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Thank You For Forgetting

Explore
November 21, 2019/by
The coolest part of my job is that sometimes I get to go to locations that I would never get the chance to see otherwise. This week I was at an abandoned juvenile correctional center, in the middle of a city yet it doesn't exist on Google maps. It's like some kind of best kept secret right under our noses that's standing strong yet looks like it's on the verge of falling apart. I tried to look up the history of it, but couldn't come up with much. Who were the people kept here? What were their lives like? When I walked through the halls I felt like the memories of its residents were all around, but are muted and erased. I tried to read the notes that have been left between window panes, but the writing were faded and illegible. I tried to look for clues in the names scratched into the railings, but at the end of the day, they were just names with no faces and no story. And that's the depressing part of all of this. Not just that they were kept in tiny cells, but that after all this time, no one is there to...
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On Minimalism

Observations
November 14, 2019/by
I assisted a lifestyle photoshoot today, and the aesthetic is minimalism. It makes me wonder what it is about empty spaces that's so appealing. What is it about the absence of things that screams wealth? It almost seems like an oxymoron -- the more you have in your bank account, the less you have in your possession. Having just spent 8 hours in a 2 million dollar condo garnished with furniture, rugs, bowls all imported from Scandinavia, I felt like the dissonance in my brain was screaming, 'I don't get it!' What I did get was how pleasing it all looked -- in person and in photos, and it reeked of luxury... or the lack thereof, which ridiculously high lighted just how luxurious it all was. How does anyone feasibly live a minimalist catalog life? First, throw out 90% of your things. Only keep stuff that adhere to a strict 12 shade beige palette. Sparsely sprinkle your wardrobe with a maximum of 3 clothes. Have books, but only if they're Phaidon and the covers have no color. Do not keep things that indicate you have human hygiene needs. -- toothbrushes, toilet paper, shampoo, laundry detergent, throw those out. But fear not, you are allowed to keep lotion as long as they come in scents like leather, fir, or nightfall. Have only one pair of shoes, but miraculously show up to events and work with an array of soles that you throw out as soon as you get home. You...
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Pure Morning

Observations
October 31, 2019/by
There are hardly ever days when I wake up and think to myself, Oh happiness and joy to this wonderful world! Today I woke up to gorgeous orange gold light peeping through my window, illuminating the hard geometric patterns of the building being birthed next door, pooling my apartment in a quiet dream like, romantic state. And I still didn't think to myself, Oh happiness and joy and wonders of the universe! Instead, if I hadn't sneezed myself awake, I would have gone back to sleep immediately, ruing the 8am awakening on a day I didn't have to work. But alas, being a sucker for light, I rolled off the couch and grabbed the camera that was closest to me -- my Canon Rebel XTi, circa 2007 and still kicking. This is the kind of light that inspires me to wax poetic. Some days it's pretty cool to wake up early. Taken with: Canon Rebel XTi, 50mm f1.8...
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