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▶ VIDEO — youtu.be/Hj2pSC-w09w
Flux Archive 023 — You Can’t Exhaust a Location
What’s poppin’, people? It’s Dante.
Welcome to the Flux Archive Session Number 23, where we look at some of the photographs I made along my black-and-white photography journey.
Today we’re looking at photographs made from January of 2025 until March of 2025.
And welcome to a Flux Issue.
A Flux Issue is essentially 36 photographs that I automatically generate using my open-source chronological photography publishing system.
It automatically reads the timestamps, preserves the chronological order of your work, and creates an issue PDF where each photograph is timestamped with the date, the time, your name, and the issue and sequence number throughout the work.
You simply print out the work on 8.5 by 11 copy paper, print double-sided, staple the two marks, and generate your own contact sheet on the back.
All the work is sequenced chronologically and presented with diptychs.
This is essentially the system that I’ve created for making my own personal zines.
Can You Exhaust a Location?
Right off the bat, I have this photograph I made of a sculpture here.
We have this sculpture called Rebecca at the Well, which depicts the Book of Genesis and the story of Rebecca and Isaac.
I photographed the textural qualities of this little fragment of the sculpture.
Today I wanted to share some ideas about exhausting a location in photography.
Can you exhaust a location?
Will that mundane place that you photograph every day ever become boring?
My answer is no.
I believe that there is infinite novelty no matter where you are, and you can practice photography despite the location.
The Same Person, Same Place, Same Time
This is kind of interesting.
Look at this guy.
I photographed him two times.
Here he is on the left-hand side.
Here he is on the right-hand side.
I made this first frame on February 3rd at around 3:30.
Then look at the next day.
I photographed him on February 4th at around 3:30 again.
This is crazy.
It’s the same guy, photographed at basically the same time, in the same place, on two consecutive days.
And both pictures are completely different.
Here he is sitting on the curb.
Here he is with his head against the pole looking up at the sky.
Both photographs were made around Market Street, in the same part of town.
Same subject.
Same location.
Same time.
Two completely different photographs.
You can make a photograph of the same person every day and still make completely different frames.
You Can Never Make the Same Photograph Twice
That’s what I’m trying to prove.
You can return to that same place.
You can photograph that same subject.
And my answer is still no.
I don’t believe it’s possible to exhaust a location.
I think it’s up to us and our perception of reality, how we feel about life, to then go out there and make photographs in these mundane places.
You’re in control of your perception.
You’re in control of your curiosity.
You’re not in control of whether or not you’re going to find something interesting.
But if you reshape your mind and start looking at everything from the child’s mind, life becomes rich with meaning.
There’s infinite possibility.
Photography becomes unrepeatable.
You can visit the same street and photograph the same subject, but you’re never going to make the same photograph twice.
The Core Philosophy of Flux
To me, that’s the core philosophy of Flux.
It’s embracing the unrepeatable nature of life.
Everything is fleeting.
Everything is changing.
You are changing.
The streets are changing.
You’ll find the same character time and time again and photograph him over and over again.
He’s even got his own issue of Flux.
He’s holding his own Flux Issue.
He’s got Issue Number 23.
He’s got Issue Number 20.
He’s got the manila folder and everything.
Photography is unrepeatable.
Light Is Always Changing
There’s infinite possibility simply due to the way light is casting upon everything.
Light is out of our control.
You can’t control the light.
Light is always changing.
Light is always moving.
The way that it interacts with surfaces and people is endlessly fascinating to me.
That simple idea alone—that the external world is out of my control—has reshaped the way that I think about my practice.
I’m no longer dependent on interesting content.
I’m no longer dependent on the location I’m photographing.
It’s up to me.
It’s up to my internal way of how I think, how I feel, and how I see life.
Then that reflects in the photography.
Finding the Infinite Within the Everyday
You can’t exhaust a location.
I can photograph the same street endlessly for the rest of my life and still find infinite ways to make new frames.
That’s because I’ve unlocked this way of looking at life and light.
I’m finding the infinite within the everyday.
That has completely transformed the way I engage with not only my photography practice, but the way I think and feel about life generally.
For that, I’m eternally grateful.
It provides my personal life with rich meaning.
I have this insatiable curiosity each day.
And through photography, I go out there and play.
I can walk the same lane every single day and still find something new to say.
Thrive in Boredom
I’m in control of my curiosity.
I’m not in control of what life is going to deliver me.
So you can’t exhaust a location.
You can never get bored.
I mean, you can get bored.
But I think we should thrive in that boredom.
We should thrive in boredom because that’s where creative breakthrough happens.
It’s when you’re bored.
It’s when you’re no longer dependent upon the novelty of the external world delivering you something.
Your inner state of being is what you’re in control of.
I believe that’s ultimately what’s going to affect your ability to practice photography daily.
If You Think You’ve Seen It All, You’ll Stop Photographing
If you go out there and feel like you’ve seen it all, done it all, experienced it all, you’re never going to start shooting.
You’re never going to improve your photography.
You’re going to find your city boring.
You’re going to find everything mundane.
But what happens when you wake up each day with enthusiasm?
What happens when you wake up each day with curiosity and eagerness?
Then you go out there.
You engage with people.
You ask questions.
You ride your bus to work.
You engage with the sisters, have a conversation, and make a photograph.
Photography Has Everything to Do With You
Photography has nothing to do with you being in an interesting location.
It has nothing to do with you making an interesting story.
Photography has everything to do with you, and that’s what’s on display in the photographs you make.
You can’t exhaust a location.
There’s infinite novelty in life generally.
It really is a mindset shift.
And that’s going to require contemplation and self-realization to get there.
But those are my thoughts for today.
Once again, you can submit a Flux Issue directly to me.
Just upload 36 photographs.
I’ll add them to the catalog, and we can even review them here on this YouTube channel with a little commentary flip-through like this.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you submit.
Otherwise, if you’d like to join the Flux Discord server community, click the Join button on the YouTube channel and you’ll receive a link to join.
Thank you for watching.
I’ll see you soon.
Peace.
DANTE SISOFO · · dantesisofo.com/flux-archive-023-you-cant-exhaust-a-location/
