Tag: seattle

by jad

Glitch Cam

“It’s the glitches and twists, I thought, that make this universe unique and compelling. Without flaws, there would be no depth, no substance.” (Amanda McRaney Jenkins in a YA novel about a demon possessing a teenage boy.) This is my homage to @la__flaneuse_ brought to you by a glitched-out Olympus digicam I have also found. Is there something about this brand that makes their entropy more inevitable? And what is this particular kind of glitching called, anyway? This is a Stylus 790 SW from 2007. The “SW” refers to “Shockproof + Waterproof,” which is an ironic claim given its current … Continue reading “Glitch Cam” →

by jad

Pocket Film

I’ve been curious about 110 film ever since I started noticing these box-shaped spy versus spy looking cameras crop up on eBay, and I finally have my first scans in this format back, thanks to @shutterjunkies all the way out yonder in Texas. I had no idea that very few labs both develop and scan these (in Seattle, most do neither or either/or) because I’d assumed that with a popular brand like @lomography so gung-ho about keeping it alive and the film itself so readily available, surely the processing market would have responded? In any case, I’m pleasantly surprised by … Continue reading “Pocket Film” →

by jad

Costa Rica on 35mm

It seems wildly fortuitous that I get these scans back from @glazersphotolab on World Photography Day, as this kind of portrait has become a bit of a minor tradition of ours as well, having started it in Priest Lake two summers ago. It’s touristy and twee, but it means a lot more to me than you could possibly imagine, so doing it in the waters home to Costa Rica’s “Salsa Brava” just takes the ritual to another level. Here are the very first and last shots I took on this waterproof Fujifilm Quicksnap, connecting the Carribean to Lake Washington, with … Continue reading “Costa Rica on 35mm” →

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

A Place to Linger

I had a conversation with a friend in between taking these photos and chilling on a bench for a popsicle break. We texted back and forth on what it means to be “boxed in” by an interest or a subject or an identity, and how our shared completist urge can get in the way of getting out of comfort zones and trying something new. And it made me think about how we all need containers to make sense of the world, and how “boxes” can be reframed as “neighborhoods,” or places we linger and repeat ourselves and become more and … Continue reading “A Place to Linger” →

by jad

A Place for Grief

Last week, I watched someone pour ashes by a bench at this park. I’d noticed her sitting with an older woman with a bright purple bouquet next to them that caught my eye, and within seconds, she got up and started pouring out the ashes from a small plastic baggie. My heart skipped a beat like I’d encroached on a private moment, but there was no helping it; I was seated in the car parked right next to them. I was sharing this moment, whether I’d planned to or not. I said a silent prayer as we peeled away. Eventually, … Continue reading “A Place for Grief” →

by jad

Water

Cosmically, they say I’m meant to be by bodies of water, but I never was much of a beachgoer, preferring the cool of the mountains over the oppressive heat down below. I figured it was more metaphorical—like I’m meant to be hobnobbing with the coastal elite, wherever they may be. But the amount of joy I’ve been feeling from being a stone’s throw from Lake Washington is changing my mind. Here’s our neighbor Chuck, the beaver, doing his daily laps. I don’t know if it really is the same beaver every day; all beavers are now Chuck, just like all … Continue reading “Water” →

by jad

Disposable Memories

I found a disposable Kodak camera while packing up our old apartment that I must have had stuffed in a backpack or something, because it expired in 2014, four years before I moved to Seattle. I have no memory of buying it (was it in the UK?) and after taking a couple of shots with it, I realized that I had only ever taken two frames after I got it. So I used up the rest as we shuttled back and form, half expecting the roll to be completely nonviable—I mean, the thing endured a heat dome and possibly several … Continue reading “Disposable Memories” →

by jad

Liminal Time

I’m writing this post on my phone in an almost completely bare bedroom with spackling on the wall in front of me covering up the many holes Christine drilled there, being the handy Andy that she is; she’s leaving the place better than we found it. We’ve been alternating several nights separately, staying here and in our new place to make sure our more sensitive cat has time to acclimatize by herself, while not leaving our more spunky one alone for too long. And all of this shuttling back and forth, packing and unpacking, sweeping and spackling, is happening on … Continue reading “Liminal Time” →