, which is what I’m personally more familiar with. This was a standout episode and very much worth a listen, however the following things stood out prominently.
One: Matthew said he gives himself a geographical boundary and then goes out to make work and see what comes back; see what the pictures are telling him, instead of going out and trying to illustrate a picture he has in his head. His recent book project (Dogbreath) was made in Tuscon, Arizona because he was drawn to the distinct sunlight quality and unique urban setting (you see things that are new to you and it sparks your imagination). He visited a school and found the local photo students were not as excited about their own familiar city as he was. Each morning, he’d begin his day with a jog and use it to scout the territory and even meet people that became subjects in the book.
I love all of this and strongly agree with the sentiments. My own personal project began this year with “Illinois outside of Cook County” as my boundaries. Quickly, I’ve learned these boundaries are likely too large, however, I’ve also been listening to what the images are telling me, and themes and ideas are slowly emerging and my approach is adapting. Hopefully next year I will have more time to dedicate to this project, but I loved hearing and learning from Matthew’s experiences in his existing book projects.
Two: Sasha made an amazing baseball player slump analogy. When a player isn’t performing, usually either their mechanics are off or they are pressing. They are trying to hard and overthinking it, instead of going on instinct. An artist works best under the same circumstances. Let the ball come to you and make contact. Don’t force it.
This analogy is amazing and I strongly agree with it. The other day, I was discussing my approach with a friend and explaining to him how, on my smaller shoots, I operate mostly on feel, while doing everything myself. Lights go up, find an angle, find a power setting to match some settings on the camera, ambient lights are considered, emotions of the subject are considered, etc, etc, all mostly on auto-pilot. Comparing this to approach to my commercial jobs, where the final direction and style are usually pre-determined and there is a crew constantly awaiting your direction isn’t always an easy task for me, because my intuition is to feel it out first, then act.
Three: There’s a quote from Judith Joy Ross that Matthew loves and thinks of as one of the formative ways he looks at photography and helped open him up: “I have a large beautiful wooden camera. I’m a quick talker and I can convince people in a few seconds because I’m sincerely interested in them, but I am more interested in capturing what I see in them. It’s not that I want to be their friend, it’s that I see their life and it’s amazing and I want to put it in an image. It’s a short but deep connection. Then I go back to being alone, but have one more lighting bug in a bottle. One more piece of evidence as to who we are.
This is beautiful and I aim to internalize this sentiment and allow it to help me in my process. Often, my instinct is to make photographs of people without them being aware of it. This is an approach which is increasingly frowned upon my a society sensitive to a constant and over-bearing surveillance. I love the idea of better connecting with my subjects and then lowering the barriers to allow them to be themselves. This is my approach on every commercial project I undertake and there’s no reason I can’t also bring it into my personal work. Even if it takes more effort and won’t always work, I think it’s worth the effort.
Two final details that I jotted down and enjoyed:
Robert Adams talks about “the gift picture” … one image that sort of ties a project together and you can work off of.
Sasha: “There’s drudgery in every dream job” … on packing books into boxes all, day, long. Or, in my case, committing to write daily about it all.
-Clayton
Moonlight over the horizon. St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Notes From a Podcast (a semi-regular ongoing series??)
PhotoWork with Sasha Wolf episode 82 - Matthew Genitempo
While editing an endless pool of images, I often listen to Sasha’s great podcast full of interviews with fine art photographers (is there a better label than fine art photographer? photographer, I guess?). I feel the need to specify: not commercial photography, which is what I’m personally more familiar with. This was a standout episode and very much worth a listen, however the following things stood out prominently.
One: Matthew said he gives himself a geographical boundary and then goes out to make work and see what comes back; see what the pictures are telling him, instead of going out and trying to illustrate a picture he has in his head. His recent book project (Dogbreath) was made in Tucson, Arizona because he was drawn to the distinct sunlight quality and unique urban setting (you see things that are new to you and it sparks your imagination). He visited a school and found the local photo students were not as excited about their own familiar city as he was. Each morning, he’d begin his day with a jog and use it to scout the territory and even meet people that became subjects in the book.
I love all of this and strongly agree with the sentiments. My own personal project began this year with “Illinois outside of Cook County” as my boundaries. Quickly, I’ve learned these boundaries are likely too large, however, I’ve also been listening to what the images are telling me, and themes and ideas are slowly emerging and my approach is adapting. Hopefully next year I will have more time to dedicate to this project, but I loved hearing and learning from Matthew’s experiences in his existing book projects.
Two: Sasha made an amazing baseball player slump analogy. When a player isn’t performing, usually either their mechanics are off or they are pressing. They are trying to hard and overthinking it, instead of going on instinct. An artist works best under the same circumstances. Let the ball come to you and make contact. Don’t force it.
This analogy is amazing and I strongly agree with it. The other day, I was discussing my approach with a friend and explaining to him how, on my smaller shoots, I operate mostly on feel, while doing everything myself. Lights go up, find an angle, find a power setting to match some settings on the camera, ambient lights are considered, emotions of the subject are considered, etc, etc, all mostly on auto-pilot. Comparing this to approach to my commercial jobs, where the final direction and style are usually pre-determined and there is a crew constantly awaiting your direction isn’t always an easy task for me, because my intuition is to feel it out first, then act.
Three: There’s a quote from Judith Joy Ross that Matthew loves and thinks of as one of the formative ways he looks at photography and helped open him up: “I have a large beautiful wooden camera. I’m a quick talker and I can convince people in a few seconds because I’m sincerely interested in them, but I am more interested in capturing what I see in them. It’s not that I want to be their friend, it’s that I see their life and it’s amazing and I want to put it in an image. It’s a short but deep connection. Then I go back to being alone, but have one more lighting bug in a bottle. One more piece of evidence as to who we are.
This is beautiful and I aim to internalize this sentiment and allow it to help me in my process. Often, my instinct is to make photographs of people without them being aware of it. This is an approach which is increasingly frowned upon by a society sensitive to a constant and over-bearing surveillance. I love the idea of first better connecting with my subjects and then lowering the barriers to allow them to be themselves. This is my approach on every commercial project I undertake and there’s no reason I can’t also bring it into my personal work. Even if it takes more effort and won’t always work, I think it’s worth the effort.
Two final details that I jotted down and enjoyed:
Robert Adams talks about “the gift picture” … one image that sort of ties a project together and you can work off of.
Sasha: “There’s drudgery in every dream job” … on packing books into boxes all, day, long. Or, in my case, committing to write daily about it all.
-Clayton
EPISODE LINKS:
podcast link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3jMjkuu3kPl0N8GxX3tEZZ
photographer’s website: https://www.matthewgenitempo.com/dogbreath-1
to read: Core Curriculum https://books.apple.com/us/book/core-curriculum/id949942181
2024 09 30
Finally made it to a Cubs game this year. The last game of the season. During a lull (0-0 game into the 10th) I saw Shota Imanaga, their star pitcher from Japan, hanging out in the dugout and made a run for it, dodging the ever-present ushers.
I got down real close and shouted his name and his interpreter’s name, hoping they’d turn around and recognize me from our cover shoot a few months back. I wanted to ask if he liked the image!
They did not recognize me. Turns out I’m still just an obnoxious fan who the Wrigley ushers do not like 😛
-Clayton
Shōta Imanaga photographed for the cover of Chicago Magazine. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Finally made it to a Cubs game this year. The last game of the season. During a lull (0-0 game into the 10th) I saw Shota Imanaga, their star pitcher from Japan, hanging out in the dugout and made a run for it, dodging the ever-present ushers.
I got down real close and shouted his name and his interpreter’s name, hoping they’d turn around and recognize me from our cover shoot a few months back. I wanted to ask if he liked the image!
They did not recognize me. Turns out I’m still just an obnoxious fan who the Wrigley ushers do not like.
See you next season.
-Clayton
2024 09 29
Up against the deadline, yet again. I’d love for this space to be a bit more photo-centric, to give me a break from writing something each and every day, even though that was sort of the reason for doing this in the first place. Maybe we take the website in a new direction next year. I was thinking wordpress might be the move, however, apparently wordpress is a mess these days as well. The internet is really losing its charm, isn’t it? I miss the days of pageview counters and blogrolls and animated gifs. Simpler times.
I’ll get back to posting things maybe worth reading one of these days…
-Clayton
A night scene. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Up against the deadline, yet again. I’d love for this space to be a bit more photo-centric, to give me a break from writing something each and every day, even though that was sort of the reason for doing this in the first place. Maybe we take the website in a new direction next year. I was thinking wordpress might be the move, however, apparently wordpress is a mess these days as well. The internet is really losing its charm, isn’t it? I miss the days of pageview counters and blogrolls and animated gifs. Simpler times.
I’ll get back to posting things maybe worth reading one of these days…
-Clayton
2024 09 28
I know, it’s just bare trees (and the moon), but I really like this image. It’s been sitting in the folder, waiting to get picked, and today is the day. It looks best when not massively compressed for the web, of course, but here we are on the world wide web. Speaking of the web, while editing images today, The Almighty Algorithm served me yet another documentary on Chicago house music which I digested and enjoyed in similar fashion to this post from 2024 07 21.
I was never a big house head and don’t know the history as well as I should, having lived in Chicago my entire life, but I enjoy electronic music (esp classic disco), and also love history, so it’s fascinating to watch these videos on youtube which clearly have a ton of time and energy put into them with little to no fanfare. That’s sort of the thing with house music. That’s sort of the thing with Chicago. We’re out here putting in the time and effort and making things for the love of the game, and all too often are rewarded with the gift of not being discovered and not being turned into a product (downside: not getting the cash). There’s a reason many leave Chicago in search of fame and fortune and there’s a reason some of us stay here and pursue their art via blogs like this here blog.
Check out the video if you have a chance. Back to work, I go. Always be grinding.
-Clayton
Bare trees (and the moon). Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
It’s just bare trees (and the moon), I know, but I really like this image. It’s been sitting in the folder, waiting to get picked, and today is the day. It looks best when not massively compressed for the web, of course, but here we are on the world wide web. Speaking of the web, while editing images today, The Almighty Algorithm served me yet another documentary on Chicago house music which I digested and enjoyed in similar fashion to this post from 2024 07 21.
I was never a big house head and don’t know the history as well as I should, having lived in Chicago my entire life, but I enjoy electronic music (esp classic disco), and also love history, so it’s fascinating to watch these videos on youtube which clearly have a ton of time and energy put into them with little to no fanfare. That’s sort of the thing with house music. That’s sort of the thing with Chicago. We’re out here putting in the time and effort and making things for the love of the game, and all too often are rewarded with the gift of not being discovered and not being turned into a product, remaining human (downside: not getting the cash). There’s a reason many leave Chicago in search of fame and fortune (and trying to get to the moon). And there’s a reason some of us stay here and pursue their art via blogs like this here blog.
Yes, dad, I’ll get back to photographing people again soon.
Check out the video if you have a chance. Back to work, I go. Always be grinding, if you love the grind.
-Clayton
2024 09 27
I love living in a place with defined seasons. I love how the weather became noticeably spookier a few days ago. I love that weather can, in fact, be spooky. I could do without all the spider webs, however.
We’re about to watch a scary movie. Embrace the spooky.
-Clayton
A nighttime stroll. Wilmette, Illinois. May, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I love living in a place with defined seasons. I love how the weather became noticeably spookier a few days ago. I love that weather can, in fact, be spooky. I could do without all the spider webs, however.
We’re about to watch a scary movie. Embrace the spooky.
-Clayton
2024 09 26
You miss posting one day, and that turns into two days, which then turns into a week. I missed posting yesterday, as I was busy working and then immediately connected with friends for dinner, which turned into an all-night celebration. I’m allowing myself grace by posting this image, today, under yesterday’s date. Let’s see if I can get around to making a post happen today, now.
-Clayton, a busy boy.
Night in the Northwoods. St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
You miss posting one day, and that turns into two days, which then turns into a week. I missed posting yesterday, as I was busy working and then immediately connected with friends for dinner, which turned into an all-night celebration. I’m allowing myself grace by posting this image, today, under yesterday’s date. Let’s see if I can get around to making a post happen today, now.
-Clayton, a busy boy.
2024 09 25
I’ve always been curious about math, but never so much that I actually wanted to fully learn and understand it. Looking at so many numbers makes me sleepy. So while I’m not certain the math is accurate, I love the sentiment behind a post I saw the other day, which also perfectly encapsulates my thinking behind this here blog.
DO NOTHING AT ALL
vs.
MAKING SMALL CONSISTENT EFFORTS:
(1.00)^365 = 1.00
(1.01)^365 = 37.7
Hard hat, lunch pail. One day at a time. Time to make the donuts. Keep on truckin’.
-Clayton
PS- The Elks National Memorial and Headquarters in Chicago’s Lincoln Park is free and totally worth a visit!
PSS- I’m so over squarespace for this here blog. While I like the look and connectivity of substack, it’s still someone else’s platform. I think I may spend winter migrating over to my own domain and dust off the ole Wordpress. But if anyone reading this has any other ideas, I’m all ears!
Elks Club pin collection. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I’ve always been curious about math, but never so much that I actually wanted to fully learn and understand it. Looking at so many numbers makes me sleepy. So while I’m not certain the math is accurate, I love the sentiment behind a post I saw the other day, which also perfectly encapsulates my thinking behind this here blog.
DO NOTHING AT ALL
vs.
MAKING SMALL CONSISTENT EFFORTS:
(1.00)^365 = 1.00
(1.01)^365 = 37.7
Hard hat, lunch pail. One day at a time. Time to make the donuts. Keep on truckin’.
-Clayton
PS- The Elks National Memorial and Headquarters in Chicago’s Lincoln Park is free and totally worth a visit!
PPS- I’m so over squarespace for this here blog. While I like the look and connectivity of substack, it’s still someone else’s platform. I think I may spend winter migrating over to my own domain and dust off the ole Wordpress. But if anyone reading this has any other ideas, I’m all ears!
2024 09 24
Sometimes the accidental shots are the best shots. I made this one while strolling through the farmer’s market practicing zone focusing on the Ricoh. Yes, it’s out of focus, and blurry, and full of sensor dust (most of which I removed in post), but I still enjoy the image. It’s got a bit of rizz. Not much, but a touch of rizz.
This lesson in zone focusing was sort of the nail in the coffin for this camera, which I’ve been abusing for two or so years. Most of the images posted to this blog have been made using it. The problem, now, is that I can’t shoot with it unless the aperture is wide ass open, otherwise all the sensor dust fills the frame. Luckily, when you shoot wide open, you can make things invisible, allowing me to continue using the camera longer. Just not with zone focusing. Anyhoo.
I’m still months behind on photo editing and life bureaucracy. We have our wedding documents tho, finally, so that’s official and off the to do list!
-Clayton
Dogs on the prowl. Logan Square Farmers Market. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Sometimes the accidental shots are the best shots. I made this one while strolling through the farmer’s market practicing zone focusing on the Ricoh. Yes, it’s out of focus, and blurry, and full of sensor dust (most of which I removed in post), but I still enjoy the image. It’s got a bit of rizz. Not much, but a touch of rizz.
This lesson in zone focusing was sort of the nail in the coffin for this camera, which I’ve been abusing for two or so years. Most of the images posted to this blog have been made using it. The problem, now, is that I can’t shoot with it unless the aperture is wide ass open, otherwise all the sensor dust fills the frame. Luckily, when you shoot wide open, you can make things invisible, allowing me to continue using the camera longer. Just not with zone focusing. Anyhoo.
I’m still months behind on photo editing and life bureaucracy. We have our wedding documents tho, finally, so that’s official and off the to do list!
-Clayton
2024 09 23
Last night, we watched Ren Faire, the three-part mini series on HBO, and I was kind of blown away by the project. Going in, I’d assumed it was a documentary and my brain was primed for a good doc-viewing experience. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that I categorize it in a new still-developing genre of filmmaking that blurs reality with narrative forms of storytelling, and I’m not yet fully sure what to think of it. Much like news has largely become a facts-optional landscape of entertainment-minded-viewer-pleasing content, the genre of documentary filmmaking is going through a similar transformation, with modern tools of moviemaking allowing for some clever new approaches. Stylistically speaking, Ren Faire was one of the best films I’ve seen in recent memory (also, I’m such a sucker for the anamorphic lens work they used).
Today, I came across this quote from Stanley Kubrick:
“A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”
While I’m not sure the quote ties in with my thoughts on Ren Faire, I will add that oftentimes I find movies pay too much attention to style and not enough attention to story. While they did some amazing work on the project, especially with editing, audio, and cinematography, you started to get the sense that this crew could make damn near any group of people interesting, so what’s the point of spending so much time learning about this specific group?
All that said, if you are into film at all, give Ren Faire a watch. And now I’m off to try and find a reasonably-priced anamorphic lens.
-Clayton
Preparing for dinner at the Northwoods lake cabin. St Germain, Wisconsin. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Last night, we watched Ren Faire, the three-part mini series on HBO, and I was kind of blown away by the project. Going in, I’d assumed it was a documentary and my brain was primed for a good doc-viewing experience. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that I categorize it in a new still-developing genre of filmmaking that blurs reality with narrative forms of storytelling, and I’m not yet fully sure what to think of it. Much like news has largely become a facts-optional landscape of entertainment-minded-viewer-pleasing content, the genre of documentary filmmaking is going through a similar transformation, with modern tools of moviemaking allowing for some clever new approaches. Stylistically speaking, Ren Faire was one of the best films I’ve seen in recent memory (also, I’m such a sucker for the anamorphic lens work they used).
Today, I came across this quote from Stanley Kubrick:
“A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”
While I’m not sure the quote ties in with my thoughts on Ren Faire, I will add that oftentimes I find movies pay too much attention to style and not enough attention to story. While they did some amazing work on the project, especially with editing, audio, and cinematography, you started to get the sense that this crew could make damn near any group of people interesting, so what’s the point of spending so much time learning about this specific group? It started skewing into style over substance territory.
All that said, if you are into film at all, give Ren Faire a watch. And now I’m off to try and find a reasonably-priced anamorphic lens.
-Clayton