Photography

Of two minds

Scott Baerst

Apr 6, 2022 • 2 min read

Try not to take your work home with you.

What if you couldn't, no matter how hard you tried?

That's the premise of Severance, but it's drastically oversimplified. I'm really enjoying the show. Thanks for recommending it, Chuck.

It's got everything. And, as a sometimes blogger who claims he likes to write, I'm going to embarrassingly go the lazy route - check out Anne Helen Petersen's interview with Dan Erickson, the show's creator. I didn't see any spoilers, but if you don't like knowing anything about a show before diving in, save the interview for later.

I think my favorite things about the show are the visuals and the weirdness. There's high-tech involved, to the point that it could be a few years in our future, but there are also retro fashions and analog devices. For example, there's a character who looks like he teleported out of IBM in the 1950s. That same character uses a Leica (brand hidden) film camera.

I was craving wings the other night but didn't want the chicken. Picked up some Morningstar Farms veggie buffalo wings. Dead easy. 14-16 minutes in the oven. I've found I prefer to add some time to these plant-based thingmajigs. I thought they were pretty tasty. I'm sure they're not much healthier. My food influencer empire will take off any day now.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a photo exhibit at Goethe Pop Up featuring work by Anna Sophie Hartmann. I thought it was great and may go back for a second viewing. Hartmann is a filmmaker, artist, writer, photographer...the photos are a collection of beds and bedrooms she's stayed in during her travels for work.

A photo from an exhibit featuring the photos of Anne Sophie Hartmann. It's a cozy room with tussled sheets, open windows, bathed in soft light. — Anna Sophie Hartmann exhibit at Seattle's Goethe Pop Up, March 2022.

I've been carrying around Chuck's No Context zine, volume 6 in my backpack for weeks. It was pretty secure for a while, but a couple of rainstorms and tossing in too many unused cameras has made it a bit worse for the wear. It is going to look a little out of place next to the previous volumes. I kicked myself at first, but then I re-read the first page.

The first page in Chuck Cunningham's No Context zine. It's simple text, urging the reader to engage with the photos however they see fit. — Chuck Cunningham's No Context zine, #6, 2022.

The images are haunting, and this volume is my favorite. Until I revisit the others. I don't think Chuck will mind if I share one photo.

This is a haunting, somewhat ethereal photo of several old, brick buildings in black and white. Infrared maybe. From Chuck Cunningham's No Context zine, #6 — An image from Chuck Cunningham's No Context zine, #6.

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