Almost Everything with Jeffery Saddoris

"We're not geniuses, we're just regular guys who are interested in things." — Neil PeartOn August 1st, 2015, Rush played their final show at the Forum in LA. I was there, just as I had been for so many Rush shows over the years. That show felt different — special in a way that we weren’t really prepared for. For months leading up to it, there were rumors that this would be the last show and after the final encore of “Working Man,” when Neil came out from behind his drum kit to take a bow with Alex and Geddy, the rumors became true. Over 40 years and thousands of shows, Neil never took a bow out front — instead, he just put down his sticks and quietly left the stage. As he wrote in “Limelight,” he simply couldn’t pretend a stranger was a long-awaited friend.I've been following a thread for over 40 years that started with a borrowed Rush record and led me to books, ideas, and work I couldn't have predicted. This iteration is about where that thread goes when you really pull it.LINKSRushRush live 6/7/26 in Los Angeles (Full Show)Neil Peart “Innerview” w/Jim Ladd (1980)Neil Peart’s last interview w/ Jim Ladd (2015)Neil Peart on Moving Pictures w/StromboRush Article ArchiveNeil Peart’s Favorite Books of All TimeHugh SymeRoger DeanStorm ThorgersonTaken by Storm: The Art of Storm Thorgerson and HipgnosisMick RockCONNECT WITH MEVisit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.comGet my Newsletter: SubscribeEmail me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

NOTE: To see the photos that I reference in this episode, see the post on my Substack.On one of our recent morning walk and talks, a group of photographers and I were talking about how much worse Instagram has gotten over the past few years in terms of exposure and engagement. We all agreed that it seems like most photographers we’ve spoken to about it have very similar feedback. Subscribers, reach, and engagement are all a fraction of what they used to be. And the platform that was once all about sharing images no longer seems to care about images at all — instead they prioritize short-form video in a desperate attempt to compete with TikTok and YouTube. But in the process, I think the platform has lost its way and has just become a vapid mechanism to spoon-feed ads to users. To be clear, there are still a bunch of terrific artists and photographers on Instagram — which is the main reason I haven’t left — but that’s not what gets served up to me by the algorithm. Even the people I follow are in my feed less and less, which makes very little sense to me. I’ve told you “this is the work I’m interested in” and yet that’s not what you give me. So the whole experience just keeps getting more and more disappointing — and we haven’t even talked about the “Tech Bro” leadership, which is a whole other thing.One of the photographers in the conversation asked whether I’d tried Flickr as an alternative. I told him that I used to be pretty active on Flickr — especially when I was still teaching Photoshop — but honestly, I don’t think I’ve logged in since 2017 or 2018 when SmugMug bought the platform. I said that I’d really been enjoying the upswing in artists and photographers on Substack so I hadn’t really considered other alternatives, especially one that in my mind had been all but dead for years. Still, he encouraged me to give it a look and later that afternoon, I was kind of amazed to see that my old login credentials still worked. The homepage feed looks different than I remember it, which is probably a good thing. What surprised me the most is that when I clicked on “Photostream” in the “You” dropdown, I still had more than 300 photos that I was sure I had deleted, but I’m so glad that I didn’t. It was amazing to see some of the things that I was focusing on from 2007-2011. Most of the photos are of architectural details, which I still love to photograph, but many of my photos from that time are street portraits and I remember the stories around every one of them.CONNECT WITH MEWebsite: https://jefferysaddoris.com Instagram: @jefferysaddorisEmail: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

Yesterday, Adrianne and I went out to one of favorite little coffee shops to have breakfast and spend the morning working. About an hour in, I had this urge to check Instagram, which I rarely do, especially lately. In fact, I haven’t really done much online or on social media since the election — I actually leave my phone home more often than not — but for whatever reason, I stopped doing my Morning Pages and picked up my phone and checked Instagram. The first post I saw was a story from Wesley Verhoeve. It was a photo of my friend Pableaux Johnson with a caption that read, “Rest in peace, Pableaux Johnson. Beloved by so many, a true culture documentarian, and a New Orleans treasure.” I was stunned and, in the moment, I honestly didn’t understand what I was reading. My first instinct was to respond to Wesley with, “Wait what? Pableaux is a friend of ours. What is this news?” Wesley responded, “He passed away. I’m sorry to bring you this news. I discovered it this morning from various other posts.” After a brief search, a story on on nola.com confirmed it with, “Beloved New Orleans photographer, foodie Pableaux Johnson dies after collapse at second line.” I just sat there in stunned silence as I felt my eyes well up with tears. Adrianne looked up and said, “What?” I just held up my phone so that she could see the story. “Oh, my God,” she said. “Is that real? What is that?” She grabbed her phone and began searching for confirmation.I re-watched Dead Poets Society recently and in learning about Pableaux’s death, I was reminded of the first stanza of this poem which was featured in the film.To the Virgins, to Make Much of TimeBy Robert HerrickGather ye rose-buds while ye may,Old Time is still a-flying;And this same flower that smiles todayTomorrow will be dying.The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,The higher he’s a-getting,The sooner will his race be run,And nearer he’s to setting.That age is best which is the first,When youth and blood are warmer;But being spent, the worse, and worstTimes still succeed the former.Then be not coy, but use your time,And while ye may, go marry;For having lost but once your prime,You may forever tarry.LINKSWesley VerhoevePableaux JohnsonBeloved New Orleans photographer, foodie Pableaux Johnson dies after collapse at second lineRed Beans Road ShowShare Your Favorite Memories of Pableaux JohnsonCONNECT WITH MEWebsite: https://jefferysaddoris.com Instagram: @jefferysaddorisEmail: talkback@jefferysaddoris.comSUBSCRIBESubscribe to Almost Everything with Jeffery Saddoris in your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.

I don’t know about you, but this is by far my least favorite time of year. It really starts around Thanksgiving, but this stretch between Christmas and New Year’s Day is particularly brutal — and it’s not just because I spent the first 48 years of my life in Southern California and still haven’t gotten used to the cold of the East Coast, but yes that. And it’s not just that I’ve lost both of my parents and Christmas has never been quite the same, but that’s part of it too. It’s more that I find it extraordinarily difficult just to be present. I feel caught between looking back on the previous 12 months and looking ahead to what I would like to do differently (or better) in the year ahead (but in all likelihood won’t, at least not to the degree that I tend to expect from myself). I suspect that I’m not alone in at least some of this. When I shared this with a friend, they responded, “Yeah, I feel the same way. But also the feeling and fear of the inevitable sameness as the previous year(s).”CONNECT WITH MEWebsite: https://jefferysaddoris.com Instagram: @jefferysaddorisEmail: talkback@jefferysaddoris.comSUBSCRIBESubscribe to Almost Everything with Jeffery Saddoris in your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.

Recently, I picked up a copy of Barry Lyndon on Blu-ray. It’s one of those movies that I’ve had on my watchlist forever, but for whatever reason it just kept slipping through the cracks. As I was researching some of the other Criterion movies I was thinking about picking up, I saw a story about Google’s new AI-integrated NotebookLM and decided to try an experiment to see what (if any) insights AI might have to offer around Barry Lyndon. The results were both exciting and a little terrifying.LINKSThe Criterion CollectionNotebookLMTechnically awesome, emotionally distant — Kubrick movie review (1975)YouTube search results for "Barry Lyndon"Making Barry LyndonHow Kubrick Achieved the Beautiful Cinematography of Barry LyndonAchieving Perfection - The Cinematography of Barry LyndonBarry Lyndon - Stanley Kubrick's Meticulous Editing Process (Behind the Scenes)CONNECT WITH MEWebsite: https://jefferysaddoris.com Instagram: @jefferysaddorisEmail: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

On Saturday, Adrianne and I took an impromptu trip into DC after seeing an interesting post pop up in my Instagram feed. The post was about an open studio event at the 52 O Street Artist Studios, which is a four-floor building that features “50+ Artists & Creative Businesses.” I’ve loved visiting artists’ spaces for years. When I was still living in California, I would regularly go to The Brewery Arts Complex for their open studio art walks, which were always fantastic. The Brewery is the largest live-work arts complex in the world, and for me the “live-work” aspect is really what sets it apart. There’s a similar complex in Alexandria, Virginia, called the Torpedo Factory that I also enjoy going to, but it’s a very different experience than The Brewery was. The artists only work at the Torpedo Factory and I think the fact that the artists at The Brewery work and live in the same space gives you a deeper insight into who they are beyond simply seeing the work. That additional context can make an enormous difference in how or how deeply I connect with the work.LINKS52 O Street Artist StudiosThe Brewery Arts ComplexTorpedo FactoryDave LefnerDC Arts StudiosDeep NatterProcess DrivenCONNECT WITH MEWebsite: https://jefferysaddoris.com Instagram: @jefferysaddorisEmail: talkback@jefferysaddoris.comSUBSCRIBESubscribe to Almost Everything with Jeffery Saddoris in your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.

Last week, I released a video review of a new book from Prestel about Gregory Crewdson. It was significant for me, not just because Gregory is one of my photographic heroes — although yes, that is part of it — but because it was the first project I’ve done in quite a while that was really just for me. I’ve been on a bit of a “creative hiatus” for the better part of a year and I’ve only done a few videos before this. So more than anything, I wanted to see if I could pull it off and have it be interesting and feel like me, rather than just another YouTube photo book flip-through. And before I get too far into this, I want to thank Andy Adams at FlakPhoto, without whom it may not have even happened. Andy is a good guy and if you’re at all interested in photography, he’s well worth a follow.A few months ago I started seeing a new therapist, and part of what we’ve been working on is something called Somatic Therapy, which I’ll include a couple links to in the notes if you’d like to learn more about it. Basically, somatic therapy focuses on the body and how emotions such as trauma and anxiety manifest as physical sensations. When I’m sharing a particular story or experience, my therapist will sometimes interrupt me and ask me to focus on how it feels to talk about or relive the experience — and not emotionally or existentially, but physically. It’s been fascinating to start noticing changes in my breath or heart rate or feel tension start to develop in my hands and shoulders when I’m sharing something disturbing or painful. On the other side, and this is where the video fits in, we’re working on identifying objects, memories, and pursuits and activities that give me joy or pleasure and naming or defining what those things feel like.LINKSGregory Crewdson video reviewWhat is Somatic Therapy?Somatic Experiencing TherapyThe Difference Between Reacting and RespondingWhat is Internal Family Systems?CONNECT WITH MEWebsite: https://jefferysaddoris.com Instagram: @jefferysaddorisEmail: talkback@jefferysaddoris.comSUBSCRIBESubscribe to Almost Everything with Jeffery Saddoris in your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.