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A post about combining websites seems a small thing these days, what with people being swept off the streets in ICE raids and deported to war zones, and with the passage of piece of legislation that is the largest (and cruelest) transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy, and a gutting of programs that will kill people. But, those things happening is a big reason for the merge.
There was a time I thought having two websites was a good idea. But in this era of divided attention and identity, now I don’t.
I had been writing about photography a bit for my “regular” website/blog, in addition to other random topics, but, in the spirit of, I don’t know, unity? Connection with people who don’t share my views and perhaps build a better world because things really have gone nuts since a certain someone became president in 2016 and then pandemic and then George Floyd and then tumult and that president lost in 2020 but then January 6 and good god he came back and then…
Long story short, in 2022 I launched this website, Darkroom Detritus, dedicated to my photography habit. A space where folks can visit with shared interest no matter what color baseball cap and forge connections. I moved some photography-related content from the “main” website and began tossing new posts in there: camera reviews (old ones) and other photo thoughts. Trouble is, the outside world was never far away, and my writer brain just rolls with what’s in front of it. I tried to keep the photo stuff cranking—I had lots of content as I started countless blog posts but… you know how it goes. Most didn’t get finished.
There was also the nagging thought that I wasn’t being honest with myself. I believe the biggest problem we have in the ol’ US of A (and it ain’t exclusive to us, for certain) is we have handed our brains over to the social media feeds and their algorithms. We’ve stovepiped ourselves. We see each other as our online avatars, and we treat each other accordingly—which is mostly like garbage, even when we’re nice (it’s a shallow world). A racist/sexist/homophobic person can get away with being just that, with an anonymous (or not) account. People can just write that quick bit of hate on their social media feed, whether in an original post or trolling in the comments, and dodge out. And repeat that. Social media by design is entirely performative, and reward the highs and lows—the dregs of those lows are, algorithmically and perversely, the highs—for that’s what draws the most attention, not the well-reasoned or measured thought.
How’s that relate to a photography website? Well, “just” a photography website and “just” a website for my other musings cleaved my brain in a way I didn’t like. Further, it was insulting to those who engaged the sites (albeit few, compared to the subscriber lists of some patently stupid YouTubers). I should give any audience I try to cultivate with my writings the credit to read and absorb whatever I write and process it how they want, and return to the site, or not.
I’d be lying if there weren’t also some logistics to this. I’ll only have to tinker with and monitor one site. That helps. But, mainly it’s that cleaved-brain thing. Social media has made us forget that we are whole people. I hate it for that. I’m going to spend less time on those platforms and more time here, writing and thinking long-form, about whatever might strike me. Including photography.
For those who follow this Darkroom Detritus site, all that content is over at Yawps & Twaddle, a website and blog that has had a few names since 2005—but it’s kept going. There is a Darkroom Detritus button and tags within posts that will take you there if you want to skip the rest. But I hope you’ll poke around. I can promise that reading something here outside your wheelhouse won’t be a like a social media screech. The nice thing about longer-form writing is it tends to promote longer-form—and hopefully measured—thought, which is a good thing these days.
Darkroom Detritus will live on for a bit, but eventually it will go dark. Bookmark Yawps & Twaddle as its replacement if you continue to like the content.
