Spatial Facts
The transition from recognizing a subject to perceiving a frame is where photography becomes an act of pure presence. When a picture refuses to organize itself around a central point of interest, it strips away the manufactured drama of a traditional narrative. Instead, it forces an intersection with the physical reality of the environment exactly as it stands. Forms, textures, arrangements, and light are no longer just details supporting a main subject; they become the subject itself.
The Last Time for the First Time
The last time for the last time means there was a last time for the first time too. If you trace it back, finality isn’t a single sharp drop; it’s a rhythm that eventually runs out of steam. We use the phrase “for the last time” to draw a hard line in the dirt, to signal an ending or a boundary that we swear is permanent. But the moment you find yourself staring at the actual, definitive end — the last time for the last time — you realize that closure has its own history. It means that somewhere in the past, there was a first time you thought a door was shut, only for the hinges to give way again later.
From Newsprint to the Artist’s Zine
How do newspapers still hit newsstands post-2025? A broadsheet with morning coffee was once a daily ritual.
So far apart
Odessa makes the most sense in a car on Grant Avenue at night listening to Only the Lonely.
Out on a Stretch
Sometimes I don’t know if I’m out on a stretch or out on a stretch of highway. The thing I’ve learned in taking pictures is that when you’re out with the camera, you have thoughts. I like to sit and write those thoughts down. Some of what I’ve posted is exactly that.
Living Snapshot
A change of scenery is a change of mind. If I could write one thing that’s lasting and useful, that would do. We usually sound repetitive inside, but outside, we become something new.
The Universe Observing Itself
We are the universe standing in our shoes.
From Memory
One way to truly see what’s all around is to go somewhere else.
The Look
The trick is to a make picture that’s neither too saturated nor flat — neither too contrasty nor flat — just plain honest. It’s tougher to accomplish than one might think.
In Parts
West Texas is just far — far from perfect — far from over — far from anywhere.
Off-kiltered
We’re each a little so-so and better at different things. The fear of not measuring up stings.
You have to be
I’m as interested in how a picture is made as in what it shows because you have to be. I’m talking about tools, texture, and tone. I’m thinking about lighting, color, and composition, and how well-assembled pictures can show nothing at all — and that’s okay.
Beyond Awful
Whenever I see a perfect picture, I’ll think, surely this isn’t real.
Bumbling
I embody something infuriating — an average person doing something. The combination of being run-of-the-mill and doing something creative is a frontier.
Going to Town
A black-and-white picture of small-town Texas is sort of what western swing music looks like — if that makes sense.
Traveling Kindly
Go without want.
Poetry
If music is older than language, then that’s probably a large part of it.
In the Moment
It transitions from play to art as we age, and in learning, it continues.
Lightweight
The less we make photography about something, the more it accommodates.
Taking or Making
In photographing landscapes, places, and found environments, perhaps the difference between making and taking lives in the focal length, where a 35mm takes, and a 50mm makes.