phlog
phlog
A trip home
My dad died recently. Not much to say about that at the moment, but I have been spending some extra time with my mom in Boston.
The nature of being home has changed, the time spent with my mom and other family members is different. I usually drive to Boston, but this time I took the train. My thoughts are feeling very scattered and it has made driving hard.
I’d never been on this train route during the day, and my perspective on Connecticut has been changed for the better. I never knew how picturesque the Connecticut coastline is. Passing through the quaint towns filled with boats at sunset was a lovely way to get lost in thought.
At home, I spent a lot of time walking. On my first night, I walked with my friend Nick to grab some food. We passed by some work on the pipes under the street which involved a running fire hydrant. Don’t ask me.
My mom and I share a dog. This means my mom has a dog and she says sometimes that he is my dog, and in fairness, I did grow up with him and I do take care of him when I’m home (he is my mom’s dog). He is the primary instigator of walking and I appreciate him for that. Someday there will likely be a photo of him on this Phlog.
While at home we also went to visit the cemetery. My mom chose a spot right next to a lake. It is a beautiful place that I know my dad loves. There are often ducks and the trees growing out of the banks are a beautiful mess of gnarled branches.
One day the weather was nicer so my mom and I took a field trip to Carson Beach. Carson is a place I often overlooked when I was younger, but the path along the water is perfect for elderly dogs. It had been raining heavily, and snow had been melting, so there was some flooding. We walked for a while and were eventually turned around by the wind from the far side of the JFK Library. On the way back we collected sea glass. My mom says she will use it to craft.
On the way home we decided no field trip would be complete without a stop for some food. For some reason, I felt compelled to intentionally miss my turn in lieu of a less efficient route, and we were immediately greeted by the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen. I wish a camera could do it justice. It filled the entire width of the street, like nothing I have ever seen. It was almost like an AI generated image of a “gigantic rainbow the size of a street invading the city of Cambridge.”
I suspect I will be in Boston a lot now. The change of location might be good for my photos.
Right before I left it snowed.
Aaron
A camera in my pocket
A camera in my pocket and thoughts on looking at everything
Not to be too repetitive, but I recently found myself with a new photo machine. Recently, I have been leaning into the idea of constantly carrying a camera. Taking photos with my phone has always felt wrong to me. I feel like they get lost forever, and they never quite look right. I also don’t like when a photo-capturing device is so full of technology that it tries to outsmart me. Which my phone certainly does.
The camera I am lucky enough to be using now as my everyday carry is a Ricoh GR IV Digital. It is an older camera, but it is spectacular. The sensor is smaller, the megapixels are lower, but for me, it is perfect. I have so much control over almost every facet of the camera, and it has a wonderful little flash.
Always having a camera in my pocket makes me feel so on it. I am constantly looking for frames. I used to only use film cameras in this way. But the freedom of digital lets me take more pictures I might typically skip. I look more closely at leaves, advertisements on walls, and trash. Who knew Green Day and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty could be such a beautiful visual colab.
As photographers, we have to look at things a little differently. The most exciting images could be of the most mundane things. Henri Cartier-Bresson was the master of turning the normal into something captivating. Even if the camera stays in my pocket, I am always on the lookout for anything I find interesting to look at. A smashed pumpkin under a parked car. A discarded Christmas tree. The cat statue tilted in an almost bodega cat manner among bundles of sage. All of these things brought me brief moments of excitement. They are slight blips in this pattern-filled world that speeds by so quickly.
Trees are magical and provide so many different “lewks.” From close up gnarled limbs looking like faces to looming entire bodies from below. They can be both so comforting and so intimidating all at once.
Sometimes you have to find your own excitement. And looking for the little things that are different is my favorite place to start. And go hug a tree, you never know what kind of mood that creature is in.
That’s all for now,
Aaron
On a Walk
I try to get out for a walk every day. Unless it’s raining.
I try to get out for a walk every day. Unless it’s raining. Or some other form of wet and grey. I am like a plant that needs proper amounts of sun and time around other plants. Another thing about walking is the slow pace that allows for observation and experiencing everything around you. Aimlessly wandering is one of the best ways to connect with a place.
Many of my favorite walks are along the water, but I also love slowly walking through the quieter neighborhoods of Brooklyn. There is something so peaceful about tree and brownstone-lined streets where you’re not constantly dodging other people.
My micro-neighborhood is currently the home of a never-ending number of construction projects. If I am ever lost it is easy to navigate home by looking up and searching for the highest concentration of cranes. While part of me is grumpy about the construction, there is also something oddly beautiful about it.
Trees might be one of the most underappreciated residents of the city. Any time of year they have a unique way of living with us. In the winter without their leaves, they are a beacon of hope for spring to come. I can spend ages looking at the intricate patterns made by branches crisscrossing the sky.
I find it’s always easiest to find subjects in new places, but exploring home is exciting too. It helps me focus in on all the hidden beauty hidden around me. It’s also nice to have an activity to get myself outside. Spotting something new close to home is a special kind of thrill.
That is all for now and I hope to see you on my next walk!
Aaron 🤠
serendipity 🤭
A tale of a rediscovered camera
Wintery blue skies in the lower east side of Manhattan, New York.
This was on the CF card when I first turned on the camera. The timestamp is June 23, 2009, and that is me, age 12, on a family trip to England.
I recently found an older Nikon Coolpix 3100 in my mom’s basement. It was bought in the early 2000s for an upcoming family vacation, and I never remember it being used. My dad started his career as a photojournalist, so carrying around laughably large cameras was standard. He always encouraged me to shoot with his DSLR, so at the time this camera made a very small impression.
While the Coolpix was never my camera of choice, it has been a joy to rediscover it. I love how tiny it is. The only reason I grabbed it in the first place was the size and the fact it takes AA batteries. Running on AAs makes a camera feel like a fun little toy.
Once powered on the Coolpix was suddenly filled with fun features. The first was the 128 MB CF card. I usually shoot with a Nikon D780, so I am used to individual files almost half that size. After a deep dive into the very limited menu, I was very excited to find some very weird and fun modes including “Group Right”, “Portrait Left”, “Sport Composite”, “Portrait Couple”, and many more.
While I don’t love this camera, I’m having a great time making the most of what the 3MB sensor offers!
I love when the moon is out during the day. I also love power lines. I stopped to catch this mass of geometry on a walk with my mom in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The following collection is from a trip over the Christmas holiday to visit my aunt and uncle in Waitsfield, Vermont. I was very impressed with what the camera produced in low light and funky fog conditions.
This final image is using the camera’s “Sport Composite” mode. These little contact sheets are pure gold. I wish all cameras could do this. They seem to completely kill the battery, but so cool! This person was preparing for upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations in Chinatown, New York.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! Come back again :)
Aaron