Current location: Izumi, Osaka, Japan
Reading: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
Listening: Tourist by Athlete
Playing: Shovel Knight Dig by Nitrome, Yacht Club Games
(if you have a moment, reply with your own 4-item status in the comments)
I borrowed this👆 idea from one of my favorite writers Colin Wright
Where Can I Mint This?
It started with an innocent enough question:
0
Well, let's just say the switch from inaction to action was flipped because of an innocent enough question. So then, where DID it actually start? Even better question, what is IT exactly?
Let's Talk About Photography
Those of you that know me know how much of a photography (insert favorite descriptor) I am. I have been experimenting for the last three plus decades and have no plans of stopping.
It was a fickle love affair that started out in film with point-and-shoots, disposables, and picking up prints at the pharmacy, and didn't really grab me by the balls until the first DSLR camera system I bought circa 2011; the Canon Kiss X5
What started out as a well intentioned anniversary gift quickly gave way to long nights out on the street, with a beer in one hand and a wireless trigger in the other, constantly searching for the next great long exposure.
I studied... I studied a shit ton.
Natural light, compact flash, primes, telephotos, wides, compression, RAW vs JPEG, the exposure triangle, bracketing, composition, glass ALWAYS trumps body, blowing out those highlights(or not), fu*ckin' PHOTONS man!, I was hooked.
Equipment was acquired and mistakes were made, but I kept pushing forward.
learn --> shoot --> edit --> evaluate --> repeat
At some point along the way I was asked to shoot portraits. "Hey, you take pictures. Why not take pictures of my kids?" And I got good at it. Like quite good at it. Enough so that I could charge, like a decent amount.
The problem was, though I enjoyed taking portraits, it wasn't really where my heart was. Something about the premeditation, the posing and rinse and repeat of it all. It was missing that serendipity and creativity that I found early on.
So, I retired from the portrait game.
Though, I still take pictures of my family. The reason the whole portrait game was even a thing if I am being honest was because of my family photos getting "out there".
Now, I am trying to get back to my roots; exploring, shooting, growing. And losing lens caps.
Not Vibing With Social
Long story short, Instagram pretty much scorched my on-line sharing Earth. It was rad in the beginning; so much promise. Flickr wasn't really improving, Google+ was dying, Instagram had filters... and hastags... and momentum. It had promise. It had that new car smell.
Then it was Zucked.
I quit Facebook in 2012 (yes, I talk about it with the pride and seriousness of quitting something like smoking) after 6 years of sharing status updates, little quips and photos with close friends and family. It was devolving (imo) down the path of the dark arts; jealousy. The never ending high school popularity contest.
I didn't want to dance with that, so I quit.
Hey, I still had my photo sharing bastion that was Instagram. But here comes Mark waving all those Facebook Benjamins in the air. It was like he was chasing me. I think we all know where this story is going. I only lasted another few years before pulling the plug on Instagram.
The pros were over powered by the cons. I was off social. Hiatus engaged.
What About Twitter?
My Twitter account laid mostly dormant for 12 years. I mean 79 tweets, c'mon.
But when I found myself getting into crypto and Web3 a few years back, I very quickly found myself steeped in crypto Twitter, for better and for worse. Hiatus disengaged.
Naturally, this became the forum where I started to share my photography again. And, even though it is not known as a photo platform, it was where I was at and had visibility.
I never stopped shooting, I had just stopped sharing
To jump start my efforts I set out to challenge myself by posting a picture a day for 33 days.
Ever find yourself scrolling through your back catalog, coming across a choice image, and wondering to yourself "did I take that?" To publicly explore this photo rabbit hole, I will post 1 (did I take that?) image a day for the next 33 days. #photography
Downtown #Osaka #Japan in an area known as Dotonbori circa 2010.
I'm pretty sure I took this picture #NotFinancialAdvice #DYOR
From there it just kind of became the place I share photos. I do have a VSCO more or less for archiving in one place, but the blue bird is where I engage... for now.
Cool Story Bro
But wtf does this have to do with NFTs?
Keep your damn shirt on, I'm world building here.
Flash forward to now and the post and comment that started this extremely wordy newsletter update.
Have always had a soft spot for the "out the window of a plane" shot.
#mtfuji
I had only been sharing up to this point without much thought beyond the post itself. NFTs were kind of always in the back of my mind, but never really considered it an option for my work.
And then I thought you know what, fuck it. Why not?! If someone had the balls enough to ask, maybe I man up and give them a better answer than right-click, save.
So, I decided to mint that very image being inquired about. Only one problem: how in the hell do I do that?
Enter Manifold. Based on the recommendations of others I settled on the big M to help me build my first on-chain image.
The process was smooth enough, but I'm still getting used to the finality of it all. Some pieces can move, others can not. It's kind of like baking a cake. I can change some of the decorations and frosting, but I can't really re-bake the cake.
How did the cake turn out? Not bad for my first time in the kitchen.
And, ns_human followed through and pick up a copy. A huge thank you for that.
Boom. Minted. For Sale. Now What?
Well, at first I thought of this as a pure art/collector play, And it is that, like 96% that, but what if I sprinkled in a little bit of utility and experiment with Web3 use cases. That's why we are here, right?
I am still working out the details, but this first NFT (Pink Sink ORIGINS - fuji) will be used to access gated content in this very newsletter. What is that content? Still working it out. Let's just say TBD for now. I am winking at you right now as you are reading this btw.
Oh, and there are still a few available. Pick one up. Hang it on your virtual wall.
Wheels Are Turning
Flash forward even farther forward to right now. Like right now as I am typing this. I'm hooked. This process stoked the fire for more creation.
I already have plans to expand Pink Sink ORIGINS with additional contracts/images and access in a kind of limited run. I also have some ideas for more stand alone, themed collections and minting other types of media.
This all fits in so well with just the overall themes of this newsletter and blog. The wheels are turning, and the ideas are... burning🔥. More to come very soon.
Bringing it Full Circle
So what is IT exactly? It's Pink Sink. Life—unlocked, on-chain.
Full send.
-AB-
