Winter 20/21 Edition
Breathing into memories
Welcome to the latest issue of Warm Hughes - Winter 21/22 Edition - previously coming from me personally as Collin Hughes, and now just a little more expanded and punny (yet still from me).
If this is the first time you’re viewing this newsletter, expect to get a glimpse of new and old narratives. Some of it will revolve around memories, other parts around commercial and editorial collaborations. Then there’s the personal vagabonding and experimenting, followed by inspirations or takeaways from my journey as a parent and artist.
This blog-like format is becoming a vehicle for personal bodies of work and I sense there’s a community to be forged within it.
20-21 IN REVIEW
Yes - this is late to the party, but I’m here nonetheless! To be honest, writing these things and doing anything in a timely manner with two kids feels like a tremendous feat, so thanks for reading this far :]
In 2021, I grew and worked on many things that seemed to defy the bounds of what I’ve previously been exposed to; most importantly the arrival of my second daughter, Aila “Ru” Ruby, on Jan 9. The second, restructuring my practice as a corporation, and the third; admitting that parenting and working creatively is a tall task that has only subtly gotten easier with time.
One month following Ru’s birth, we confronted a flood in our apartment building, which tested me and my family beyond description. Juggling the projects I had at the time, fathering two kids under 3, and finding space for personal health - all in the container of a pandemic and a brutal NYC winter - created a perfect storm of pressure. Many thanks is owed to all those friends, family, conspirators, and legal professionals for seeing us through and into the safety we eventually found. The recent tragedy in the Bronx only begins to describe the dark shadow of landlords that own this city.
I’m grateful to admit that following all the intensity of the first months, I spent most of my summer and fall close to family, community, and cameras; creating some fantastic memories and also capturing them. I spent more time with pastels and colored pencils, walking in nature and working towards qualifying for the Mid-Am golf tournaments, scanning and archiving, organizing and homemaking. All this personal time had moments of commissioned work sprinkled in it which presented me with lots of fun creative hurdles, a bit of travel to new environments, and validating team building experiences.
In 2022, I’m excited to say that there’s so much to be working towards. I hope to announce a few of these new endeavors in the coming newsletters. For now, I’ve collected some of the highlights in commissioned and personal work from last year - I really hope you enjoy.
Peace and warmth to you in this new and bewildering year!
A MOMENT OF CLARITY
Cedar Lake. Taken on an early morning in May this past year.
This portion of the lake is teeming with carp in the spring time, you could hear them flapping their tails and launching themselves out of the water from our house just 100 yards away. When I was younger I caught one with a fishing pole that ended up breaking my line as soon as I got close to bringing it in. I later proudly told my mom when she arrived home from work that is was so big I could have rode it like whale.
This portion of the lake has remained unchanged thanks to the stringent zoning laws that have protected inlets and bodies of water from encroaching developments. I think often of this place where I spent time alone as a kid. So much space, so quiet. Now that my parents have sold the house I dream of someday going back, hoping that it might actually still remain.
Part of what drew me to photography at such a young age was that simple power of preserving a memory. Growing up, life was so chaotic and flowing and it was disorienting to feel so powerlessly consumed by it all. Admittedly, I didn’t have many people to talk to which didn’t make it easier on a kid with such deep sensitivity for the world. I missed out on so much in socializing and cultural understanding, what I gained instead was a communion with nature that offered so much beauty and grounding.
That simple power of memory has become even more profound as I’ve been reflecting on my quick 35 years on this earth. I believe the body is a repository for all our memories and experiences with the magic of transporting us back to any part of ourselves we want to revisit.
Photography was the tool that helped me to understand this - my deliberate observance involved in capturing that image then becomes the cover of that memory. Later in time when I close my eyes and recall that memory, I can breathe into it and expand that space time where I perceived it all happen. The feeling and smell of the cool, humid air floods my nervous system, I envision the slowly moving fog as it hangs over the surface of the water while the sunlight, dancing and refracting, illuminates the corners of my mind above my eyelids. It’s a feeling of synaesthesia unlike any other, a dance of the mind and body.
Recent Collaborations
Continuing to work with Galcher Lustwerk and Ghostly Int this year, GL released the instrumental tracks from his epic 2020 release titled “information redacted”. More of the stills I made then were utilized, namely a few frames from the singular roll of cinestill 800 that got some light leaked onto it. Thanks again to Justin Hunt Sloane for pulling together a great system for the work to live in. These were shot in Bedstuy NY on a Pentax 67II, the same location Chris played at back in 2011 with his labelmates of White Material.
I directed and photographed this very moody and incredibly fitting campaign in the dead of winter out on Long Island. I worked with an amazing crew led by Producer Mercedes Mimran and Cinematographer Peter Pascucci. In the course of two days we somehow managed to shoot all the assets while fitting an entire crew (about 30 people!) in a house with zero Covid positive tests over a week of cold temps. A blast to reconnect with Peter + crew again including my stills team Jonah, Mimi, and Charley.
Click the frame to see the spot and more images
Another great project with cinematographer Peter Pascucci - we worked closely with Amazon creative partners to help bring a wild new product to life called Astro. Super top secret - we thought it wouldn’t release for another year after production, but the personal robot age has now come mainstream. Very happy with how this turned out with all the teams and elements and stories that needed to be considered.
Another interior in the dead of winter, but this one being much more open and flexible to move around. I worked with Genesis and their agency Innocean to bring their restaurant/dealership concept in Manhattan to life. Lighting this massive place and the cars in it was a challenge that I loved. If you’re in Chelsea, make sure to check out their library and tea house upstairs.
“The Hard Truth About The Lido”
The Golfer’s Journal v17
There’s a secret among golfer’s on Long Island that has been kept under the ever shifting sand blown across the outlying islands for over half a century. The Lido, once the premiere US destination for golf at the turn of the century, vanished for a couple decades, only to return in a slightly less desirable state but a famed one nonetheless. I went out on a cold December Wednesday with writer Brett Cygralis to play a few holes on the infamous “white whale” course that has many in the golf community talking as a replica of its former greatness gets built in Wisconsin. Truly unique experience to play and hear the history behind the game on the East coast with someone who grew up playing it, at a course that manages to remain a mystery.
Costa Rica for Departures Magazine
And lastly for the warm thoughts and feels, a journey to Central America. It was a surreal experience to travel somewhere tropical nonetheless, during a pandemic while the destination itself was seemingly emptied of activity - almost like traveling back in time before mass tourism was possible.
Commissioned by Scott Hall and joined by writer John Bowe, who brought a saviness to the trip with his charisma, wit, and pro Spanish-speaking skill, I came prepared for Costa Rica with waterproof bag and shoes, three dozen rolls of 120, and not much else. Nine days total, four premiere locations across the country, rafting through rainforests, an overnight hike up to the crater of Arenal; covering that much ground required me to be light. I would say we were wet and hot about 80% of the trip, keeping my gear dry required a box of rice and dehumidifier every night if I could find it. There were more smells, sounds, and sights than I can totally recollect. The experience itself was truly unforgettable. An in-depth edit is available on my site.
PORTFOLIO UPDATES
In 2022, I’m seeking a more organized path for my work across all the different places it exists. This might include an entirely scaled back version of the site and the projects shown, or a reconfiguration of flow entirely.
After coming across a similar method used by The MET Photography Archive in Taryn Simon’s edit of “The Color of a Flea’s Eye : The Picture Collection” I’m exploring themes across my existing work and finding new ways to integrate them here. I’ll publish new themes and tools periodically. The first one is titled “Fluid Feeling”.
What I love about this exercise is what the layered and fragmented system allows for; a chance for the viewer to see something different with the option to move them around and create new patterns. It could be a fun collaborative tool, a simple internet novelty, or nothing at all! Maybe someone will move them around, take a screenshot, and forward it to me? Exploring is fun just for the indulgent serendipity and is my own attempt at inviting more people to engage with my work.
If you find yourself with a few extra minutes, check it out :]
Additionally I’ve added a link in my contact section to set up a time to Studio Visit. I’ve had a few people reach out this way and it’s been fun to have casual conversations with new people engaged in the art of image-making. If you’re one of those who is looking to connect over photography, design, space, flowers, or parenting even - I’d love to hear from you.
OF INTEREST
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
A friend lent me this book two years ago and I ended up needing to buy my own copy. The mystery of earth & mars has persisted across time; one has to wonder if the stories we have told create the experience of a place today. This half century old book will present you with a gift of fictitious cosmic poetry; narratives ripe with complexity and themes still completely relevant today. Jumping off this book into other things like The Three Body Problem by Chixin Lui, this article “Becoming Martian” by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and the recent successful launch of the James Webb Telescope only begins to describe the complex and difficult future in space we’re confronting as a global civilization.
No other artist’s work has found me in such pivotal moments the past two years other than Perila. This track specifically brings me back into the forest in September ‘21 where Ian Kim Judd played into a hazy sunrise while me and friends relaxed on the forest floor. The poetry and sounds that Aleksandra melds together creates something like an emotional 4D space that I feel has so much depth and connection in a space unknowable.
With all this spacious content it makes sense to end this newsletter with a quote from The Martian Chronicles which I had to pull from GoodReads because my three year old needs me to help her make a clay butterfly and I want to send this off.
“There was a smell of Time in the air tonight. He smiled and turned the fancy in his mind. There was a thought. What did time smell like? Like dust and clocks and people. And if you wondered what Time sounded like it sounded like water running in a dark cave and voices crying and dirt dropping down upon hollow box lids, and rain. And, going further, what did Time look like? Time look like snow dropping silently into a black room or it looked like a silent film in an ancient theater, 100 billion faces falling like those New Year balloons, down and down into nothing. That was how Time smelled and looked and sounded. And tonight-Tomas shoved a hand into the wind outside the truck-tonight you could almost taste time.”
Thank you for taking your *Time* to read this far. With this being the Winter edition, look forward to another newsletter coming in late March. Until then I’ll be writing and playing with the possibility of more frequent updates.
Looking forward to connecting with more of you in the new year!
Collin
collin-hughes.com / / instagram / / are.na
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