Minnesota & Wisconsin - August
for those who don’t know, i’m a midwestern boy through and through. Although I’ve lived in california for the last 7 years, I still leave a little food left on the dinner table in case anyone else is hungry. I get teary eye’d while listening to a prairie home companion. I keep my physical space. I make a decent tater tot hotdish. my mom has her signature “bars” (Special K Bars) that many of my friends cherish. I left nearly a decade ago because I was starting to resent the place. I didn’t want to become one of the many who move to Minneapolis after college to get a taste of city living, before ultimately moving back to the suburbs and get into golfing. Winter took a toll on my mental health, too, so I up and moved to the only place I’ve visited prior that felt like home - northern california.
this was the first time visiting since moving that didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth. it felt nostalgic and the world around me was beautiful. visiting friends and family is obviously always special, but minnesota was starting to feel like the weird uncle you didn’t want around at thanksgiving. taking some space, though, made me realize that this “uncle” is just a misunderstood metalhead who copes by drinking too much. you don’t notice when you’re a kid, but as you get older, you start to relate. i’m growing to love it again, and am eager to get back to take the opportunity to reconnect with “home” and friends.
I spent some time back in the midwest in august - half in Minnesota, and the other in Wisconsin. The entire trip I was surrounded by people I love dearly. I took a lot of pictures, below you’ll see some highlights - starting with Minnesota, where I stayed in with my Skylar and Marianne. Skylar showed us how to pick the ripest watermelon. Marianne taught me about washing and preparing raw fleece for weaving. there must have been something in the air, because I took a lot of vertical photos which is very unlike me.
I went to Wisconsin for two of my best friends wedding, which was in the small town we went to college in. I haven’t visited the area since 2015, but it hasn’t changed a bit. it was a ghost town. pitchers of beer were $8. I serendipitously ran into old friends, spent time at the old haunts, and witnessed a massive hail storm with a bunch of native californians. the wedding itself was flawless and I’ll never again listen to the Cranberries without thinking of dancing and sweating my ass off with nearly all of my favorite people. anyway… writing this made me think about how much I love my friends. thank you all for being you and for being in my life.
I’ll be putting out a lil zine in the next month with other photos from my time in wisconsin. I’m looking forward to sharing this with you all. despite the photos not being the most beautiful / important / whatever, I’m working on getting into the practice of book/zine making. I’d like to start making them for sequences that feels significant, rather than waiting for one that feels perfect. This means that I will probably make a lot of shitty zines, but hopefully the practice makes me better at it in the long run. I want it to be like my philosophy for darkroom printing. I do it a few times a week to learn and stay in practice. That way if the time ever comes where I want to show the work, I can easily crank out something I’m proud of without any hiccups.
Wedding in Wisconsin
