Recollect is designed to consolidate a month’s worth of creative endeavors, art enjoyed, and the general state of my life abroad into one easily digestible piece. Let’s recollect on May.

The first project I put together in May, a video from Porto, was made on a single bright day during a mostly dreary winter. I shot it expecting to have time to photograph similarly sunny days, but those days never came. So, the video encapsulates that one nice day, and I’m happy to have made it. At the time it was just a small, unfinished project, but, in hindsight, I’m pleased to have such a succinct view of a time so lovely.

On the other hand, Chiang Mai was a giant project that went untouched. It was 2018 when I took the photos, and, for some reason, I decided to sit on them. I think it was most likely due to my lack of post-processing confidence. What I thought I understood then I am learning now. After so many years, I’m finally able to handle the light and colors that I captured in the hot, often midday sun of Thailand.

I also put together a short essay about skepticism and doubt in street photography, paired with a handful of new photos from my time in Cádiz, Spain. The photos were mostly supplementary, so I’m looking forward to putting together a more thorough, dedicated set soon. For now, the essay stands as the primary focus, and I like it a lot.

Outside of the essay and the archive-dive, my camera saw a lot of action this month. Right now I’m sitting on three separate projects, none of which I know exactly what to do with. They are all about as different as they could be, which is exciting but also draining. I find myself stretching myself thin and bouncing from one to the other. I know I need to focus on one, but, hey, I’m pumped. From what I can tell, I think one of these will be available in some public fashion. The others will almost certainly be exclusive to my Patreon. As always, if you’re not a member, but you like what I do, consider joining. It helps me out and for only $5 you gain access to the entire catalog, which is quite large.

Creatively, this month has been wonderful, but I’ve had to learn to draw a bold line between creating on the front end vs the back end, and when to cross over it. The front end, the camera-related stuff, is always the most fun for me, but it’s not the side that makes things happen. The back end is where everything comes together, making something enjoyable and digestible, but it’s nothing without the front. Too much of the front and nothing ever sees the light of day, and too much of the back and you quickly run out of things to make. It’s a balance, and I think I’m finally starting to understand.

My reading this month spanned many emotions. The Long Goodbye, a noir-esque detective fiction by Raymond Chandler, started things off laid back and mysterious. There was an attitude to the book, but it didn’t take itself too seriously. That said, I think it can suffer from the atmosphere in which it’s read, as is the case with many genre-specific books. Partially reading this in a modern, sterile airport was to its detriment. The seedy, morally subjective atmosphere definitely begs for a real-world reflection of that to fully enjoy. Overall I enjoyed it, but it took me way too long to finish. It’s not a long book, but, as the title hints, it’s in no particular rush to say goodbye.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim did not suffer any of The Long Goodbye's shortcomings. The setting you read David Sedaris' books in is wholly unimportant, in my opinion. If anything, the more ironic the setting, the better. Sedaris lays out, as usual, a series of either fictional or at least highly exaggerated autobiographical essays, and, also as usual, they are dry, self-deprecating, and hilarious. I have nothing but good things to say about this book. Corduroy and Denim was my fourth Sedaris read, and it falls snuggly into the number two spot, following When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

The last book I read in May was Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It was delicate but intentional, minimalist, almost to the extreme, sad, but cathartic. The novel takes place in a small basement cafe in Japan, where visitors have the opportunity to travel back in time. The catch is the rules. For instance, and I’m not spoiling anything here, the time-traveler cannot leave their seat, they can only go back to a time to see someone who’s already been to the cafe, and nothing they do will change the present. Nothing. The title itself refers to another rule, where the time traveler must return to the present before their fresh cup of coffee gets cold. These strict guidelines lead us to wonder why anyone would bother, especially when, and here’s one more rule, each visitor must wait an unknown amount of time for the time travel seat to become available, sometimes for days at a time. Well, by the end, everything makes sense. I think time travel, outside of sci-fi’s monopoly, is a plot device adept at telling regular human stories, and I’m ready for more. Who would you talk to if you could go back in time for five minutes? What would you say?

Photo: Evelyn Dragan

I have many favorite photographers. The nature of the medium lends itself to a vast variety of styles and subject matters, so honing in on one artist and proclaiming them as the favorite is a big deal. Maybe I’m not there yet, there are just too many talented folks out there, but if I were to start figuring it out, Evelyn would be somewhere near the top.

I write often about atmosphere in art. It’s an element that’s hard to pinpoint, and in photography, it’s close to impossible to edit in. There are moments in life that teem with atmosphere, and it’s our job to notice and capture them before they disappear. Evelyn is a master at this. I return to her website every month to refresh my mind after the onslaught of photos on social media because her photography is calm and warm, and it reminds me how important photography can be, not just for sharing, but for documenting.

I chose to include the photo above because it represents these ideas. It’s a small, simple moment that I think most of us would miss for the sake of other things, including but not limited to a straight-on snapshot of the baby’s face. Instead, Evelyn draws us into the moment itself. She highlights the beautiful without being obvious. I urge you to take a look at her website, but more specifically the journal portion of her website, linked via the image above. Observe how Evelyn composes her images, even the more straightforward ones. There’s so much I could say about her body of work, but I’d rather you see for yourself.

Well, it’s now June, and last time I said I’d have more information regarding the next destination. So where will we live in July? Beats me. Time is running out. I have no clue. We recently learned that we have more options than we originally thought, which is nice, but now we’re spoiled for choice. I’ll either have more information next month or we’ll be sans-home. So it goes.

Spanish learning has been a whirlwind, and not all in the best ways. For the past two months, there has been one major change after another. It started with a constant flow of new students, turned into rearranged classmates, and ultimately resulted in new teachers, almost bi-weekly. This, obviously, is not a good environment for learning. There have been many unfortunate, unforeseeable circumstances within the school and the faculty, so it’s not entirely on them, but it’s still a major issue. After three weeks of nonstop changes, old material, and poor morale, I’ve decided to just pay the rest of what’s owed and stop attending. My learning has suffered to such an extent that continuing is only making me apathetic. Instead, I’ve begun taking private online lessons through Verbling. The structure is not as academic, but at least I get some solid speaking time, which is what I wanted from the start. Deséame suerte.

On the positive end, we took a few trips this month. Cádiz was a nice trip to the coast, Granada offered much-needed respite from the sweltering Sevilla heat, we took a road trip through the Tabernas Desert where some classic movies were shot, and London, a bit of a secret trip, was surprisingly refreshing, and I managed to take about fifty to sixty portraits over the course of three days. All in all, it was a nice travel month, especially to get away from Sevilla for a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful city, but I haven’t lived in one place this long in years.

Well, hey, that’s all for May. I hope you enjoyed this issue of Recollect. If you did, or if you didn’t, tell me! Hit the black box below to send me an email with your thoughts. I’m all ears. Thank you for the support. I’ll see you next month.