Here’s some facts about this blog:
1. When I started shooting 13 years ago, I posted everything I photographed on Livejournal. It was easy, familiar, quick, fun. I had a community over there, so I would get pretty hearty feedback with each post. I also liked the format – the long scroll of images that I’d meticulously curate, no thumbnails, no clicking. Just scrolling. I preferred not to write much either, didn’t want to “ruin” the experience of the image with other associations (lol stupid purist). I’d just write an overview of what I had been shooting that week, then proceeded to weave each image, one at a time, through the post. Sequence, color, narrative, flow – all these things would take forever for me to decide on but when a post came together… Man.
2. So when platforms like DeviantArt, Multiply (?!), Facebook and Instagram started gaining popularity, my preferred format started to lose relevance. People didn’t want to scroll through dozens of images, they wanted to either be fed one really really good one at a time or see the whole set and decide whether they wanted to engage.
3. Image-making also started to get really competitive. Because of these new formats, images had to stand out or be ignored. I found this tough for my little photographs, as generally I found them to be stronger in context – in sets – rather than individually. Maybe that’s why grad school agreed with me so much: generally, fine art photography does beg to be viewed as a series.
Also, LORD, tagging. What a nightmare. I have to come up with ALL possible associations with my photograph just so that people can find me? I can’t even begin to describe how problematic that is for an overthinky pedant such as myself.
4. I kind of gave up on blogging for these reasons. I didn’t think it was relevant anymore, I didn’t think anyone was paying attention to my blogs, and I was getting more work and feedback on platforms like Instagram anyway. I thought maybe the medium had just shifted, and I wanted to adapt. I didn’t want to be a screeching old timer shaking my fist at the sky that the world was changing and back in MY day people left real comments. I’m sure i will turn into that one day, but not yet.
(Side note: This is my wonderful beautiful grandmother, who is not like that at all.)
5. This adaptation has caused me to stagnate, because I don’t feel like I can post work the way I want to see it anymore. I feel like I have lost the love of photographing in the way that i like to do it because my Instagram is more popular than my blog, and because my clients would rather see my professional work. That is kind of crazy now that I think about it.
All of that to say… I guess I am back. I’ll be back. I’m here! Let’s do this. Again. SEO is not my enemy, but this blog is MY HOUSE.
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8 comments on “Revival”
I love your photography and reading your thoughts about your work because, for obvious reasons, I genuinely appreciate people who take time to select and arrange and tell a story with images. So yeah, about that, I liked how these photos had to be read vertically, from top to bottom, and the little surprises they came with, like the santos or your lola. That was nice.
Thanks, Alice! Glad you noticed that! <3 I have resolved to write more also. I think previously i tried to stay mute about my own work so i didn't have to be responsible for whether or not it was successful, but i guess i'm realizing i need a space to yammer on about art thoughts. :))
Go go go!!! Art is never irrelevant…it endures…and reblossoms…in the most unexpected ways, times & places. You were just in fallow…wonderful things happen during fallow. Your curated photographs & scrolling format were always awesome & will always be awesome, whether you think they are popular or not…why should you care?!? Your style is delightful…full of surprises…light one moment & deep the next! You have that special, God-given ability to capture the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary…your creativity will always be amazing because YOU are amazing. It’s okay to take a break every so often…but always come back… I can’t wait to see more!
Thanks for always cheering me on Tita Henedine! :D See you guys again soon I hope!
i love your blog and have been a longtime reader. am sad that social media like twitter, instagram and facebook has taken precedence over blogging. my favourite post of yours is your breakfast series.
That’s kind of you to say, thanks very much! I hope I don’t disappoint! I’m currently working on posting more soon!
Hi, Sandra! Only got to read this post from yours today. It’s kind of sad that at this time of quick media consumption and stimulation, some people start to lose interest in the old format. Blogging before too, before social media and all, seemed altogether more personal, real, and raw? But I hope that you continue sharing photographs of your life and everything else you find interesting; some people still prefer this, including I! Actually, I used to visit your Livejournal before (clicking the blue link leading to your new page of photographs is always exciting!), I followed you too on deviantArt, years ago when I still used it; I was still in high school then! And I just want to say that you’re one of the best photographers I know because of how you put into frame what you see and how you see it. Your photos teem of life. Sometimes, there’s a story, sometimes, there’s just the subject and how beautifully the light is captured with it. I loved Photojournalism before – photography in general – and you inspired me way back (and even up to now) to always have a camera at hand and an eye that keeps looking around for magic in the ordinary. I’m no longer in high school anymore, so it’s been a long while! Haha! Anyway, just wanted to encourage you – there’s still some goodness (always have) with the long blog format. Looking forward to your incredible photos and stories as always! :-)
Hi Arli!! I just read this comment now (WOW), but i just wanted to thank you for your kind words and continued support! I’m so happy that someone has continued to follow me through all these platforms hahaha. Hopefully you’ll be seeing more from me real soon! Leave me a link to your work too so i can take a look as well! :)