dylan barnes | blog

Category: Thoughts

Processed Packages: Coffee and Prints from Christopher Sturm

There’s something about receiving mail that has never lost its luster. When I was a kid, getting mail, whether a letter or package always filled me with an excitement that was similar to Christmas morning. Of course, as a child, getting mail was always a good thing. I didn’t have to worry about bills, notices, election materials, or junk mail. As an adult, I think it is even more exciting to receive personalized mail and packages.

I like to think that I appreciate the small things. These things don’t necessarily need to be physical objects, but sometimes small things like handwritten letters or small gifts prove that something about you crossed someone’s mind with a strong enough resonance to make some sort of impression or connection causing them to take action. I don’t know, but to me that’s pretty amazing.

This past year, I got to take part in a print exchange that was coordinated by Mike Padua of Shoot Film Co. I got to send and receive a few prints from a complete stranger. That was quite enjoyable. So much so, that I am thinking of coordinating a zine/book swap. Most recently though, I got to exchange some pleasantries with Christopher Sturm of The Photo Dept.

Chris lives in the Oakland area of California. After messaging back and forth, I decided that since Chris and I have a love for both coffee and cameras, it would be a great idea to trade local specialty coffee beans. In my package, I decided to send him a bag of Mountaineer Coffee’s seasonal Hill and Holler beans and I also send him a copy of my book twenty seven, twenty eight, which he ended up reviewing on his YouTube channel. You can watch that, along with his perspective of our trade and friendship below:

Just a few days after I sent out my package to Chris, he also sent me a few things: a bag of coffee, some really nice prints, and a short hand written note. Now my three favorite things might actually be hand-written letters, coffee, and photography-related paraphernalia, so it might explain my excitement for such things even though they are so small. I think appreciate these tangible items more because in a digital society, they have become so sparingly utilized for human connection.

Like the process of analog photography, something like human communications can be compared in the same sort of light. Snail mail contains a lengthier process than sending a direct message to someone. It takes time, thought, and effort. There is a human element to it that is absent in its digital counterpart.

I guess I could get on the soap box and start making the whole “technology is ruining us” argument, but I don’t think that does much good. In turn, I would much rather promote the positive affect tangible items have on the heart and the human condition. Of course, being conscious of the fact that technology takes out a lot of the work and time it takes to create and send things to others is something we should force ourselves to be aware of, but I don’t think it’s enough. I think we should act more on our thoughts and connections we make in our minds and hearts of the people we meet and care about. It makes our days easier and our lives more pleasant.

So, whether you are taking photos or thinking about sending a message to someone you haven’t talked to in a while I think we should take a step back, think about what we are doing, and choose the route that best shows our intentions, regardless of the amount of time and effort it takes. No matter how small the tangible item is, it’s impact will be far greater. It’s just worth it.

Thank you, Chris. Your package and friendship is more than appreciated.

September 2, 2017
Ongoing Process: One Year Later
One year ago today, I started Now Developing. I can’t say for sure that everything I accomplished over the past year revolved around this blog, but I can definitely say that a good chunk of my experiences regarding photography over the past year in some shape or form definitely was either directly or indirectly due to the work or motivation that stemmed from this project.

In my very first post, I stated that this was something that was going to reinvigorate my creative spirit; and that my mind was starting to overflow with ideas of what the blog could be, become, and contain. What I don’t think I anticipated was how putting my reflective journey through written discourse and capturing images up to the public of the internet could open up various windows of opportunity, amplify my desire to continue to create, and connect me with so many rad people across the globe.

Before I jump into the things I am most happy about from the past year, I would like to take a moment to just list out some of the objective data the website has amassed in just 365 days:
- 42 Published Posts
- 6,866 Views
- 4,559 Visitors
I remember when the blog reach 1,000 hits. I was ecstatic. Needless to say, I am extremely honored that at the end of one year the numbers are what they are. It’s just so…neat. I know that in the grand scheme of internet traffic, I’m not pulling in millions of hits, nor am I making any monetary gain with this venture. However, that was never the point. As the blurb on my About & Contact page says:

I made this blog in order to record my thoughts, learning, experiences, and reflections as I continue to shoot film and develop images by hand. In a sense, the images I create and share are a literal and figurative reflection of who I am and who I continue to become.

But this has been anything but a solo venture. As I stated earlier, I have come in contact with some pretty amazing people. People that I believe have now become a part of the Now Developing narrative that I respect, admire, and call friends. Their support and the inspiration that they impart on me cannot be appreciated enough. From simple chats, to camera talk, to mailed packages, to making my blog’s logo, it is all appreciated the same at a heartfelt level. To avoid the risk of forgetting some integral people, I would simply like to say you know who you are and I thank you endlessly. My gratitude cannot be truly verbalized.

I have accomplished quite a bit over the past year, and I can truly say that I am proud of the work I have done. Again, I don’t think I can say I did any of this without the help of others. I think creating goals is important, however, I think it is just as important to recognize when you achieve them. So, without sounding too overzealous, I would simply like to list out the things I found noteworthy from the past year:
- Self published my first book under the Now Developing imprint, twenty seven, twenty eight
- Started printing work digitally
- Built a darkroom for me and my students to start enlarging our negatives
- Working with the Film Photography Project continuously to provide a better photographic education for my students
- Partnering with Shoot Film Co. to put some really cool things into the hands of my students to assist them in securing their identities as film photographers
- Able to be a part of the greater artist community in the Tampa Area, participating in displaying works at three different local locations
- Held two exhibitions outside of the US, both taking place in South Korea
- Traveled to Japan, and subsequently got to meet, hang out, and share a cup of tea with Bellamy, Japan Camera Hunter
- Featured on Japan Camera Hunter, highlighting how shooting photos helped me cope with the loss of my father
- Was interviewed on Analog Talk Podcast about photography as a hobby and passion
- Provided a platform for other self-developing photographers to share their stories, featuring ten photographers thus far
While this list fills me with a large sense accomplishment, it is not without a secondary list; a list of goals for the upcoming year to strive for:
- Host a solo photographic exhibition
- Host a collective art exhibition
- Publish two more publications of my own highlighting my time Korea and Japan
- Publish a collective zine for the Part of the Process featurettes
- Attempt a Now Developing Youtube channel
- Travel to meet, shoot, and collaborate with people I have met over the past year
- Recruit others to share their experiences through contributions on Now Developing
Overall, I couldn’t be happier just 365 days from my decision to start this blog. In this past year alone, I truly think I have made my best photographic work to date.

I’m elated, to put it simple. I am filled with ambition and motivation to not only shoot more, but to share more. To share both my images and my experiences as someone who records individual moments of time. As always though, the process continues. To me, nothing is ever quite perfect, both in my work and through the course of self-actualization. As cliche as it sounds, it’s not about the result, it’s always about the process. If you’re willing to take a risk, there’s always a chance for an equal reward. I feel lucky enough to have obtained that reward.

Whether you’ve read something here, given feedback, provided content, given me motivation, inspired me, or interacted with me in anyway because of this page, I just want to say thank you.
August 28, 2017
Creating Something New

For the past five to six years or so, I have been shooting film and it truly has been a transformative experience for me. Without getting into all of the clichés of the kinesthetic beauty that shooting film is accompanied by (all of which I appreciate), I feel that the shooting film had had both immediate and lasting impacts on how I view photography and how I live my life in general.

I remember the day I got my first dSLR. I received a Nikon D40 kit when I was seventeen as a high school graduation present from my parents. Months prior to that, I would stay up late; researching what camera I wanted, whether I would buy a used D80 or a new D40, what look I wanted from my photos when I finally got it, and how cool it would be to be the photographer for all of my friends’ bands at the time. Through photography I have been able to meet a lot of people. Most of which I probably would not have met without the camera in my hands.

The connections I’ve made and the experiences we’ve shared are irreplaceable and unquantifiable; and they were made because I was creating something either for them or with them.

After those years, I lost interest and found it hard to take images that I thought were interesting or engaging.

Funnily enough, my first film memories are nowhere near as memorable as my first dSLR nor were the excitement and engagement immediate. I only vaguely remember getting my hands on a Minolta Maxxum 7000 at Goodwill and an expired roll of film. I took the shots with no real direction, just taking them quickly without really composing the images. My impatience demanded results as soon as possible. I took the roll to Walgreen’s (which still had 1-Hour Photo at the time), and was pretty impressed with how they came out.

Minolta Maxxum 7000 // Film Unknown

As I shot more film, I began to find that its aesthetic held the charm I couldn’t seem to find in my digital images at the time. Maybe it wasn’t so much that i needed something different as it was that I needed something new. Not something “new” in the sense of a new camera like when I was seventeen, but a new learning experience. I’m 28 years old and I don’t know what it’s like to not be a student. I’m currently in the process of getting my doctorate. I’m also a middle school teacher. I love teaching, but I love learning even more.

Nikon EM // Kodak 400

While I feel that shooting film has allowed me to make stronger connections with the people I shoot and shoot with, it has also prompted a lot of self-reflection; and not just when a camera is in my hand either. When I first thought to create this blog a few days ago, I had a very specific idea of what I wanted it to be. Over the past few days, I have thought of a million other things of what this could be and what I could post here.

All of these thoughts and possibilities come from an eagerness that has originated just because I think I have found something that makes me excited to create something again.

However, this will primarily be a place to post images that I have developed and scanned on my own along with the thoughts that go along with them.

Nikon L35 AF // Kodak 200 (Converted in Post)

To create something completely new means that it will not be perfect, perhaps ever. I’m sure this blog will be ridden with imperfections, just like the film I develop by hand. But there is beauty in those imperfections; it shows a journey, it shows of learning, and it tells of an experience.

August 26, 2016