Category: Ecstasis

by jad

Nuclear Culture & Photography

“The first bomb, set to go off at a height of some five hundred metres, produced a nuclear flash which lasted one fifteenth-millionth of a second, and whose brightness penetrated every building down to the cellars. It left its imprint on stone walls, changing their apparent colour through the fusion of certain minerals, although protected surfaces remained curiously un-altered. The same was the case with clothing and bodies, where kimono patterns were tattooed on the victims’ flesh. If photography, according to its inventor Nicéphore Niepce, was simply a method of engraving with light, where bodies inscribed their traces by virtue … Continue reading “Nuclear Culture & Photography” →

by jad

“Phooey America”: Nuclear Culture

I’ve been interested in the history of the atom bomb and nuclear technology ever since I read about Hanford in a book on the Columbia River called “The Organic Machine” almost two years ago. This book inspired me to visit the region last summer for my first serious foray into film photography, and soon after, I would fortuitously meet a photographer at the PCNW fair who had published a whole book on that area I had just been to. I was hooked and I kept telling myself I’d visit again. I immersed myself in the history of that godawful decision … Continue reading ““Phooey America”: Nuclear Culture” →

by jad

Montréal: Kahnawake

St Kateri’s shrine was the reason we’d thought to visit Montreal in the first place, so, as you might imagine, standing here by the quiet banks of the Saint Laurent after months of anticipation felt pretty good. Our Lyft driver’s GPS had been acting up, which meant that I’d get a chance to have my longest exchange in French of the trip (which also felt really good). More significantly, it also led to experiencing this church from this vantage point first. I don’t know what was special about this tree, but it literally took my breath away. Christine was walking … Continue reading “Montréal: Kahnawake” →

by jad

Montréal: Habitat 67

Habitat 67 is an iconic housing complex situated on a man-made peninsula in the Saint Lawrence River. It was constructed as a prototype of the future of urban living for Montreal’s #Expo67, the theme of which was “Man and His World” (sorry ladies). It was supposed to demonstrate how urban mixity and suburban individuality could be brought together in an affordable way, but that last part crumbled under the pressure of the actual cost of construction. The modular units are now expensive condos. Spots for the walking tour only opened up a week before we visited (on my birthday, no less), … Continue reading “Montréal: Habitat 67” →

by jad

Montréal on 35mm

I just got my scans back from @moodysfilm – I was worried the imposed airport x-ray might have ruined my rolls (first time flying with film), but, thankfully, it seems like we scraped through! These were some of the last shots I took on one of the last things we did on our last day there; they’re from the Japanese section of the Montreal Botanical Garden, where the Government of Japan was at pains to tell us that the bonsai is NOT a tortured plant. x I didn’t end up taking as much film photography as I’d planned; the extreme heat and … Continue reading “Montréal on 35mm” →

by jad

Montréal: Day 1

I just woke up from what feels like the most necessary Sunday siestas that just happened to happen on a Monday, having never fully lost consciousness during our redeye to #Montreal: I just sort of bounced between silent meditation and mindless scrolling on the airplane Wi-Fi. This gave me a lot of time to reflect on air travel, curled up in the blue glow of the pressurized cabin, but I don’t know if I’m awake enough right now to express it properly. All I know is that I was feeling rusty; our suitcase still had the tag on it from our … Continue reading “Montréal: Day 1” →

by jad

National Camera Day: Смена-Symbol in Everett

So apparently today is #NationalCameraDay, which makes it a great day to share the (unedited) results of my very first roll using the Soviet-era (1972 to be precise) LOMO Smena Symbol. I’ll have lots to say about the camera itself in the next post, but first, a few words about the content itself; I hate feeling like I’ve wasted film, so I try to take meaningful shots whenever I can. But I also had no idea how this fully manual, viewfinder-style camera would perform, or if I’d botch the whole thing up trying to meter for the first time, so I … Continue reading “National Camera Day: Смена-Symbol in Everett” →

by jad

Montréal from Seattle

Christine and I are going to Montréal in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be my first international trip since becoming a U.S. citizen and the first time back on an airplane since getting my green card and landing here. There are a half dozen reasons to be excited about visiting this oddball part of North America, but our primary impetus for wanting to go in the first place was to visit a Mohawk Catholic shrine as part of @christine.bingham.art‘s ongoing book project based on her series of mirror saint paintings. I’ve been reading a lot about the history of … Continue reading “Montréal from Seattle” →

by jad

Lite-Touch Photography

I’ve been reflecting on what will soon be a year of toying with the idea of doing photography, and how it has represented a liminal time in which I’ve been gradually transitioning out of understanding what I do as “taking photos” into kinda maybe sort of imagining myself as “being a photographer.” It’s both a subtle distinction and one that’s completely serious (ask any professional how serious it is), and one that I didn’t see myself ever engaging in when I started reading Sontag, Benjamin, and Barthes on photography. I had meaning-making on my mind and wanted to wrap my … Continue reading “Lite-Touch Photography” →