thursday thoughts: sewing room improvements and why i love/hate instagram

so i’ve been working on my sewing room in my apartment. this is sort of a “first world” sewing problem, but my room in my apartment is sort of a mess. i work in it a while, move something so that it’s in front of the TV or otherwise better-positioned, and before i know it stuff is everywhere and i feel completely overwhelmed and the apartment is in need of a serious scrub-down.

so i wanted to change the feel of the room by adding a mural (and, you know, finding a vacuum cleaner).  something soothing and magical and that would really create a new atmosphere for the space.  this is actually the third iteration of the room.  you can sort of see the evolution of it, like so:

phase 1: sewing desk against the wall, wall used as sort of a giant pinning board for some of my more whimsical photographic projects: family portraits, etc.

phase 2: blank walls, moved couch. empty and oppressive.  and messy.

phase 3: weird and whimsical.

it really does make a huge difference for me mentally when my space is clean and organized and i feel that it is useful.  it helps me feel less overwhelmed by the work i want to get done and more inclined actually to, you know, do it.

you’ll notice i’ve decided to take the plunge on instagram.  as a rule, i don’t usually whine about the “good old days” pre-technology, but instagram is one of those things that has provoked some seriously heated and mixed feelings in me.  as a photographer, i’ve spent nearly fifteen years figuring out what sort of kit i like and what sort of images i like to make.  my introduction to plastic and lo-fi cameras in high school was a revelation to me, and the sorts of images i was able to produce with my trusty holga or diana brought an entirely new way of seeing into my life.  i’ve melted film, deliberately blurred my lenses, used weird filters, shot full-frame and long exposure, all the little tricks we artsy types like to play with to feel cool.  ESPECIALLY in high school.  i took a week-long photo workshop in italy and was the only person in the group to bring film.  i kick it old-school, yo.

my photo kit.

and now…there’s an app for that.  *grumble.*  that photo of my new mural, in the old days, it would have taken a lot of work to make that happen.  the right film (for contrast); good composition (for the full-frame effect); work on the scanner (for the right exposure); and hours in photoshop to post-process it.  (i never learned how to print color film using chemistry).  now?  took me 30 seconds.  excuse me while i mourn the death of craft.

…speaking of craft, i’ve been seriously crafty lately.  all of my sewing has been re-constructing t-shirts.  i planned to spend the mid-week 4th of july catching up on missed TSW challenges and instead i cut up and re-sewed 5 t-shirts.  (and watched law & order reruns on my computer.  and napped.)  i’ve decided to go with it, get the t-shirt surgery out of my system, and go where the mood takes me.  it just feels good to be making something.