Eid Mubarak!

Today, Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al Adha, the Celebration of the Sacrifice, commemorating Abraham’s (yes, that Abraham) sacrifice (yes, that sacrifice) and marking the end of Hajj for the many millions who were fortunate enough to attend this year.

Eid al Adha is the major holiday in Islam, sort of akin to Christmas, but somewhat more somber and without all the decoration. It lasts for four days, during which we worship, sacrifice a sheep, goat, cow, or something, feast and feed neighbors and those less fortunate than us. This is my fourth year to celebrate, and while I’m still not really used to the changed and changing holiday schedule or the customs, InshaAllah I’m getting the worship part down…

May God accept our sacrifice and our other acts of remembrance, and may He bless us all in the coming year. Continue reading “Eid Mubarak!”

Who am I?

Back in June and early July, I started blogging about my faith much more than usual. I left photography for 30 days and instead wrote one post per day to give glory to God during the Holy month of Ramadan. Since then, I’ve continued writing about my faith and giving exhortations to myself first to worship God, give thanks, and try to be a better person. Writing things down helps me to remember, and if any of this reaches and benefits other people who read this blog (hi! and thanks for your time!), all thanks and praise belong to God: any benefit comes only from Him, and any errors are my own.

Some of you know me personally. Some of you have known me for many many years. Some of you are family members. You might be wondering “who the [unprintable] do you think you are telling me _______? Don’t you remember when you _______? Don’t you remember when we _______ and _______? Don’t you remember when I _______ and _______ and _______ for you?”

Well, I’ll tell you precisely who I am and what I think I’m doing here… Continue reading “Who am I?”

Unboxing ‘The Film Photography Handbook’

Chris Marquardt and Monica Andrae’s The Film Photography Handbook is an English translation of 2015’s Absolut analog. The translation is good and, from what I’ve read, a bit of German-ness shines through in some of the phrasing and aphorisms. It’s written mostly for newbies and the curious digital shooter, and because it’s Chris, it’s primarily a discussion of gear options and technical matters, with a halfhearted, but still somehow genuine, nod towards artistry, experimentation, and fun.

I’m not knocking it… I haven’t read it cover-to-cover yet, I did buy a copy, after all, and if you’re at all curious about shooting film in the 2010s, there’s a wealth of good information in it.

https://youtu.be/Wug40eFttUE

Continue reading “Unboxing ‘The Film Photography Handbook’”

Unboxing Mossless #3 & #4

“MOSSLESS is run by Romke Hoogwaerts and Grace Leigh out of their apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Their publications focus on photographers who are actively contributing to online culture.”

I follow their tumblr and it alerted me to their Kickstarter for Issue 4. I picked up Issue 3 The United States (2003-2013) and Issue 4 Public/Private/Portrait for a relative song, and they’re completely different, but both interesting archives of contemporary-ish photography.

Continue reading “Unboxing Mossless #3 & #4”

a quick one on privilege

I meant for this to be quick, but it got a bit long and rambling, as is usual for many of my posts… tl;dr some of the things I take for granted, some of the very small things in life, simple little experiences as a child, everyday sort of stuff, are precisely the sorts of privilege or result from privilege. When I talk about privilege and race and class, I need to be careful to remember it’s these tiny little things that add up to create a big wide world. Continue reading “a quick one on privilege”