Camera itch

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Last year, I was randomly working on setting up some galleries for my SNL reviews when I realized that the settings for my photography portfolios were wrong. As I fixed them, it reminded me that I haven’t really taken pictures with my camera in almost three years, when I took some portraits of my friend Lindsay in the Public Gardens. Unfortunately, this was also around the time my gender dysphoria was hitting hard; combined with the number of pictures to sift through and edit, my motivation just went away. I’m in a better frame of mind these days, but I mostly use my phone for pictures now, usually for selfies.

Lately I’ve been thinking more about taking pictures with the camera again. Part of it is to shake the rust off, but I also want to get back to playing around and letting myself have fun because I feel like I forgot how. When I was trying to make money or build a name for myself, it really took a lot of the enjoyment out of it, especially when I was disappointed with everything I shot.

I have some ideas for subjects on a few photography projects I want to eventually work on, but I still don’t really know what I ultimately want to say with them:

  • It’s always fascinated me how a hair change seems to have this deeper significance, and how it can signify shedding old energy and starting over. There’s always a bit of euphoria present whenever I see someone show off a fresh haircut; one of my Facebook friends called it “instant serotonin” and it stuck with me; this goes for dye jobs as well. I also asked people about their baldness, whether it was by choice or by circumstance, and how long they’ve embraced the look.

  • Along that line, I’m curious about the changes people make to feel at home in their bodies. I asked people on social media about what they did to achieve that. I also asked about the things that make life better for them when times are rough.

  • I’ve always loved the idea of tracking changes over a long period of time, either with people or places.

  • I’d also love to do a series on different communities and finding belonging, or one documenting ordinary life.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. I just want to have some new stuff to put in my galleries.

I took this one morning walking from the bus stop to work. I figure I may as well use my phone’s camera for other things than selfies.