My dear friends,
Welcome to the 3rd issue of JAYPEGS! As we kick off the new year, I’d like to talk about new year resolutions and starting the year right...
...or that should be how this issue goes if I followed my plans (and I have planned the issues of this newsletter out, I swear!). However, I found myself in a new country (on a University exchange programme to the UK) at the planned time of writing, dealing very much with jet lag, winter weather and the passing of cheap accessible food (I miss you Old Airport Road hawker center). And soon after I finally settled down, I found myself down AGAIN with COVID...and here I am waiting for negative results on my lateral flow tests. It does give me however, after resting for 5 days, time to finish this VERY LATE issue; almost a month late in fact, but you’ll forgive me won’t you :’) It’s still counts as the last week of January...
...and it’s never too late to start.
You can ask any one of my friends about me, and they would probably tell you how often they catch me doing one thing when I should have been doing another. No, I do actually end up finishing my tasks and to-dos (I’ve been hard-wired and trained through many a deadline and trial by fire) with finesse (my friends say I am motivated by a foreboding sense of doom and I’m too anxious not to have a Plan B). However, we are always left to wonder how things would turn out if they had gone differently, and it is something I often ruminate on. Photography is a hobby of mine I would love to commit all my time to, but I am a cog in our society that must feed the machine ~
I have been trying to make a change in that regard; to “seize the day” as some might put it, so I might have more time to rest and do the things I love. In all honesty, I still often find myself meeting with my worst nemesis (myself!) It is especially so for my pursuit in photography; I often have to justify to myself the cost I pay for film and the time I spent photographing and thinking about my process, in favour of other things I might have on my plate. It is, after all, only a hobby, and I am but one of many amateur photographers in a field as wide as you can dream.
Yet it is photography and its processes that make me happy; it brings me joy, comfort, and thrill in my life, together with people I would have never met and allows me to say things in ways only pictures can. I wish not to live a life side-lined by my own inconveniences and laid waste by more “urgent” priorities; we so often put aside the things that we enjoy for other matters in life; but it’s never too late to start, and better to start than not at all.
Goals, checklists, routine
So how do we do this? I have decided on goal-setting to keeping my hobbies and happiness afloat this year (very timely for new year resolutions! Or at least it was! Once again, never too late to start). There are other ways through structure that one might achieve the same effect; a daily checklist to tick off or a weekend routine one should keep. It is the act of actively including your hobbies into your life, beyond something you do in your “free time” that might never come by. Photography, in that regard, is both easy and hard to pursue; taking your camera with you every day is easy practise and spices up your daily commute once the habit is formed, but might not be so easy to grab on to. It is why I choose goals with more long-term commitments, ones I can work on regularly. Perhaps my 3 goals for this year may inspire you to come up with some, and you can keep me accountable for them as well. We are after all, all in this together, dear reader!
Goal #1: Honing my direction
I’d previously spoke about how, as I spent more time photographing, I found myself drawn away from the spontaneity of the street and towards telling more long-form stories. It is a direction I wish to continue pursuing, and so I have begun being more intentional, taking photos at one place regularly over a longer period of time and engaging more with subjects in the area. Since I find myself in the countryside about 2 hours away from London, I’ve decided to hone in on the canals in my area (my window currently overlooks one) and the people that have their strolls here. The photos in this issue are from my first 2 rolls in the UK, and I anticipate many more to come.
Goal #2: Revisiting my old work
I always mention the importance of sitting on your archive, and over the past few weeks I have found myself sifting through my photographs once again, looking for things I could have improved or elements that I have lost along the way. I’m excited to do this for 2 reasons, the first being my recent purchase of a second-hand mirrorless camera, opening up the way for scanning negatives on my own. While their negatives are back home, I have been earmarking those that can potentially be given new life once I return; reinterpreting and presenting them in new ways has never seemed so possible.
Goal #3: Photography projects
The 2nd reason for my excitement is due to my plans for my first publication; it is something I have worked on for a long time, and revisiting my old works lets me see not only how far I’ve come, but also how much more I need to put it together. I plan to release it some time at the tail end of the year, focusing on what our homes mean to us. Cataloging my images while I’m away from Singapore not only puts some objective distance between me and the work, but also lets me ponder more deeply this question.
My 2nd project for the year entails another pet idea of mine I have been thinking about since I struggled with Instagram; a monthly print subscription! I plan to send out prints of photos I’ve taken that month to subscribers, and it would cost you barely more than what it costs me to print and mail them. I’ve always believed in the power of a print and its place as the final destination of images, and I hope I’ll be able to physically bring that to people who want them easily and affordably. While I am finding a suitable subscription platform to do this (Paetron? buymeacoffee?), I plan to roll this out in May, and you, my dear friends, will definitely hear about it here first.
Keep it going!
Sometimes, even with goals and structure, we need a kick to get us started or keep us going. If you’ve read this far, let me direct you off Instagram to other places where you might glimmer some inspiration. While Youtube might not seem like a much better place to turn to, I find that if you manage to look beyond the “hipsters” that rule, you can find some channels that will give that spark. I previously introduced to you Daniel Milnor, but if you would like more, you can check out these 3 Youtube channels and videos that have got me reaching for my camera or notebook this past few weeks.
Matt Day - Photographic Therapy
The Founding Father of the film community on Youtube. Fret not, his videos are no longer focused on gear tutorials, but rather sharing much more on his own photography journey and processes as he moves on to a new stage of his life, in the genuine way that only he can. His recent video hits very close to home on how making photos impact on our lives, and I believe it ties in very well with what we speak about in this issue.
Bryan Birks - Photographers Who Inspired Me in 2021
Bryan has always amazed me since I first saw his videos - honest about himself and his process, it always showed me good photography is not just in the hands of the hip or wealthy. His Analog Artisans videos are astounding, and his yearly sharing on his own inspirations always introduces me to new photographers and inspires me as well.
Willysheepskin - Kent Andreasen’s Hidden Rivers
William’s channel is one I adore; his colors, imagery and the way he shares his stories always gets me excited at how much fun photography can be. In this video, he shares about a project he has been helping Kent Andreasen with, another photographer I admire. It is an important story that needs to be told, and I hope inspires you to look around us more deeply, cameras in hand.
And so it begins...hopefully!
The process might be easy to some, or lofty to others, but I hope it sparks you to do something similar with your hobbies and things you love. Nothing is too little or too unimportant; it is a new year, and perhaps it is time to start actively making decisions that can help you enjoy it. You deserve very much to break free from work, school or what life throws your way.
I hope you’ve gleamed something from this issue, and spread the word about our newsletter to your friends. In our next issue, I’ll talk about a recent project I have released (you might have seen me sharing it), the process and difficulties I faced, along with how I am rereleasing it in the near future. Have a great February, and I shall see you in our next issue.