Category: Ecstasis

by jad

Red December

Behold the lambBehold the lambNot one stoneAtop another will stand. There have been a couple more full circle moments lately. New starts to old ends; resets with fresh means. This is one of them; a return to trying again. Taken at the second session of the @seattledsa new member winter cohort. They used my camera to take a group shot too but posting that one isn’t my style. Also: remember the communist I bumped into at Folklife? The one I took a portrait of with the Polaroid Go I’d borrowed? I finally popped into one of the cell meetings she … Continue reading “Red December” →

by jad

Picking Pumpkins

We went pumpkin picking today. I mean, there were pumpkins strewn around, and we picked the ones we wanted. I guess that counts as pumpkin picking. Either way, it was a first for me. I wish the weather hadn’t turned sweltering for my normcore goth get-up today, because I would have spent more time here. It was very picturesque. There was a major incident on I-90 that closed all lanes for a couple of hours, but we managed to peel off the last exit towards Bellevue at the last minute. The drive back was an hour and a half longer … Continue reading “Picking Pumpkins” →

by jad

Let’s Begin Again

Almost exactly 8 years ago, on November 10, 2016, I wrote the following while observing this country spin out in disarray from halfway across the globe: “The number of contemplative postmortems I’m seeing from left-of-center Americans stunned by a Trump win because they’d been so sure that Clinton’s was inevitable that they were already preparing to spend the next four years criticizing her is a double-indictment of liberalism: first, for totally ignoring clear and present danger in the name of feel-good, third-party self-congratulation, and second, for being so out of touch with the very real, very visible forces of anger … Continue reading “Let’s Begin Again” →

by jad

Polaroid Scavenger Hunt

I dusted off my Amigo 620 and took part in @glazerscamera’s anniversary @polaroid scavenger hunt after work today; there was a list of 17 prompts, so @christine.bingham.art and I challenged ourselves to do one prompt each, without any repeats. Here are my snaps for “something red,” “repeating,” and “local sports.” Tap of Christine’s profile to see her set of eight. Thanks @sarahlatour_ for organizing! “Street signs,” “architecture,” and “a very Seattle scene”—the last of my snaps from @glazerscamera’s anniversary @polaroid scavenger hunt in SLU (or, more accurately, Cascade). I didn’t quite capture that last one well enough to get my … Continue reading “Polaroid Scavenger Hunt” →

by jad

From Within

I’ve seen some delightful license plates around here; just now, I saw one that said “CTRL-F5,” which seems to mean “a hard refresh” on most internet browsers, which is the sort of geeky type of thing you’d expect in this zip code. What I didn’t expect, however, are plates that say “TAXWLTH” (tax wealth) or even “GRAMSCI” (a literal communist), both of which were very real and sadly not pictured. It seems that I might not be the only Lake Stinko commie pinko around. So, what would Gramsci have to say about holding proletarian sympathies in a zip code like … Continue reading “From Within” →

by jad

Ecotone

I learned a word when I was trying to find more information about this hidden gem of wilderness, encircled all around by private property and technosocial infrastructure—like when it was established, who maintains it, etc.: the word was “ecotone.” Ecotone refers to “a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate.” They’re natural formations; swamps, marshes, and other wetlands are by definition “ecotones” because they are the crossfade between dry land and bodies of water. They’re home to a mashup of species from both environments, along with those specially adapted to that particular mix. But you … Continue reading “Ecotone” →

by jad

Christine’s Project: Kent

Working with @christine.bingham.art on this photo-documentation project has been a thrill and an honor, and sometimes pretty nerve-wracking too, since I only picked up a camera two years ago. The learning curve’s steep, but I’ve always learned best in situ and in media res. My brain’s wired that way. This particular shoot, documenting Saint Kateri, was especially poignant. It took us over a year to make it happen, and in that time, we got to learn so much about Kateri and the people of Kanawake, which we even had the privilege of visiting (it’s just outside of Montreal). So, I’ve … Continue reading “Christine’s Project: Kent” →

by jad

U-Haul Season on LomoChrome ’92

It felt like spring had only just arrived, but now it’s time for another solstice; the wheel turns and stops for no one. The unrelenting march of time can mean many a thing to many a person, but in a city like ours, there is one certainty that it inevitably brings: U-Haul season is upon us. That’s right. After six years atop our brick tower, the time has come. I’ve walked these streets for about as long, occasionally catching myself playing “beyt byout” in my mind, wondering what it would be like to live behind that window or another, with … Continue reading “U-Haul Season on LomoChrome ’92” →

by jad

West Seattle

Scenes and snippets from last night’s visit to West Seattle to see Christine’s students showcase this semester’s visual arts. First slide’s what we found later that night, on a main street in White Center. I guess there’s a poetry of sorts in my selection. I was most impressed by this piece by a student named Zola. It depicts anxiety as a raincloud of negative talk and asks: are you part of the rain? Swipe to see a giant marshmallow and more.

by jad

Humans of the March for Palestine

I’m thinking about this today. “Seeking Visions for a Better World is a call for images and aspirational sentiments that invoke constructive visions of the future to counterbalance the preponderance of dystopic visions presented in pop-culture, literature, and media.” // at @su_hedreengallery, by @ryanfeddersen. The @marchforpalestine.seattle was one of the most thoughtful and intentionally organized political actions I’d ever had the pleasure of taking part in, however small my role ended up being; I’ve certainly never seen more beautiful spreadsheets in my life either. Something felt different from the moment I watched the coordination Zooms. I’d become familiar with the … Continue reading “Humans of the March for Palestine” →