Hwhup The Deans List? The Jason Dean here, bringing you another end to your weekend. On that happy note, let’s get into it!

Show and Tell

In my last Weekender, I teased new glasses and kind of threw them under the bus as a reason for not writing my newsletter in over (nervously glances at calendar) TWO MONTHS??? I HAVEN’T WRITTEN A WEEKENDER IN OVER TWO MONTHS???

Welp. Let’s not do that again, shall we?

Anyways, I am happy to report that the new glasses are here, and they are 🔥:

Oh my, what’s that I’m reading? The summer edition of Humana Obscura? Available now in print and digital? Well then. You should totally check that out- but only after you finish this newsletter, okay?

In addition to making my face look great, these new glasses are also ferrying me to the next stage of life- they’re bifocals. But these aren’t your grandpa’s bifocals- you can’t even see the line!

Oh my, what’s this? Me, getting ready to photograph a production of Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night at The Boathouse? Why yes, friends, I’ve actually had the opportunity to photograph a couple of local theatre productions since last we spoke. More about that in a future Weekender though, because I need to talk about where my photography is headed.

Art

You may recall a few months ago, I wrote about a very cool and validating moment with my local photography group. Since then, I have decided to pretty much lean all the way into…well, just see for yourself!

This new style is something else, eh? It’s kind of like I’m…well, it would be intellectually dishonest to say that I’m trying to intentionally take bad photos; a more apt description is that I’m consciously trying to not take “good” photos- at least in the way that our algorithm-driven culture defines and expects “good” photos to look.

I’m more interested in paving my own way by probing the layers of reality and perception to introduce chaos and confusion into the ordinary. I’m trying to find the sweet spot between ‘what is that?’ and ‘hey, I know what that is!’: the in-between. I’m living there; why not create art there as well?

Economics

You may also recall, several months ago, I wrote about my goal of becoming a full-time, self-sustaining artist, and then we had the ‘The Talk’ (no, not that ‘The Talk’)(sorry for reusing the joke) and everybody got real cool with that real quick.

Now, I’m not coming back for the first weekender in over over (nervously glances at calendar) TWO MONTHS??? I HAVEN’T WRITTEN A WEEKENDER IN OVER TWO MONTHS???(sorry for reusing the joke) and instituting a paywall. Who do you take me for anyways? I am, however, starting to take babysteps into making The Jason Dean into an actual, factual business.

There are a lot of steps until then will be now and I am pouring my spare time and energy into taking them diligently. In the meantime, if you’re interested in donating to the cause, you can find me on Ko-fi. No pressure, but it would be a nice way to support the art that I’m creating!

That’s all for this week. Next week, I’ll share some of the theatre work I’ve done this summer- and hey! A whole week will happen between now and then, so who knows what sorts of shenanigans I could write about next week? There’s only one way to know for really real sure: subscribe and become a part of The Deans List.

Thank you so much for being a part of my story.

See you around,

Jason