Starting Over. Fewer Constraints. Less Baggage. Fewer Guardrails.

The ceiling of the old bank in Montreal that houses Crew Café.

The most visually interesting coffee house I have ever visited. 

 I've been writing a blog since 2009. I take a lot of pleasure in writing daily and also showing images. The blog I've been writing is called, "The Visual Science Lab." It covered the last fifteen years of a 37 year long career as a working photographer. I've shared nearly 6,000 blog posts, tens of thousands of photographs and many deeply held opinions and observations. Having worked on a blog that's been seen  nearly thirty two million times via direct page views on the site, and millions more times via RSS feeds and appropriated links, means that the old blog comes with a lot of momentum, baggage and weight. I've started to feel as though I've been dragging an anchor around with me as I think about things and write them down. Too much history --- but history is contextual. I'm tired of writing something in 2024 only to be chided by a reader who seethes that I wrote "the exact opposite thing in 2009!!!" It gets old. People need to keep up. Everything changes. And in photography everything changes even quicker. Antiquated and established habits of thinking are not particularly healthy...

When I bought a new car last week I did not do so because my existing car was old, obsolete or failing. In fact, it endured a whopping 20,000 miles over the three years that I owned it. But it was a practical and utilitarian, small SUV. A symbol of the work and mindset I'd run with for decades. It was a "work" vehicle designed for economy of operation and its ability to haul lots of gear and props around to corporate and advertising photo shoots. The older vehicle gets high scores from nearly everyone for reliability and endurance. They are built to go 200,000+ miles. And mine was looking as new as when I drove it home for the first time. 

But here's the deal; my life is changing. I no longer need to book the big, stressful, anxiety provoking jobs that helped me buy houses, put a kid through private college or shovel money into investments for retirement. I'm ready to step back. Not a full, binary "next tuesday we're doing a hard stop" sort of quitting but a more nuanced downsizing of responsibility and work. And drudgery. And, as a smart friend suggested, as long as I maintain my work habits I'll keep accepting the jobs because... why not?

So, the new car is, for a working photographer, less practical. There's no rack on the roof. There's no hatchback, there's no tow hitch. But there is something that's now more meaningful to me: It's just fucking fun to drive in a way that SUVs never are. The switch became a signifier to me that I'm getting serious about turning down all but the most fun sorts of jobs. My real focus, going forward, is to do photography for an audience of one or two. Me and maybe B. But it's photography I'd love to share with anyone else who is interested. The new car is a marker of fresh intention. Like our heightened focus on elevating the condition of our house. A focus on enjoyment combined with visual pleasure, valued over the grind of working. 

This blog will be different from the Visual Science Lab. More personal. More oriented towards imaging and art. Not just photography but across media. In fact, the last two pieces of art that we've purchased have been paintings and lithographs and not photographs. I'm down for just about anything that's interesting and happy. 

I intend to have a lot more fun on this blog. That's what it's here for. No advertising. No affiliate links. No mercantile agenda. Just fun. Opinions. A bit of friction. And no worries that something might not be appropriate for clients or thin-skinned peers. Just unalloyed, stream of consciousness, sometimes reactive, written sharing accompanied by photographs. 

Now transitioning my attention from VSL to here. Enjoy the ride. 

disclaimer: No health issues, no run-ins with angry commenters, no money issues, still swimming, running, walking, lifting and eating well. This new blog is a natural transition away from commerce and into a greater enjoyment of the art of photography. 

There is no schedule. No Patreon page. No requests for support. No promise of weekly sameness. And no allegiance to the status quo. This the first shot over the bow. Hope you like it.