Who am I?

Back in June and early July, I started blogging about my faith much more than usual. I left photography for 30 days and instead wrote one post per day to give glory to God during the Holy month of Ramadan. Since then, I’ve continued writing about my faith and giving exhortations to myself first to worship God, give thanks, and try to be a better person. Writing things down helps me to remember, and if any of this reaches and benefits other people who read this blog (hi! and thanks for your time!), all thanks and praise belong to God: any benefit comes only from Him, and any errors are my own.

Some of you know me personally. Some of you have known me for many many years. Some of you are family members. You might be wondering “who the [unprintable] do you think you are telling me _______? Don’t you remember when you _______? Don’t you remember when we _______ and _______? Don’t you remember when I _______ and _______ and _______ for you?”

Well, I’ll tell you precisely who I am and what I think I’m doing here… Continue reading “Who am I?”

Unboxing ‘The Film Photography Handbook’

Chris Marquardt and Monica Andrae’s The Film Photography Handbook is an English translation of 2015’s Absolut analog. The translation is good and, from what I’ve read, a bit of German-ness shines through in some of the phrasing and aphorisms. It’s written mostly for newbies and the curious digital shooter, and because it’s Chris, it’s primarily a discussion of gear options and technical matters, with a halfhearted, but still somehow genuine, nod towards artistry, experimentation, and fun.

I’m not knocking it… I haven’t read it cover-to-cover yet, I did buy a copy, after all, and if you’re at all curious about shooting film in the 2010s, there’s a wealth of good information in it.

https://youtu.be/Wug40eFttUE

Continue reading “Unboxing ‘The Film Photography Handbook’”

Unboxing Mossless #3 & #4

“MOSSLESS is run by Romke Hoogwaerts and Grace Leigh out of their apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Their publications focus on photographers who are actively contributing to online culture.”

I follow their tumblr and it alerted me to their Kickstarter for Issue 4. I picked up Issue 3 The United States (2003-2013) and Issue 4 Public/Private/Portrait for a relative song, and they’re completely different, but both interesting archives of contemporary-ish photography.

Continue reading “Unboxing Mossless #3 & #4”

a quick one on privilege

I meant for this to be quick, but it got a bit long and rambling, as is usual for many of my posts… tl;dr some of the things I take for granted, some of the very small things in life, simple little experiences as a child, everyday sort of stuff, are precisely the sorts of privilege or result from privilege. When I talk about privilege and race and class, I need to be careful to remember it’s these tiny little things that add up to create a big wide world. Continue reading “a quick one on privilege”

Land of the Free?

Happy Labor Day, US! (And Happy Monday, everyone else!)*

I’ve been sitting on this post for awhile, now, and on this day, set aside to honor of the contributions of workers in the United States, it seems like a good time to go ahead and throw it out there.

About a month ago, my darling, adorable wife and I drove up to Arkansas to visit Mom. The original plan was for Hana to go alone, but then we learned that Uncle Chuck would be visiting too, and since I hadn’t seen him since 2001, we both went, and we had a great time, mostly.

I say ‘mostly’ because, due to the unfavorable climate for Muslims these days, especially in the country, and especially among people who don’t travel much and are used to only seeing people that look, act, and talk pretty much like them, my darling adorable wife spent a good deal of our very limited vacation time questioning her decision to wear the hijab. Would it make it easier if she took it off? Would people continue to stare in fear and disgust, or would they merely glare at the immigrant and go about their day?

What "Freedom" Looks Like.

Apologies, in advance, but this whole situation got me really angry. It’s nearly a month later, and I’m still bothered, but it’s more of a general feeling of malaise about this country and its people, more of an I-once-was-blind-but-now-I-see-and-I-wish-I-was-still-blind type of affair.

So head’s up: I’m likely to get a bit preachy and political and maybe a bit weepy, so if that’s not your thing or if you’re uninterested in what I have to say, leave now. Maybe come back tomorrow for some unboxings, pictures, and/or fluffy stuff.

Read on at your own risk.

Continue reading “Land of the Free?”

SP-445 review

The SP-445 compact 4×5 processing system is one of the top gear purchases I’ve made this year, full stop. It’s made the prospect of developing sheet film much more palatable: from something messy and stinky that filled me with trepidation, to something easy and straightforward. For someone without a proper darkroom, it’s very nearly perfect. Continue reading “SP-445 review”

10 Ways to Avoid Punishment in the Afterlife

From a lecture by Sheikh Dr. Yasir Qadhi, which he derived from Ibn Taymiyyah’s Punishment By the Hellfire is Repelled By Ten Causes by Ibn Tamiyyah, a reminder to me first…

Life is short. Like it or not, we’re all going to die. If you adhere to one of the monotheistic faiths, you’re likely aware of the potential destinations after death, and it’s one thing that we should all be at least mildly concerned about. I, for one, want to wind up in Paradise, worshiping God and glorifying Him, rather than pleading for mercy and enduring endless, repeated punishment, so some ideas of how to avoid punishment in the next life are welcome and needed.
Continue reading “10 Ways to Avoid Punishment in the Afterlife”