The Poetry of Time

How film photography helps us remember

An exploration of film photography, time capsules and the literal act of development,

movement and the human experience.

I have a deep love and slight obsession for analog things. The definition of analog is “relating to or being a mechanism or device in which information is represented by continuously variable physical quantities.” This basically means displaying information in a non-digital way through physical components. An analog clock for example has a hand that point to the hour rather that digital numbers displayed. Analog if found in most things you may associate with “hipsters” and has become quite trendy in recent years: film photography, vinyl records, super 8 films, typewriters, even stick shift cars could be considered in this category… All things I absolutely adore and find myself collecting over time. During my time as a barista at states coffee, I learned to love the physical and analog nature of making espresso with a beautiful La Marzocco machine and steaming milk by hand. It took countless failed shots of espresso and burnt milk to finally learn skill of craft coffee- making the perfect cappuccino.

It takes time to learn to use machines by hand and is not often the most efficient or convenient path to a product. There is, however, a sacred embodiment that happens in the space of creating something with your hands. Your mind, body and spirit collaborate to work out a mathematical situation with a machine to produce something that has the human touch embedded into it. Have you compared the taste of a Keurig coffee to a home-brewed pour over cup of single origin craft coffee lately? Have you felt a country road beneath you in a vintage stick shift car, purring with every turn? Have you listened to The Mammas and the Pappas on vinyl with the slight scratch and fuzz of sound? The time, effort and apprenticeship to create something special is slowly fading away in the loud noise of consumerism and fast paced nature of our modern world. Analog breathes romance back into the process making. It embraces quality over speed.

Perhaps you know I’ve accumulated over 30 typewriters over the past 10 years, most of which eventually get passed into the hands of friends and artists. The “click-clack” non-digital space of pounding out words in ink onto the blank page has been a refuge for me as a poet, an experience I love sharing with the world. The genesis of my love for analog art making began when I was fifteen in the dark room of College Park high school. Mrs. K, my inspiring photography teacher, had us creating pin-hole photographs for our introduction to black and white photography. Chemistry and light played as I watched my first image appear like magic in the developer bath- standing in the dim red light, I fell in love with creating images.

Film photography is a tricky, toxic and expensive craft. This year I was awarded a grant from Cru Arts and Culture to develop over fifteen rolls of expired film. I have found expired film over the past 10 years, most of which belonged to my Grandfather before he passed in 2010. Although these film rolls have expired, they still hold potential for the unexpected poetry of time held within. This week I got the exciting email from Photo Vision (my favorite US lab) that my scans were ready! It is a sacred moment full of surprises. I lit a taper candle (is fire is the analog form of light?) and cozied up to dive into the memory of the past year on film. One mystery roll was found exposed in a camera from my Grandmother that had been sitting there for 15 years before Dadu’s passing. The light in those images are as if an angel was sitting on the film for over a decade (below).

Poetry is embedded in the medium of film photography- light leaks, double exposures, expiration dates, patience and everything in between allows for mystery to embraced in the process.

My ongoing research of HOME has brought me into many mediums that express the poetry of relationships. Film help creates unassuming connections and lets down barriers that digital can sometimes create. Hospitality remains central to my practice, especially while photographing. I hope to make people feel seen, welcome and loved through capturing moments and portraits of the everyday ordinary moments of life.

This thin space of cultivating relationship and creating art is holy ground I get to stand on.

Special thanks to a few people who’ve inspired my love for all things analog:

• Mrs. K for teaching me the basics of photography and letting me play with light

• Marissa Wu for re-sparking my love for film in 2020, Sarah Strand for continuing the adventure with cameras strapped around your neck

• Keith and Brett at States for entrusting us with the sacred craft of coffee and community

• Aunt Jenna for gifting me the 1978 Mercedes 240D from Dadu that brought romance to driving

• Mom for her love of all things vintage and getting me an Olympus Typewriter for my 16th birthday

• Lucas Peters and Shakespeare & Co. for opening the typewriter community to me in Paris and pairing me with my Olivetti blue machine

• Pam and Rags at Shotwell paper mill for embracing the fullness of craft and quality through handmade paper

• Peter: a true renaissance man and love of my life with writing quills, sourdough bread, film developing chemicals, fermenting goods, pianos and all good and real things that swirl in our everyday life.

*Thank you CA&C for the generous grant to make these photos come to light out of darkness!

fellow analog lovers: Peter on the public piano, Mom mending pants, Madeline & Adelle at a magical pique-nique graced by horses

this post features many artists I’m honored to know including Elaine, Jesse, Jackie, Praise, Adelle, Madeline, Lauren, Bonnie, Katie, Havilah, Allie. Check out their work!