New Roll / Updates (Patreon)

Hello! These shots are from late March/early April. This roll is another one of the cheap Fuji 400s I bulk-purchased before Kodak raised their prices. Here it is on Flickr, and for download on Drive.

The following is scattered life updates, rather than a political statement; I figured it was worth a break from being wildly depressed.

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This past week has finally felt like spring, both in weather and mindset. I did some spring-cleaning and spruced up my resumes (with how many different fields I've worked in, I need different summaries for different job applications), and updated my website. It now showcases my books and my photography heavily, rather than focusing on my writing.

I decided it was time for this because I have finally hit the end of my 35mm color film hoard (with the exception of some slide film I'd like to save for special occasions)... and I know what I want to do next. I want to take my photography more seriously. Despite publishing two books and shooting commercially since I was 15 years old, I have not really figured out how to break into "mainstream" recognition, but I think the work and my vision is finally strong enough to try.

In an ideal world, I'd go pursue an MFA in photography, which I really think would help me understand how to make it from where I'm at to where I'd like to be. However, considering the economic outlook, I will not be doing that!

But I can keep trying in other ways. With that in mind, I filled out a grant application this week. I have had an idea for a film photography book project since I finished We Deserve This, and it's something similarly important to me. With the right resources, I have the ability to pull it off, I'm certain.

Still, I would extremely love it if the next book I create I do not have to self-fund via working 40 hours a week at another job at the same time. I genuinely am not sure if that's within my physical limits anymore. The grant would allow me significant headway toward the next project, so I figured it was worth a shot.

In the meantime I still have quite a few rolls to put up here, so I'll continue sharing those as I color grade them. I will probably disappear from the internet for a bit later this week, as I have surgery on Thursday when I finally get my orchiectomy done.

I am genuinely ecstatic to have this autonomy over my body! I have never had gender-affirming surgery, and it feels fantastic to know that I cannot be detransitioned after this. It's been a huge concern for me since November and I'll be thrilled to have it off the list of "possible horrible things that can happen to me".

I am also terrified because it's surgery, but it's really mild and I'll probably be fine really rapidly. Still, I may not be Posting much.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well and the start of spring is treating you kindly.

Vicki <3