The Dividing Line — mnchrm vol. lxiv
Hello, friends!
I find little snippets in my notes all the time. In fact, my default folder in Evernote (which I seem to be perennially looking to replace) is just called snippets. There’s almost never any context, which is sort of what I love; little lines that could be thoughts, something I overheard, or a synthesis of both.
Actually, my notes themselves are sort of split, divorced from their context, between Evernote, my Twitter Drafts, and a pocket notebook I carry around (or used to, when I used to leave). The line between a tweet and a note for me can be very slim, and the dividing line between what seems private and only a button away from public, I’m often not even clear on.
I’m Ian Battaglia, a writer, photographer, and filmmaker, and this is my newsletter. If you’d like to no longer receive these, just click here. And if you really like these, I’d appreciate if you’d share this or recommend it to a friend.
Been thinking a lot about photography lately. I may have written about it before, but I have a project I want to do. Most of my photography is sort of one-off images, grouped more by location, conditions, and my own aesthetics than a theme. As recommended by Craig Mod, I signed up for and took a course online through the Magnum Photo Agency with Alec Soth. I’ve loved Alec’s work for a long time. His large format portraits have been super inspirational for me.
Through thinking about Craig’s and Alec’s work in bookmaking, I thought it would be interesting to try and work more intentionally once more. Photography can be like jazz, largely improvisational. I’ve gotten very good at grabbing my camera and going for a walk or riding my bike, and finding a handful of images I’m happy with. But I have started to miss the intentionality I had when taking photos on film, especially when shooting medium or large format. There, I was always hyper aware about the cost of the process, about the limitations of the camera itself. Slower, heavier. Cumbersome, sure, but there’s something pure about spending a half hour framing up a photo in 8x10, only to decide the composition isn’t all that good.
So I’ve got a project I want to shoot, and am looking forward to bring that sort of intentionality into my work once more. Having an idea in mind, a plan, and trying to execute as best as I can. More to come…
Speaking of photos, I adore this set by Japanese photographer Rintaro Kanemoto. They remind me of this series by Samuel Zeller, photographing plants through greenhouse windows. My twitter feed has a lot of just stunning photography especially out of Japan; say what you will about the algorithm, but I do love the way it can let you leapfrog from one pad to another, all in the same pond.
Yoshua Wuyts wrote this really incredible blog post on his use of notebooks. I wrote last week about how I’ve stopped journaling daily, but his writing here makes me want to get back into it, or at least use that space to organize my thoughts better. I find I’m writing a lot of little post-it to-do lists these days, or using an app on my phone. I’m not perfectly productive, but there’s days where having it on a piece of paper helps me get through it. Sometimes I just need to see it all in front of me to prioritize.
My buddy Uel Aramchek has an incredible new series of writing out, on tarot in the world. I’m not someone who is super interested in tarot generally, but Uel’s writing is as always, a delight. Seriously, each issue has only upped the ante, with my favorite so far being Missive 6. Don’t miss it!
I wrote a new piece up at Patreon today about the anime I’m watching this season. This new season is off to a great start, with a lot of new series that I think are worth your time, across a wide spectrum of genres.
My latest review also went live yesterday, of Karolina Waclawiak’s Life Events. Despite really liking the main character of Evelyn and how Karolina frames her thoughts and interiority, I found myself sort of dragging myself along through the book. The plot was just a little too thin to move gracefully from one scene to the next. Hopefully her next book is able to accomplish this better.
How gorgeous is this handheld from Analogue? I’ve loved their stuff for a while; they’re clearly making the definitive editions of beloved consoles. This might be their furthest foray into original design, and the result looks incredible. Can’t wait to give it a go.
Sort of a short one here, hope that’s okay. I like balancing these between more complete essays and a collected / curated list of things that interest me. Anyways, thanks for taking the time, and as always:
Stay strong, fight on.
From Chicago with love.
Your faithful commander,
— I