New York City’s coldest winter in decades thawed into mud, froze again, then gave way to the hottest spring of my lifetime. Given the irreality of both seasons, you will find a mix of urban grunge and analog dreamscapes, mostly in color with a few black-and-white shots.
All photos were taken on the Pentax MX 35mm camera loaded with Kodak UltraMax 400 film.
You may contact me for high-resolution versions of each image. You can also view 100s of more shots from around the world here. […]
Walking around Washington DC for the first time ever, I was simultaneously impressed that this was the purported center of the world, and disappointed that it was the purported center of the world. All museums are free, the city is walkable, there is urban grunge worth exploring and photographing, yet many sites were closed (reflecting pool, much of the White House lawn, etc.) and there was little sense of that imperial permanence America wishes so badly to project.
But perhaps that is the point. I expected more military presence (especially under the Trump administration, which values this aesthetic even as it systematically loses every war), and its lack was almost gaudy. Monuments, crowds imperturbed, and liberal amenities are preferred over open militarism – which becomes stronger by implication. The lesser-known corners (or even just angles) of Washington, DC are endless, which was obvious even though I only spent a short time there.
All photos were taken on a Pentax MX loaded with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400. In my quest for a better hit rate, I’ve settled on more expensive film to calm my trigger finger. Total cost was $98 to buy film and develop these photos – or, a bit over $3 per shot, after averaging in discarded shots. That is a trade I will take. […]
The greatest painting of the 21st century is not what you think it is.
It isn’t abstract, but it also isn’t very realistic.
It’s not “epic,” it’s not dramatic, it isn’t political or historical or even all that psychological.
The painting is quite simple—though it still takes its time.
It is at once specific and universal.
It is Mark Tennant’s “Clothesline,” which he painted in 2018. […]
It’s almost been a year since I picked up a Pentax MX and tried my hand at analog photography. I am now on my second Pentax after the first broke down, which means that, after tallying up the costs of development, maintenance, film, and other purchases, each push of the shutter averages out to ~$1.25. If, like me, your hit rate is low, the true cost (after discarding unwanted shots) can run higher. Such math isn’t great, but having to pay for every photo has turned me into a more mindful photographer, not only in terms of subjects, but also through a richer understanding of the camera itself. The randomness of analog can be exciting—you never know what you will get, and sometimes, you don’t have much of a say in what it is.
In a worst-case scenario, with equipment breakdowns and a poor hit rate, a decent photographer “only” spends $5 per shot. That might sound like a lot, but relative to what? Each $5 brings something new into the universe, a snapshot of a time and place which ceases to exist as soon as the photo is taken. Contrast this with a typical $5 spent on consumption, which usually removes things from the world under the guise of addition.
These photos were taken on a Pentax MX in Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Minneapolis, Virginia, New York City, and Los Angeles during the second half of 2025.
You can view my “Digital Grunge” series here as well as 100s of my best photos over the years.
A few months ago, I started to use the Canon EOS M50’s 4K video option for much of my digital photography. Since I edit digital photos quite a bit, 4K video offers a good balance of crispness and fuzziness, allowing you to more easily control how illustrative the final result should be. It also allows you to choose the best photographic still and not worry about precise timing. The M50 doesn’t have the best autofocus, yet this can be an advantage when catching (or omitting) certain details in the shot. Some images, such as “Thoughts Hang Like Rain” (below), would have been difficult without 4K video and haphazard autofocus. As a result, there can be a grunge feel even in the more delicate shots.
These photos were taken in the second half of 2025, across New York City, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Nebraska. Although the Canon M50 is mostly my support camera for stray shots, they can be excellent photographs in their own right, since few cameras are as light, nimble, and forgiving. Because I shoot V-Log on my LUMIX, I use Vivid preset on the M50 to make these shots more dramatic. This is especially useful for desaturating the color grade later, as it will still look quite rich. […]
Although I have been taking photos for some time, there was no real purpose behind it until Joel Parrish and I decided to shoot our first film—”From There To There: Bruce Ario, The Minneapolis Poet”. Today, I am in the habit of carrying a camera on my walks, which has better attuned me to my surroundings and creates an obligation to document them.
These photos are arranged chronologically, beginning in 2009/10, when I was studying abroad in China and Greece. There is almost nothing from this period, despite having taken 100s of photos, as they are not worth looking at. The ones that do appear are poorly preserved and/or damaged. In all, there are a couple dozen photos between 2009 and 2021 that were good (or at least ‘interesting’) enough to display—a hit rate which suggests my lack of interest in photography then. […]
Greatness, when applied to an artist, should always be used sparingly. After all, too easily one can conflate fame and emotion with excellence. Rather, one should remain dubious upon such a mention, and with that, always continue to question. Yet it has become commonplace, unfortunately, for many to confuse objective excellence with what they like. However, I will inform you that your emotion is a con artist. That’s right. Yes, I too have cried at the end of Forrest Gump when I saw the white feather floating in the wind, and when I heard the piano music from Terms of Endearment, but I don’t confuse either of these works with the best of what one might call ‘high-brow excellence.’ I’ve never cried at the end of an Antonioni or Bergman film, for instance. Should it matter?
As such, I am here to introduce a new artist (at least to me), Stanisław Szukalski (1893-1987). But allow me share how I stumbled upon him. Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski is a 2018 Netflix film produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and his father, George DiCaprio. In short, Szukalski was a highly creative man renowned in Poland (at least during the 1930s and 40s) and was called the greatest living sculptor. And while I’d have a hard time agreeing with such hyperbole regarding anyone, he is, at the very least, an interesting, complex artist and person more deserving of an audience. Can I concur that he is the Michelangelo of the 20th Century? He is certainly excellent within his craft, but given that I’d not heard of Stanisław Szukalski before this, I only have the images present within the film to base my opinion on. And who am I but an observer? […]
As the inundation of artificial imaging finalizes the mass production of industrial influence on design, there are those who yearn for the individual, the bespoke, the rare. Given the beleaguered economic circumstances of many, that desire might be as modest as a want of a bit of cheer, something to brighten the soul-deafening and ubiquitous Greige that speaks not of neutrality, but oppression. While some cultural sensitives might look to the runways, to the pantone color choices, to the design awards for their aesthetic inspirations, there’s an ouroboros aspect to these products that reflects an almost morbid sense of disassociation, a dreariness that might have luxury retailers posting despair. Obviously, if big box shoppers want plastic handbags that imitate a historic, heirloom design—that, in original, costs as much as a used car—then many people feel the hunger to own something nice.
Collections of nice things are the bread and butter of museums and auction houses, and of estate sales. Of these, a prosaic errand trip is more likely to stop at the estate sale, or its cousin, the sidewalk sale; though there are craftspeople who will set up at empty corner lots, local sales events and various outdoor markets. Any vista of such a gathering will yield a sharp view into that region’s economy—as if the colonization of dollar stores weren’t clue enough. Nonetheless, someone in perpetual sticker shock at the grocers isn’t exempt for also wanting a bit of cheer, but how that is accomplished requires an awareness of how each of us relates to a concept of home. Yet some people do cherish where they live. Whether or not they have elaborate or modest residencies, whether or not they host guests, there are those for whom their home is a cherished retreat. What bit of cheer feathers such nests? […]
