Roots.
Fuck, man. What are they and how do we perceive, or note for that matter, where they started? I’ve noticed myself slipping into this laziness with photography where Im not as intentional as I should be given the time and circumstances that I have in front of me.
It’s way too easy to take a shitty photo of some “Tactical-Smut,” color grade it a bit and toss it up. You see it, literally, everywhere and honestly, that fucking KILLS me. It’s hard to sit here and write this and evaluate myself and not feel like I’m shitting on a bunch of people. Trust me, this isn’t a holier-than-thou circumstance, just my frame of reference for what I see. The same *insert rifle, NODs, backlit, threshold deliberate clearance stance* with some Peter Mckinnon Presets and ka-pow, you’re a photographer. I know, it sounds pretentious, I get it, I’m guilty of the same sentiment too.
But this is where film comes in. I stumbled upon a 1978 Canon A-1 with a 50mm lens for $40 in my local barber shop. It fit the nostalgia of the shop, blending in that 1950s-70s feel sitting on the perfect mahogany shelf staring at me, challenging me, taunting me. I didn’t know the first thing about that camera, or film for that matter. Shit, I still don’t know the first things about film, but I snagged it and went on my way and luckily, I have great pals that helped me along the way
There is something so visceral and wistful about slapping some film into a mostly mechanical camera and trying to compose something you really only get one shot at. And man, it is weird not being able to immediately look at it. I found that I am more intentional than I have been in months trying to frame a photo. So much so that even good buddies of mine recognized that I frame in a totally different dynamic than I usually do… that wasn’t the goal at first, but It happened naturally. I’m pretty grateful for that.
Film has snapped me back into reality in the sense that it really does remind me why I started this whole thing in the first place – Photos, documentation, enjoyment, cathartic release and the love of capturing the moment. Not likes, not hype, not merch and most definitely not the ego that comes with shit like that.
I said long ago that this wasn’t going to be what it seems to be turning into. It’s time to right that course a little. I’m not saying SDV will change, I’m merely saying I’m going to post more shit that I enjoy shooting rather than shit that people expect to see from me. You can like it, love it, hate it or bounce – but the goal from here on out it to run SDV the way I set out to in the beginning. To take a note from some of my friends like @datboijayp, @Notmattlingo, @austinrowwe, @onlyratsgiveup, @john.Warchild and @_labowski_ because every one of these dudes puts out far better shit than I could ever imagine doing and they do it without giving a fuck about who likes it aside from themselves… and that’s the hardest shit out there.
Its time to get back to my Roots