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Articles by Andy Adams
167 ☼ My First Time Shooting Tethered
Dear friends, This week’s issue is full of fun, including: the unexpected joy of shooting tethered to a computer. Making the first fictive book trailer short film. the final pre-printing moments with NJV1. My thoughts on theFujifilm GFX 100s, kindly provided by my friends at MPB.com.
How to kickstart a community with your peers on Substack
There are a number of reasons you might want to connect with fellow writers and creators on Substack. You might be seeking collaboration opportunities so you can grow, or perhaps you want to garner support in building your publication. Whatever the reason, it starts with finding the right people and creating ways to connect. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to do both and kickstart a community with your peers in the process. Who is it you want to connect with?
Gordie Scores Soon
Oct 26, 2023 Alex Lister caught a series of shots of construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which will provide more capacity to the heavily trafficked border crossing between Windsor and Detroit. This artistic capture has to be our Photo of the Week! Boaters on the Detroit River have been craning skyward at the construction.
treble clefs and Batman
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How Instagram creators are bringing their followers to Substack
More and more writers are bringing followers from Instagram to Substack—the number of active subscribers coming from Instagram is up 89% year over year. , who runs and cross-promotes content between Instagram and Substack, says that “in the past year, IG has delivered 15k views from 11k users, resulting in more than 2,300 subscribers” to his Substack.
FlakPhoto Reads: August 2023
Wow! It's hard to believe the summer is nearly over. The heat dome lifted here in Madison and was followed by temps so cool I'm writing these words under a blanket. What that means is that fall isn't far behind. The summer and my Flipboard curatorial residency are coming to a close — I've enjoyed sharing my perspective there and plan to continue curating photography stories in my FlakPhoto Reads magazine. Here are a few things that caught my eye this month.
Five Photographers
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Five Photographers
I thought it might be nice to kick off the weekend with some pictures. It's been a hell of a hot week here in Madison, and the heat dome finally lifted this morning. Phew! If you've been following my Instagram for any amount of time, you know I love pictures of people. Portraiture is one of my favorite kinds of photography. It's a genre, but I see it as a way to use photography — to picture people, to show us how they look and maybe even who they are.
Cotati City Council decides against community member's pleas
This story is available to read exclusively on our website. At Tuesday’s bi-weekly meeting, the Cotati City Council made a decision that is at odds with what community members asked for. Neighbors of a zoning change applicant showed up in force to urge the council to postpone the zoning change another 60 days. A piece of property located at the corner of Highway 116 and Alder Avenue is planned to be re-zoned from a PUD (Planned Unit Development).
Are you an artist?
Hi Andy! I'm Ann and I currently live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina-- a wonderful college town a lot like Madison, Wisconsin! In fact, I grew up near Rockford, Illinois, so I'm definitely from your part of the country-- howdy neighbor! I'm a former ICU nurse, who now works in the field of dentistry. I love to create space for patients to feel safe, and respected, and valued for their own unique way of being in the world. Nursing is an honor and a calling for me.
Are you an artist?
“Human creativity is nature manifest in us.” — Ethan Hawke Just a short post today. I want to hear from you when you have a few minutes. Many of you know I’m as fascinated with the internet as I am with photography. The FlakPhoto project has long been focused on exploring the intersection of digital culture and creative practice, and the thing I love most about the Web is how it connects us to each other.
What inspires you?
Two thoughts: 1. Figure out what was first, lack of energy or lack of creativity? For me mostly low energy leads to low creativity sooner or later, as the brain simply becomes overwhelmed or in other words: when my energy is alright I rarely struggle with creativity. 2. That said: Preventing low energy seems the key. For me this is crucially connected to daily habits or rather a high awareness of what I am actually doing in most moments.
What inspires you?
I’m feeling flat today. I know you can relate. This has been an intense week at work, I’ve been extremely productive in that part of my life, and I know I’m drained from the experience. I’m tired and probably need a good rest. But it always makes me feel a little low when my creative juices aren’t flowing. Do you know what I mean? I wanted to send a newsletter this week, and I woke up today thinking I should just let it go. That’s healthy. Sometimes the right thing is to cut the cord and take a break.
Five Photographers
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Five Photographers
Will Threads last? It’s hard to know. I’m enjoying it, but most folks still do their thing on IG. I don’t blame them. Who has time to kickstart a new social media presence? Either way, I’ll keep writing this Five Photographers feature. gave it a shout-out this week, so we must be doing something right! As always, if you make pictures or know someone who does, please drop me a line so I can check out their work. I’m always looking and love seeing new images.
On RADAR and Red Clay
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On RADAR and Red Clay
"It is place, permanent position in both the social and topographical sense, that gives us our identity." J. B. Jackson Years ago, the RISD Museum asked me to curate an exhibition of contemporary landscape photography. That was exciting because the landscape had always been an interest of mine. I’m an avid hiker and backpacker, and these days an enthusiastic walker, and being out in wild places always makes me happier than just about anywhere else.
The Art of Curation
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The Art of Curation
Something personal from me to you. I will keep this post short because it’s mainly about listening and not reading. I seldom use this newsletter to promote my projects, but I’m eager to share this because I rarely get to talk at length about FlakPhoto and what it means to me. The truth is photography has changed my life. Writing this newsletter has added an exciting new dimension to what has essentially been a nearly two-decades-long curatorial and community experiment.
Why do you love photography?
Hey everybody! I just wanted to check in and remind you that I’m giving away a copy of Tim Carpenter’s new book, To Photograph is to Learn How to Die to one of my subscribers this week. More than 70 readers have tossed their hats into the ring, and I wanted to make sure that each of you has an opportunity if you’re interested.
To photograph is to learn how to die
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To photograph is to learn how to die
How’s everybody doing out there? The lazy summertime vibes are in full effect here in Madison. I’ve been AWOL lately, and I suspect most of you haven’t missed me since you’re doing the same thing in your world. Good for you! That’s the way it should be. I told you before that I wanted to open up to other photography voices, and I’ve been lining up some guest writers I’m excited to share with you soon. Please drop me a line if you’d like to contribute; I’m open to ideas.
Five Photographers
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Five Photographers
What can I say — I’m hooked! I always gripe about Instagram, but it’s still my go-to place for photography conversations. And too many interesting creative people are hanging out there to ignore it. I’m having so much fun with this Five Photographers feature and hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. It feels good to return to my roots and showcase the great new work that’s caught my eye. I’ll keep this post brief so you can right to it.
Spotlight: Greg Miller
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Spotlight: Greg Miller
Every picture has a story. You know by now that I love hearing photographers talk about their work. Yet, surprisingly few imagemakers have leveraged the power of the internet to publish audio stories that feature their photography. I want to do more of that here in , and I hope some of you will consider recording a story for me at some point. Tim Davis sent one a few weeks ago, and it was pretty terrific.
My Flipboard Residency
Here’s something a little different. I don’t usually write about personal projects here, but this one seems relevant to the things you’ve come to expect from me, so I hope you don’t mind. Years ago, I realized that curating the photographic Web was a fun and creative way for me to use the internet, and I’ve been recommending photography readables in various ways over the years — on the old FlakPhoto blog, in the FlakPhoto Network and on Twitter.
Five Photographers
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Five Photographers
Thanks so much to everyone who responded to my previous post and emailed with links to your work. I have always loved curating from within the photoland community, and it feels great to get back to that here in . My relationship with Instagram is evolving, but I really want to rely on it less for my work. It’s obviously terrific for discovering photography, but it’s pretty awful for looking at pictures. Of course, the question is how closely are we paying attention to the photography we see online?
Show me your work?
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Show me your work?
I’ve been in San Francisco on a work trip the past week, so I’ve been quiet here lately. But I can’t seem to help myself, so I’ve been writing short posts and sharing pictures in Substack’s Notes feed. If you’re looking for an alternative social space, you might check it out. There are lots of writers (and readers) hanging out there and a surprising number of photographers and artists. I’m having fun. You might too.
Spotlight: Dawoud Bey
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Spotlight: Dawoud Bey
What I love most about writing this newsletter is the feedback after I push the button and send a post out into the world. So many of you wrote me after reading Dawoud Bey’s reflections on Richard Avedon’s “In the American West” the other day, and it was fun to hear your stories about Avedon’s influence.
Seeing in the moment
“My pictures speak for themselves.” I can’t tell you many times I’ve heard photographers say that. I get that imagemakers don’t always like talking about their work. I struggle with it too. The truth is, it’s not easy. Most of the time, artists’ statements read like so much gibberish it’s impossible to understand what they mean. And in general, I think photographers can get too hung up on the formal nature of writing about their pictures.
Comments - Avedon at 100 - by Andy Adams - FlakPhoto Digest
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Avedon at 100
We all stand on the shoulders of giants. That’s a beautiful thing about photography — learning how previous artists have inspired those artists we admire. Dawoud Bey is one of my favorite photographers, and I always look forward to his social media posts. He wrote about this Avedon picture on Facebook the other day, and it resonated with me, so I asked if we could reprint it here. He graciously agreed.
Five photographers
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Five photographers
Years ago, I picked up an Instagram habit, and for better or worse, I’ve been using it every day since. I wrote about my love/hate relationship with IG last year: Every artist I know hates what Instagram has become. Yet, we all still use it. One of my IG friends called it “an unhappy marriage of convenience.” I’ve begun to wonder if my relationship with Instagram is closer to Stockholm Syndrome than genuine affection. It’s not a healthy dynamic, yet most of us are staying put.
You're a part of this
Since you asked, outside of work my main project is my personal blog which I'm currently cross-posting onto Substack while I try out this place. My blog is a platform and archive for eclectic personal projects and posts. My current two projects are "Notes on My Consumption" where I write about what I read (a forcing mechanism so that I'm more aware as I go through the books) and "Penny Delights" prose poems recording life with kids.
You're a part of this
That’s my office — FlakPhoto HQ It’s not much, but I realized years ago that all I needed was a laptop and some Wi-Fi. Promoting photography and the people who practice it is one of my deepest passions. It’s a funny habit, and I love it. I’ve been exploring Substack Notes for the past few weeks. It’s fun, like Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook, without all the ad clutter. The community vibe is strong and supportive. The best part about it has been meeting so many new people.
Stacks to read this weekend
I don’t usually send two emails in the same day, but I want to send you into the weekend with some recommended reading material from the wonderful and always-improving Substack. You know I want you to write, publish, repeat. Maybe ’s work will help you. Do you like looking at pictures? So does , who runs a great photography digest. writes about our relationship with work. Whether you’re back in office, still at home, or hybrid, this is good stuff.
A picture of everything
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A picture of everything
Too funny — Somebody shared this cartoon with me this afternoon, and it made me laugh out loud. I needed it after so much AI chatter these past few days. I’ll bet you do too. It’s a lot to think about, and not all good news. I’ll keep things brief, but I wanted to ask a small favor. I’ve been writing this newsletter since last September, and I would love for more photo folks to hear about it. Word of mouth is how this spreads, and every little bit helps.
Down the AI rabbit hole
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Down the AI rabbit hole
“Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful.
Readers Respond: AI Photography
What text-to-image generates is without a camera at the production stage, so it's more of a '-gram' (the difference between a photogrraph and a photogram is whether a camera is used'. But as text-to-image doesn't involve light either, it'd help to drop the prefix 'photo-'. Yup; we much need a new word, and with that will come a lot less confusion. Some writers have suggested 'synthography' but I think that leaves too much room for confusion. I'd prefer 'synthogram'.
Readers Respond: AI Photography
Thanks, everyone, for the great feedback on my AI-generated imagery post this week. Part of why I write these things is to help me understand something I’m exploring. Thinking in public is a risky business. For better or worse, I’ve been doing that with FlakPhoto for the past 17 years. It usually pays off mainly because thoughtful people come out of the woodwork to share their insights and opinions with me.
It's not photography
I think it's interesting that despite both the artist himself and AI being very clear that his image is not photography, we still want to ask "Or is it." No. It's not. It's photographic certainly, but as he explicitly states, it's not photography. Even technically it's not photography. It doesn't capture light on a surface or sensor. It analyzes data to create the proximity of it. There is no subject being captured. No scenery. Only recreations based on data.
It's not photography
By now, I’m guessing that you have. I quite like it. It’s a beautiful picture — evocative and weird in a wonderfully cinematic way. The image is from Boris Eldagsen’s PSEUDOMNESIA: Fake Memories series. Is it photography? Not quite. Here’s how he describes the work: PSEUDOMNESIA is the Latin term for pseudo memory, a fake memory, such as a spurious recollection of events that never took place, as opposed to a memory that is merely inaccurate.
Spotlight: Four to Follow
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