2025 07 01
Dead plant. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
While out doing yard work this morning, I was pondering the idea of time, and how it’s so beneficial to work on tasks with the figurative wind at your back. It took me hours to give our yard a minimal dose of needed water, as I aim to help the plants I wish to thrive grow as big as they can in the time they have. Had Mother Nature decided to do the job for me, it would have been completed in mere minutes without my assistance. This may be an obvious observation, but lately I’m using this analogy quite a lot in my own life. As my list of tasks grows larger than possible to accomplish as one person, I can either choose triage or expand my capabilities through the help of others. Neglect is, of course, also an option. Like this plant, parts of my life will wither and die, with likely undesired weeds taking their place.
The garden is life. Everything can be compared to the garden.
-Clayton
2025 06 26
Another Mr Peepers. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s been too long since a Mr Peepers has made an appearance on this here blog.
-Clayton
2025 06 24
Yard bags. Pekin, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
If the shot isn’t interesting enough, just add a peace sign.
This snap spoke to me today because part of the reason I fell so behind on posting was: yard work. It’s that time of the year when all of the things which had been rumbling below the surface exploded upward once we got one of those much-needed rain showers. Our yard was transformed, seemingly overnight, from a respectable space to a showcase of weeds and invasive garden auditioners.
One fun takeaway from having a yard, that I think of often, is how plants are a lot like people. They all have different styles and sensibilities; some move fast while others take their time. The strategies for survival are as varied as the personality types of people. I like thinking about how all of us living things are kind of the same, yet so very different.
-Clayton
2025 06 23
Another day, another busted car. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This is one of my favorite Busted Cars. I know I keep saying it, but I really do think a zine is needed to house these images. If only I’d been neatly organizing them on my hard drives. I need to get on the cloud or whatever y’all are using to search your image libraries these days.
-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 20
I see you (me). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Today (yesterday), I hosted an art photography show at my studio, some of which was my own work. We also hosted our photobook popup shop (Realm) at the event. While still photography-related, both of these ventures are still quite new to me. Earlier in the day, we met with two of Chicago’s most well-connected art photography people and I found myself feeling quite intimidated, if I’m being honest.
Anyway, this piece by Cate Hall entitled How to be more agentic was sent to me a few days ago by my pal Jack and it touches on a lot of the things I have going on in my life currently. It’s a quick read and well worth your time (and it only took me a week to get through it because, well, I’m grinding too hard for my own good).
-Clayton
2025 06 18
House in spring. Mt Sterling, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I printed some recent Ill Wandering images in black & white, this one included, for a photography show this Friday, June 20th, at my studio. If you’re one of the three people who will see this post and are free that night, it would be swell if you could swing on through! There will be drinks and snacks, along with photos from two other photographers and our Realm photobook popup shop. In a way, it’s kind of like my own art photography coming out party, or at least that’s what it feels like.
More info about the event can be found here.
-Clayton
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 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 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 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 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 12
The vices! Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Looking at this image, I had all these thoughts rolling around in my brain: the aesthetic of old things being used to design new things; working in an adult video store; the juxtaposition of old Chicago vs new Chicago; shops being open 24 hours; street photography from a car window while out shooting assignment work. But then I went to write something down and nothing specific came to mind. Really, though, I just have far too much on my mind right now. It’s days like today I’m glad to be a fake writer and not have to do this daily to make a living.
-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 05 06
People on the move in May. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I love the feeling of springtime, aside from the allergy flare ups. Yesterday, I got hit with a paralyzing bout of allergies. I’m not sure what it is, but I know it’s the worst.
-Clayton
2025 04 17
A mysteriously artificial man in Alton, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
In search of Robert Wadlow in Alton, Illinois. He still exists within the photons of light residing in the cells of our brains.
-Clayton