THE SORT
Another box of pictures one’s to sort,
Decades lost in the attic … a light cough
Of separation, instinctual pause
Of action, by those who say little
Of themselves, captors unmarked, unnamed
By the sweet curving hand of late Aunt June,
Who at a glance of rippled-edged rectangles
Would have penned a phonebook of relations. […]
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. […]
