Waves are Wednesdays

Astute readers might recognize that the last few ‘Waves are Wednesdays’ posts have started with ‘astute readers ____’. Is that going to become a thing?

Well no…and maybe?

Look, I rail against The Algorithm, but there is a reason why it is successful at algorithming. We the People are creatures of habit, trying always to achieve equilibrium, and the quickest way there is the familiar. We want what we know because it’s safe and warm. It helps connect us with times in our lives when we were happy or content. It’s why we listen to our favorite songs on repeat, or rewatch shows we’ve seen dozens of times before, or get “The Usual” from our restaurant of choice, or even why we go to the Black Rocks when the winds are blowing from a certain direction at a certain pace.

We are creatures of habit.

Yes, we are creatures of habit and I am their king. I’m a homebody looping daily routine like an Instagram reel made by a less-motivated Phil Conners. Back when I had Threads, I put in my bio that I’m not a very interesting person. I gave you nothing and took you nowhere.

However, I am large. I contain multitudes. And there is an adventurer in my soul that cannot be contained by my constant patterning. He is constantly seeking to take what I knew, and make it new.

And that brings me to the photo above, a photo of a wave I took last week. Now I’ve taken hundreds upon hundreds of photos of the waves at the Black Rocks. Many hundreds of those have been ‘normies’; crisp, high-shutter speed photos you’d expect to see from just about every photographer that has ever taken a photo of the waves at the Black Rocks and tried to capture the perfect curl. Some hundreds of those have been motion-blurred photos, almost exclusively shot hand-held to introduce Intentional Camera Movement.

This photo is neither. It’s an intentionally out-of-focus photo of a wave in motion, designed to create conflicting feelings of the familiar and the uncertain. It’s not the best photo I’ve ever taken, even factoring in the unusual technique- but it might be the most important so far. It’s a visual avatar of a step forward in my journey as an artist, of taking what I knew and making it new.

So what does this have to do with Waves are Wednesdays, the weekly newsletter where I say a great big THANK YOU to those people that follow and support my work (uh, oh yeah- a great big THANK YOU for following and supporting my work!)? Because my last couple of years as an artist have been about growth and exploration and risk. During that time I’ve been exploring shapes and patterns and colors at an abstract level, seeking to unlock the essence of subject. How unclear can I make a photo and still have it be recognizable? To be familiar? To kindle feelings of safety and warmth?

I haven’t answered those questions yet, but I have enjoyed the asking. I hope you have as well!

See you around,

Jason