152 ☼ How Are Your Goals Coming Along?
GIVEAWAY: $150 gift certificate for the Moment shop + Process Work Book and other updates
Dear friends,
In this week's letter, a bunch updates I am excited to tell you about. The upcoming Process Work Book (what is it?!), a new illustration for Process (I thought this was about photos?!), "NJV1" news, and we are checking in on our 2024 goals now the year is halfway through.
Also in this issue: an exciting giveaway in partnership with Moment! One lucky winner will receive a $150 gift certificate to their online photography shop.
Finally, a major THANK YOU to everyone who joined the new Process Photo Club. Your support is energizing and the perks are exciting to work on. Read more about the benefits of the membership here and sign up today. <3
Also, later this summer there will be a Process Photo Walk in Berlin! More about this at the end of this newsletter where the Housekeeping section now lives.
Updates, Updates, Updates
These past few weeks have been so jam-packed with the kind of work that’s still not quite ready for sharing, but today I can finally share some exciting updates and projects that have been kept me busy lately.
The Process Work Book: Volume One
Together with the incredibly talented designer Maxwell George, I've been crafting the first volume of the Process Work Book. Here’s a preview of one of the spreads.
This eBook will feature 30 challenges, assignments, and prompts I’ve collected from my ten-year career, along with six inspiring quotes from legendary photographers like Elliott Erwitt. These quotes are from personal conversations and interviews, adding a personal touch to the book.
Maxwell’s design work is outstanding, and this book is going to be visually stunning. The eBook will be available for €8.99 (which is under 25 cents per assignment), but if you’re a member of the Process Photo Club, it’s free! That is €0.00 for members, yes.
This is a great opportunity to get involved with some ongoing inspiration and challenges. If there's enough interest, I may create a private group for sharing pictures from each challenge or assignment, so that everyone can learn from each other.
Volume One will be released in the next few weeks, and we’re already working on Volumes Two and Three. I plan to release three of these per year.
A New Icon for Process
You might have noticed Process has a fresh new icon. Can you guess which camera it’s based on? It’s my favorite one.
This custom illustration is by the talented and kind Tim van Damme, also known as Max Voltar. Tim is a software designer and mechanical keyboard maker based in Belgium, and he recently hand-drew 200 expressive icons for Figma’s new UI interface (see below). Thank you Tim! <3
NOTICE Journal, Volume One — Huge Update
I’m thrilled to update you on "NOTICE Journal, Volume One". We’ve chosen a top fine art book printer in Europe and are finalizing the photo layout. Preorder launch and press campaign plans are underway. I will take you along with every decision and step in future issues.
Exciting news: Caroline Cala Donifrio and Hetty Lui McKinnon, both esteemed writers and friends, are contributing to "NJV1". Caroline will write an essay, and Hetty, a recent James Beard Award winner, is contributing a recipe—a first for a fine art photo book? Maybe!
As shared in Process 148, "NJV1" embraces a playful design approach to enhance storytelling creatively. This allows us to think outside of the box all around.
Caroline and Hetty’s contributions beautifully complement the book’s theme of nostalgia and growth. Hetty’s recipe evokes childhood memories with cultural ingredients, aligning perfectly with the photographs' underlying theme of using spring as a metaphor for personal growth and rebirth.
Including essays by talented writers in my way of echoing the tradition of photographers collaborating with literary figures like Richard Avedon with James Baldwin and Truman Capote. These essays deepen the narrative and provide context, alongside a foreword, written by me, to frame my work and message for readers.
2024 Goals — Accountability Check-In
In Process 126 last January, I shared a list of goals we’d be working on for the year. Now that we're halfway through 2024, it's a good time to check in. Accountability y’all!
Goal 1: Launch Process Project X + A New Book Series
Project X was the mysterious working title for Process Photo Club, which we successfully launched last month! It took more work than expected, causing a slight delay, but I'm thrilled to finally see it come to life after two years of dreaming and one year of building. If you haven't joined yet, please consider it. Your support keeps Process going, and the upcoming perks will be amazing and well worth it. <3
The new book series is of course the "NOTICE Journal" series!
Goal 2: Reduce Social Media Time, Increase Study Time
Overall a big fail! The social media addiction continues, however in the past few weeks I have started making some new efforts by way of finally properly learning meditation and trying to lean into just people watching or reading on my kindle during those moments where I am waiting. Tips are welcome!
Goal 3: Apply For 3 Artist Residencies and 3 Artist Grants
I applied for two artist residencies and was invited to one in Finland, which I have completed. If all goes well, I'll attend the other in late winter. I'm also applying for my first grant, which will take at least another month. Afterward, I'll share my lessons learned in a future issue and use them to apply for more grants.
Goal 4 + 5 + 6: Daily Photo Diary + Backyard Studio + Sell Prints
I can keep these short, so I put them in one section. I'm still going strong with my daily photo diary project, 366/24. If you missed last year’s version, 365/23, you can check it out here. I love this project because forces me to stay present and smell the roses (and then take a photo of them).
The weather has been terrible, so I haven’t had much chance to set up my backyard studio. I have two shoots scheduled now, so fingers crossed for better weather. For an example of a backyard studio shoot, check out Process 117.
In terms of selling prints, I'm getting close and will release a small run alongside "NOTICE Journal Volume One." I'm working with a fantastic fine art printer, the most gorgeous handmade Japanese paper, and I've never seen my work look this lovely. Below is a preview. More soon!
Goal 7: Launch Process Projected
Process Projected, the exhibition series I curate at the WIHH gallery in Amsterdam, has launched and has so far featured 11 photographers from various countries. Julia Kochetova showed her "War Is Personal" series, which won a World Press Photo award. Sinna Nasseri exhibited his beautiful New York Times series "The Planespotters." Coming up next is a group show featuring various African photographers whose work I am very excited about. Follow along with the Projected newsletter here.
Other Goals
Process — We’ve published 25 issues of Process so far this year. Full year goal is 44.
Exhibiting My Work — Coming this fall if all goes well! My first photo fair!
Offer In-person Workshops — I’m in talks right now about something in fall or winter, and very excited about it. Can’t wait to share.
Videos — I wanted to get back to making videos and was blessed with great new Luc Satter collaboration video. Most views yet! Hope to do more in late summer.
Long-Form Photo Documentary Projects — I am hard at work at both the Creatives In/AMS project and The Best Medicine, both portrait projects documenting different creative communities. I am never more alive when I work on this kind of stuff. By fall there should be a pilot chapter for Creatives.
Overall, there have been mostly wins, with some losses or delays. Thanks to the Process Photo Club, I'll be able to dedicate emore time and effort to making these things happen, while sharing the lessons learned and steps taken along the way.
If you enjoyed this issue, consider joining the Process Photo Club! It helps keep Process going and includes great perks, like significant discounts on books, prints, and mentor sessions. An example, you ask? A whopping €100 discount on the one-on-one mentor sessions with practical steps to move your visual voice or project forward.
Next Week: TBD, so much going on right now that I haven’t decided yet.
Keep shooting and take good care of yourselves and others. <3
Wesley
Housekeeping
New Photo Essay — In case you missed it, I published a gallery of medium format work from my artist residency in Finland. Check it out here.
Berlin Process Photo Walk — I am partnering with my friends at camera shop/photo lab Safelight in Berlin to organize a Process Photo Walk on August 31st. Save the date, more info soon!
Amsterdam Process Photo Walk — The next Process Photo Walk & Movie Screening is taking place July 21st. It was sold out many weeks ago, but I was able to add five more seats for the theater so snap those up here.
Gear & Tools Used
Camera: iPhone, Olympus Pen-F, Fuji GFX 100S II, Konica Big Mini, Hasselblad 500cm, Pentax 67
Film Stocks: Kodak Tri-X, Double X, Kodak Portra 400
Shout out to MPB.com, my go-to place to buy, sell, and trade used cameras and lenses. I love their service and am a paying customer. MPB caters to over 625,000 visual storytellers and provides a 6-month warranty. Thanks for the support, MPB! <3
Lab: All my analog work is developed and scanned by my friends at Carmencita Film Lab. They’re my favorite lab in the world. Use code “PROCESS” to get a free upgrade.
Process Giveaway
My pals over at Moment are back for a generous giveaway! One winner will receive a $150 gift card to buy whatever you wish including film, bags, a course, and more.
To enter this week’s giveaway answer the following question in the comments:
Q: How about y’all? How is your year going? And your creative goals? I’d love to hear about any challenges you’ve run into in the comments.
Goals can be as small as shooting your first roll of film or taking portraits of a family member, or as big as starting a newsletter or making your own photo zine.
ENTER THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY before 11 a.m. EST on July 20th.
The winner will be randomly drawn. This giveaway is for Process subscribers only.
One of my goals was to share more of my photography, both through instagram and Substack. Unfortunately, I haven’t come close to meeting this goal. But I am preparing for an international move, so trying to cut myself some slack. And I have been photographing, so I will have projects to share once things settle down. Although life has a tendency to never settle down, new obstacles are always popping up. I need to just set aside a day to write and post!
I'm making slow and steady progress on my creative goals. It's a tough journey, but it's also really satisfying. One of the hardest things is shutting out all the unnecessary noise and distractions that keep me from getting stuff done. I know a lot of us deal with this, and we've got to work together to block out the distractions so we can focus on creating work that really matters.