First Post for Zero Subscribers
Giving it a shot
This is tough and daunting, considering it shouldn’t be since it’s for ZERO readers at this point, but lets give it a shot. I am going to save the “background” information of who I am for my next post, since its mostly already written and the second article needed the context.
With some general “success” in doing writing for my website, I am now attempting to dive into writing a Substack, thanks for taking the time for clicking through and visiting, especially if you’re coming from IG. The writing on my photography website has mostly been what I consider “outward” facing, talking about other people in the community it’s focused in and was always intended to be a place where I can write about the community and things which happen within it.
My latest writing, however, was about my own journey with running as I had an opportunity to shoot some photos for Puma. I got some really good feedback from that so I was encouraged to keep writing my own perspective and experience, but am generally a person who very much dislikes talking about myself…
All that being said, I’ve been really into Substack lately. I’m starting to find it my go to place to learn and explore, beating out Instagram and Reddit by a mile. A big thanks to
for initially getting me here, without the desire to keep reading their paid content, I am unsure I’d be going down this path. Reading their high quality verbiage, recon, and straight up honesty is worth every penny.What I am finding this platform offers is long-form insights, with personal touches, and most importantly, NO ADS (I pretty much have my second post written, a criticism of ads and Instagram, as I mentioned above I will also go into a bit more of the history of SOEV, for people who are here and are unaware of that project, coming soon…). The free offerings for many people are great, and the few I am paying for have already been worth it.
For those who are coming from IG to read this and are curious how SOEV will translate to substack…
This is how I see it breaking down. Yes, this is my preferred way to organize my mind.
Letters…to be continued?
I have been writing “Letters” since I started SOEV and I still intend to be open to these projects, however, they take a lot of work, coordinating, and have all been primarily driven by me seeking stories and opportunities. It originally started from me being able to pitch CBC an idea as I had a connection there through a highlight that was made of my project, but that faded quickly as the program was not funded anymore and I lost steam to keep reaching out to people as I felt like I was bothering the community just to create content.
Every so often another opportunity arises and I get reenergized, but without actively pursuing them, those opportunities seem few and far between. If you’re reading this and have an idea for Letters, I’m always happy to hear them.
Seasonsubstack
Here are the different directions I see this going, according to my very sophisticated mind map above…
- casual -
I am hoping this writing will be more casual. Allowing me to explore many topics outside of the neighborhood I’ve focused so much of my energy and attention to. I’ve generally been a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, most of my life and often thought of that as a bad thing. Jumping from hobby to hobby I never really was able to focus in too much into mastering anything, but have always been able to change and adapt to new endeavors. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized this can be seen as a gift and less of a curse as I’ve been able to dive into many different interests and learn a variety of skills and meet a diverse range of people outside of my usual “comfort zone”.
I’m sure much of the writing here will still be inspired by “east van”, but it won’t be as restrictive as it was with my “Letters”. A few of the drafts I currently have didn’t exactly fit on my website, which is essentially what prompted me to start looking for another platform to publish.
- personal -
Again, this will let me explore more of…myself? Insights, reflections, explorations and diving into my experiences as a teacher, parent, athlete, and street photographer. I’ve had some amazing interactions (both positive and negative) on the street and have always dabbled with the idea of eventually writing a book to highlight and explore the personal lessons I’ve learned in interacting with random people on the street, substack may be the start of the drawing board/sketchpad for those chapters.
Another aspect people often want to hear about with soev is “how do you choose people you take photos of”, I may start to write about some of these outfits, pieces of clothing, and people I take photos of, a bit of an insight to my creative process.
As I am now living outside of the neighborhood, it will also be a way for me to stay connected when I am back home and thinking about the experiences of the day/night/weekend I get to spend back in the community I grew to love so much and was grateful to call home for seven years and will continue to visit as much as I possibly can.
- recon -
Inspired by BBSP and other blogs/vlogs/IGs, I hope to add some recommendations out to the world and accompany it with a bit of writing. It is shocking sometimes the things I personally take my knowledge of for granted, assuming others know "what’s up”, be it food, fashion, movies, books, but often goes totally unnoticed. Maybe these will be the jumping off point for a full on “Letters” feature, or these will just be quick hits for people looking for some recommendations. Again, not necessarily EV focused.
- interviews -
Through the project, I’ve been able to meet some really interesting people and have been able to learn so much from different creatives and would love to continue some of these conversations further in written form.
I’ve always had a vision to start a channel highlighting peoples favorite pieces of clothing, so this could be the outlet as well.
Conclusions…
I think that is it for now, very curious to see where this platform can take this project and would love if you could leave some feedback blow (or you can DM me on IG still) into what you’d like to see from this writing.
If you’re new to the platform, I highly encourage you to get the app and start exploring, soon I hope to write a post about some of my favorite Substacks thus far as well.
