Analog (issue 1) (PDF)

analog

issue 1 fall 2014

home
Analog is taking photos that you don’t see
until later. Analog is finding a tree under
which to load film. Analog is physical, your
parents’ old albums.
This is our first collaboration, our first issue.
Four photo sets, 59 photos.
Austin Pham
Noah Mertz
Zander Porter
Kaitlin Chan
November 2014

us
Austin Pham is a prospective East Asian Studies and Film Studies double major from Vietnam. His photographs express his intimate view of the subject or
location. He believes taking photos is a way of understanding moments and
telling stories.

Noah Mertz is a prospective English and French double major from Massachusetts. He is a person who values open affection and integrity. He seeks to
connect with people and places, and to capture and collect memories of both.
To help with this, he has gravitated toward listening to and playing music, nonfiction writing, and taking pictures. Above all, he thinks people should be nice.

Zander Porter is a prospective Studio Art and Computer Science double major
from Los Angeles. He appreciates the film process for its meditative quality,
and uses his camera as a tool to translate experience, or something unique, or
something strange, and to encourage his sense of humor.

Kaitlin Chan is a prospective Studio Art and East Asian Studies double major. The idea for analog came from a hike that she and Noah took, on which a
conversation about how hiking “is so analog” birthed this photography journal.
She takes photos because her Dad took some beautiful photos of her growing
up. He was a great analog photographer, and one day she would like to be too.

I see the endless food vendors on my street; all I’ve tasted: Pho, banh
cuon (rolled cake), banh chung (rice cake), nem ran (fried spring roll),
and so much more. I see the toothless smile on the old clocksmith
who is always there for anyone in need, come rain or shine. I see my
rusty Honda scooter. I see stray cats and dogs that follow me home.
I see the whirling blur of passing traffic on Hanoi streets. I see places of Vietnam that I have been to; I see the morning forest mist on
mountain tops and the rising tides on the beach at sundown. I see all
that make me who I am. And I see home.
Austin Pham

This collection captures two important spheres: a family abode
in Maine, and the home of the grandfather of my close friend,
Rosie. These photos are of these spaces, both of which I hold
close, and the people who populate them, whom I hold even
closer. For each photo, I was prompted to raise the camera to
capture a moment, whether it be of beauty or tender personality, that triggered in me a stirring. For each, it was a moment I’d
wanted to remember.
I chose film for its evocative color, which complements the nostalgia of the subject matter, and its particular ability to render
space. I also prefer the act of taking a picture in an analog manner. With no screen allowing for instant feedback on exposure
or composition, and no nearly-unlimited space for pictures,
I carefully consider each capture. More importantly, I spend
more time in the moment with the people and in the place. I
simply wait for the stirring, and the camera is there.
Noah Mertz

My “home” is many things: a cityscape, someone’s grandmother, my
grandmother, spotlight heat, light in my eyes, darkness, an empty
theater, moving vehicles, celebrity culture, and infinitely unexplored
places.
Los Angeles is itself a huge home to these things, as well as a home
to many different kinds of people, scenes, wealth, and heritage. This
agglomeration posits the city as certain glamorized home to “literally everything,” which often makes living there confusing or discomforting.
This collection of images, united by the geographic specificity of
Los Angeles, pieces together some of these scopes to highlight my
personal representation of and critical opinion on the concept of
birthplace. Motifs of family, irony, and emptiness underscore how
this sequence seeks to communicate both a private life within and a
removed, monochromatic scrutiny of LA as “home.”
Zander Porter

Hong Kong is not just a city. It is a group of islands and the Kowloon peninsula. A lot of people told me they’ve been to Hong Kong,
but most of them say to me that the only thing to do there is go
shopping or eating. I don’t think they know that you can ride a
rusty bicycle along the Tai Mei Tuk waterfront until your legs burn.
You can sit and watch boats come through the Peng Chau harbour.
There’s a lot to do. There are also a lot of good places to do nothing.
Hong Kong is home. I was not born there, but I spent my entire
life there. I spent every Sunday afternoon at the wetmarket buying
groceries with my Mom. I miss those days. They are gone, but I’ll
always have these pictures.
These photos were taken in various parts of Hong Kong, namely
Kwun Tong, Sai Kung beach, Peng Chau, Wan Chai, Ma On Shan
and Sheung Wan. These photos were taken from October 2011 until December 2013.
Kaitlin Chan

This issue of Analog was produced in the
Digital Studio of the Davison Art Center on
November 13th, 2014. The body text font is
Adobe Caslon Regular, 12 point. The title
font is Adobe Caslon Bold, 72 point. The
cover illustration is by Kaitlin Chan.