track+field: a July 2025 recap
Train tracks, tourism posters, the Phoenician city of Orthosia, green corridors of trees, and the lifespan of family photos
This newsletter incorporates movement and activity (hikes, walks, etc) into my work. I’m a productive and self-disciplined person except when it comes to tasks related to taking care of myself (like exercise, diet, and rest). This log blends the two areas of my life (health + work) and it tracks my time in the field.
The 2024 paid newsletter, Grapevine, a bulleted list of offline things I was exploring, is now collapsed into this monthly dispatch.
Today’s 32*C with a real feel of 39*C. August is here and she wants us to know. Once again, I am dreaming up ways to escape Beirut next summer but with no village to run to and no trees to hide under this year, I have to just hide in plain sight until…October?
ANYWAY. Sidewalk hangs are big in my neighborhood right now. My guess is people are avoiding the killer heat and the killer AC bills that accompany it. This sounds dumb but when observing people with a film camera that isn’t discrete like a phone, I can’t help feeling like an intruder if I point my lens at strangers. I took a big leap and asked a group of guys hanging out outside of a barber shop if I could photograph them. Two said yes and one said no and moved. Asking wasn’t as scary as I thought and they didn’t pose or ruin the candid vibe. They were excited to see it even though I couldn’t show them. Like my photographer friend said when I asked her how she got over the fear of interference, just treat people like people.
I subscribed to
’s newsletter, , where she shares her photos, tips, and a monthly focus for analog photography. It’s been refreshing to do something just for fun even if I decided to rekindle this hobby at the hottest time of the year.