but now i've seen it through

this morning, i opened my web browser and immediately clicked over to new york magazine, like i do most every morning. it threw me when the first five or six articles were all top 10 lists -- books, movies, albums, plays, pop culture moments, and on and on. i mean, sure, i felt the year coming to an end, but i still feel a little caught of guard.

that means it's time, then, to start going through my itunes, sorting out the good from the bad and the best from the good. usually by the time i've posted my final list of favorites, i'm sick of the project, tired of listening and then (in particular) describing -- i have a such a limited vocabulary when it comes to musical analysis. that said, right now, i'm actually really looking forward to writing all of this. i usually am -- but i think the feeling is even stronger this time around.

this year was really concentrated around music for me, in a way that previous years haven't been. a lot of that, i think, is due to the hours i spent working my way through various music blogs (pretty much amazing, gorilla v. bear, indie shuffle, record lbl, earmilk) listening for sounds i could play at dance parties. it's probably no coincidence, then, that this year's "soundtrack" will probably sound a lot different than the two that came before (2010 // 2011). it'll sound dancier, and maybe a little darker, definitely more chopped and screwed. i'll get into that a little more once the lists are up.

until then, here's the most recent mixtape i made:

  

got to wake up, look like my name

manu was the last person we filled for the poetry video we're working on. his room was full of some of the purest, most beautiful white light -- might have had something to do with the start white walls. but i really loved a lot of the footage that we collected that day.

in the darkness comes another

this is sully, another person who agreed to let us film their morning routine.

i can hear the earth in orbit

as much as i like making photos and videos, i don't have much patience for editing. that's at least part of the reason that the poem//video project i'm working is taking so long. that said, just last week i made sort of a mental "i will finish this -- and soon" breakthrough. to help motivate myself, i went through some of the stills from the shots casey and i did of the last three people featured.

this would be luc, one of the best, most sincere people i have ever had the pleasure of knowing. (the other two will come over the next couple days.)

nothing left of all my gold

casey, katie and i went out to sauvie island last week to make a video and a few pictures. there's something about an autumn sun, the way it cuts through the atmosphere at just the right angle, that seems to set everything on fire, all honey-hued and burning. but there's also something about the way a camera sees that makes it near impossible to take a picture of all that gold. still, i tried.

gonna show you where it's dark

dang. it's been a while. i have a flash that i hardly ever use. one night recently, though, i went for a walk while some friends hit the streets on their blades and boards. these are some of the photos i took. also, here's a recent mix tape called 'nite vizionz.' seemed to fit the theme. enjoy + more soon.

the air is familiar

sorta like this, but different.

the sky is low

it looks like i'm making a series of mugshot pieces.

my kind's your kind

a diptych made up of two polaroids i took in colorado a while back.

let's do it again

another polaroid 450 test shot.

i've been pretty awful lately about putting together playlists for this blog. normally i'd have one up for the summer by now, it's just hard to find the time and energy. still, i did just put together my first true attempt at a dj mixtape. take a listen if your ears are in need some some noise ...

  

have i doubt when i'm alone

another couple images made with the polaroid 450 during the reynosa shoot.

here i go and i don't know why

i haven't shot much with polaroid land cameras -- i've always had one laying around, but mostly just for fun. i picked up a rangefinder 450 model specifically for the reynosa shoot. these are a few of the initial test shots i took while i was trying to figure out how to work the thing. (turns out the focus was busted. it doesn't matter much, i guess, given the lo-fi feel i we were going for. the camera's in the shop now.)

coming in all directions

i've been trying to do more projects these days -- keep busy, creative. last weekend, i saw reynosa -- a punk//cumbia//indie//everything band -- play in north portland. i've always loved their stuff, but this time around i was downright moved. so, on saturday, i shot some photos of them. i used an old polaroid 450 land camera and black and white pull apart film and tried to channel, in a super loose way, robert mapplethrope shooting patti smith for some of her early albums -- horses in particular.

this is one of my favorite group shots. i'll be posting more soon.

up against the wall

i don't normally post instagram pics up here, but there's something about this snapshot of sean that i really like. so here it is. all blown up. you can check out the rest of my instragram feed at instagrid.me/instant_ces. i might be posting more of them as time goes on.

in the meantime, i have a lot of new stuff coming up, i just need to get my act together and get it all edited and ready to go. stand by!

cold and crystal

i always wind up taking the same photo with a couple different cameras. alex was not into the many shutter clicks it took to make these two images, but she put up with me well enough. the top one is from my 5d mark ii and the bottom one was taken on portra film with my ae-1.

this is the last dance

 

(as always, click to enlarge.)

these are pictures of my very talented friend lucy yim rehearsing her latest dance project, lightnoise. i made them just before she took the show down to austin. she's working with jesse mejia, a light and sound artist. i'm actually pretty happy with the way they turned out -- but, honestly, they don't do justice to the sight of the projection running along lucy's body as she moves. very, very neat stuff.

on the brink of something close

we shot another person for the video today. this is what she looked like.

i see you everywhere

part of the trouble project that i posted about a couple days back is that i've been taking a polaroid portrait of each person in the film (and the poet). here are the first few. (i've been having some trouble with the scans -- so these colors aren't quite right.)

matthew

barbara

bonden

bonden no. 2

in the morning i get out of bed

for the past few weeks i've been working with casey and sarah on making a visual representation (sorta-not-really) of matthew dickman's poem "trouble." we had been working on the project for a while when i figured it might be worth asking matthew to narrate for us. he agreed and yesterday we went to his se portland apartment to listen to him read aloud a poem i've only ever heard in my head. (he and casey are in the next photograph.)

the more time i put into this project the more excited about it i get. having him as the narrator has definitely helped, too. these are just a few stills of the project and the folks in it so far. we're still about a month away from wrapping up, but stay tuned for more updates.