None of us need another email to read. We're all bombarded daily, a deluge of to-dos and meeting requests, bills and deadlines, jarring headlines and chilling news.
But, what if there was something different, just one email, a couple times a week, that contained in it a thing of beauty, of interest, along with some words and thoughts, a little concoction to take you - for just a moment or two - out of the swirl and into a nicer place, a calmer time?
With inspiration from the prolific and quirky Craig Mod, I’m starting - tomorrow! - a pop-up newsletter that aims to do just that: give you, and me, and anyone else who’s interested, a break from the normal email effluence, and a moment to look, wonder, read, and dive briefly into another place and time.
The impetus for doing this is multifold, mainly selfish, but not entirely:
- A deadline helps me create. I wish I was one of those writers/creators/people who could, in fabled Kerouacian style, just sit and write and spill forth oodles. But, alas, I tend to do better when told - even by myself - that I need to get something done, out, written.
- Dormant photos make me sad. I spend a lot of time in Lightroom, and I’m always cognizant of the piles of images sitting there, some half million and counting, doing nothing, gathering digital dust. Some (many?) are junk and should be deleted, but lots are good, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to get them out, to share them…there’s just rarely a cause to do so.
- Each photo is really a story. Sure, it can be reduced to a click, a play of light on crystals or pixels, but really photography is about condensing a story into a moment in time, and to me the beauty comes when that moment in time is unpacked, exploded, its story brought forth upon the page or screen. These archived images want their stories to be shared, their backgrounds explored.
- Finally, on the less-selfish side, I want - as noted above - to give us all a brief respite from the daily onslaught. For me, it’ll come in finding the images and telling their stories. For you, the respite will be (hopefully) found in enjoying the image, diving into the story, and taking a 5-minute break to look, listen, dream.
What is a pop-up newsletter, you ask? Well, it’s like a normal newsletter, but less news-ey, running for a specific time on a specific subject.
In this case, my pop-up newsletter - Mountains of Memories: Autumn - will run through the northern hemisphere’s meteorological autumn (September 1 - November 30), with a post twice a week for 13 weeks (26 or so newsletters). The focus for this first edition (if you like it - and if I do, too - there may be a second, maybe more) is photos taken in autumn. Some may be visually full of autumn - fall foliage and snow dustings - and some may simply line up with the dates. But all will be interesting photos from our world, near and far, and will be coupled with a short essay expanding the moment in time.
Interested? You can sign up below or here (Already a member of the unDefined Blog? No need to do a thing - you’re already subscribed!):
