Tag: instagram

by jad

Ugliness Machine

Imagine there was a tool or system for doing things that increasingly made your output uglier or less intelligent. The more you used it, and the more that others used it, the crappier everything it was used for becomes. Imagine that. Would you still use it? Like a pen that made your handwriting worse and worse, and in some magical way, made everyone’s handwriting worse and worse too. We would throw that pen in the trash, wouldn’t we? But that’s sort of the deal with the social media tools we’re using today. Do we really want to keep making spastic … Continue reading “Ugliness Machine” →

by jad

Latergram

If you want some insight into what it was like to follow me on Instagram in 2013, when I first joined this app, here’s a little peek. Not much has changed, I guess. February ‎24, ‎2013: The windows overlooking Lena’s terrace, where I tasted oranges in a salad for the first time, thanks to Lena’s Sicilian cooking. I don’t remember what we talked about, but the conversation was probably peppered with names like Deleuze and Trotsky, because it often was. Hanging out with Lena was like stepping into a jittery scene on a 16mm reel. March 21 is Mothers’ Day … Continue reading “Latergram” →

by jad

Remembering Dubai

“No matter how long an expatriate has been in Dubai, even if they are born in Dubai, they are not Dubaian. At some point, they must leave. This process of exclusion leaves these particular expatriates betwixt and between–they are not legally Dubaian and can be deported at any point, nor are they culturally of their countries of passport. For some, this uncertainty is liberating; it certifies them as global citizens. For others, it merely points out the dangerous condition of their liminal state.” (Dubai: Guilded Cage) Going through my old photos in that memory stick I found in Lebanon reminds … Continue reading “Remembering Dubai” →

by jad

Romanticize Your Errands

According to Instagram, this is the sort of space to be at and be seen in if you’re serious about photography—especially the good stuff i.e. film. It’s also pretty convenient when you’ve got a bunch of heavy duty laundry to do but your building’s dryers are on the fritz. But that’s a bonus. Pros will time this errand for maximum halation effect. see also: x x x x x x x

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

Search Engine Optimism

I saw a reel this morning that detailed some moves at Meta to push people away from hashtags and towards “SEO” as THE way to get people to see their posts. I don’t know how this person got their information and I don’t care, but they did claim some level of insider knowledge that piqued my interest. But what motivated me to write these words was a reply they gave to a comment about wanting old instagram back; they said, and this is almost word for word because it’s seared into my brain: “it never will! the best thing to … Continue reading “Search Engine Optimism” →

by jad

Sleepless in Beirut

Google had been bugging me about my cloud storage for a while before I finally clicked the link the other day to hopefully free up some space; a couple of scrolls later, I was punched in the gut with attachments in emails I’d long forgotten about, with files and photos I thought I’d lost forever, including these from a project I worked on with a then-anonymous blogger in 2011. You read that right – an anonymous blogger; this was 2011, after all. More on that later. Thank God for metadata because I simply have no recollection of ever using a … Continue reading “Sleepless in Beirut” →

by jad

Fragment Fragments

“If the fragment is truly broken (frangere), it cannot, it seems, be thought of in terms of a part (portio), for the part, as part of a whole, would deny that which is broken its broken nature, its different status, by relating it always to the former (whole). The fragment…must be thought of apart from a part, and therefore as wholly distinct from the whole (of which the part is a part) as well.” (Dan Mellamphy, ‘Fragmentality,’ 1998) x “Contemporary poets use all three modes of fragment, sometimes all at once. First, the fragment can illicit a response or echo … Continue reading “Fragment Fragments” →

by jad

#AdventWord 2022: Corinne

Corinne isn’t really on Instagram anymore, but this is how we connected: pouring our little hearts out into this app until we became friends a couple years ago around this time, after a chat about some #AdventWord posts I’d made. Since then, we’ve worked together on a couple of things, including the coolest battle vest you’ve ever seen and that gorgeous set of portraits that David took for @inconjunct. Though I’ve known her primarily as a visual artist, I’m touched and honored to share Corinne’s moving poetry in the next three posts: x WILDERNESS by @cascadiacore Once a wolf swallowed me, andcarried me in … Continue reading “#AdventWord 2022: Corinne” →

by jad

#AdventWord 2022: Christine

// Every year for many years, I took part in an Instagram ritual called #AdventWord, first on an old account, then here—every year except the last, when I just couldn’t; the very idea of ritual exhausted me. // A few weeks ago, I checked in with myself to see if anything had changed. Things had. I wanted to mark the season again, but only if I could do it with others. So that’s what I’ll be doing this year; not every day – just when it feels right. I hope it feels right for you too. // Today’s word is WALK. … Continue reading “#AdventWord 2022: Christine” →