creepin pt.1

I rode my bike down Main street through downtown McAllen tonight. This part of Main is usually dead by 5/6PM, especially today - a Sunday - AND a couple of days before New Years… The end of December can feel both stagnant and stressful - a weird in limbo time with family responsibilities / regular life shit that all blends together as the year ends. One minute you’re sinking into a couch watching the Cowboys lose 41-7 to the Eagles, the next minute you’re rushing a family member to the grocery store for New Years dinner. This year I am feeling rather inspired to take photos and have been pretty consistent over the last two months. Though I will point out a pattern I’ve done over the years of getting to the end of the year, realizing I am not artistically fulfilled then splurging from like Nov-Feb. Then, my good ol’ Spring/Summer/Part of Fall Depression kicks in, haha! jk? ***steps away from computer to shed a soft tear in the name of Art & Life***

So this street light caught my eye and yes I realize it’s a total cliche. A broken street light - one bulb is on, the other off… LIFE…the yin, the yang, the peaks, the valleys - white, black - brown, yellow, Puerto Rican & Haitan…

I am happiest with the vertical composition, I do think it came out nice. I couldn’t quite find the right framing for the horizontal one. I really like the store front window but it’s a bit too far away from the street light, I feel like my attention is being stretched from one side of the frame to the other. I do admit to not knowing what the fuck I’m talking about so there is that to consider as well. This part of the street is super quiet and eventually some guy came up to me and was like “NICE BIKE BRO…” I nervously said thank you and rode away promptly.

I really do have a terrible sense of direction, I cannot pinpoint exactly where this is at the moment. I just tried to on google maps and failed - it’s somewhere near Main St. & Austin Ave. I am making a note to myself here to pay more attention to the streets / location. I also do not know how to format on Squarespace properly so I’m writing out more stuff here to fill in this block without it looking off. I want to remind everyone to praise Jesus Christ I ain’t playing ‘bout my Lord and Savior, I’m on my job. If you ain’t a Christian, I’ma stab you in the face, if it aint’ bout Jesus i’ma hit you with this K. Jesus is the one… Hell yeah, praise Jesus Christ xxxxx Free Palestine, free Tay K. This the trap game, Abraham Lincoln four score and 16 bars ago R.I.P Betty White [etc.]

I rode a block or two and came across another defunct street light but with this building in the background (1415 Austin Ave #40, McAllen, TX 78501, thank u google maps.) I am really enjoying the Fuji X100F since we got it a couple of months ago. As seen here - it does OK in low light. The image does fall apart a bit in some places & I may have rushed the edit on this one but overall I think it came out decent. Will have to bring out the Canon R6 Mark 2 and try this one again.

Lastly, I do want to speak on my intention a bit here. Essentially, I would like to avoid a purely aesthetic approach to art / photography. One thing (of many) that irks me about art & photography as it exists online - is the homogeneity. A trend starts, whether it’s a camera, a style, subject matter, etc. and everything starts to look the same. No shade to the people on this list, they are clearly talented and professional but there is a certain sameness to everyone’s photos… Maybe it’s the sterile Instagram grid format…Maybe I’m just a hater with no credibility…Maybe I should legitimately KMS (Kreate More Serenity.) I am a total fraud given how I opted to buy a fucking Fuji like every other douchebag photog online.

I am not originally from the Valley but I am grateful and excited to establish my life here with Claudia. My real passion is documentary work and will be making a serious effort to continue taking photos like the one I posted yesterday about an older Mexican man named Martin I met not far from where I took these night photos. The photos in this post and my ‘fog’ photos are really just me trying to be consistent and practice photography earnestly. There is a lot I do not know technically and am using this blog to try and help me work through my PROCESS *** looks away from camera forlornly while biting my bottom lip ***

I look forward to photographing the Valley as well as I can, I’m hoping to take this moment of inspiration and really make something of it. In the words of one of my heroes Mark Wahlberg: Happy Sunday everyone, Stay prayed up, pray for peace. ***initiate sign of the cross while looking Hot AF***