Ridgeline subscribers —

Hello! Since I last wrote in January, I’ve published my Year Six SPECIAL PROJECTS look-back focusing on the “rules” I use to govern how I think about my membership program. Huge thanks to everyone who has joined and supported over the last six years.

Now, SPECIAL PROJECTS members following along on the members-only book diary-newsletter, Nightingalingale, they’ll know that I am … uhh … busy. I’m in a tunnel of to-dos, organizing the Things Become Other Things book tour, setting up podcast recordings, writing essays aligned with TBOT, taking on other newspaper assignments, all with the aim of generating attention / interest in this forthcoming book. (Pre-sales, pre-sales, preeeeeeee-saaaaaaaaleeeeeeeees, he shrieked like a banshee.)

Naturally — masochistically, pathologically — why not shove a ten-day photo project into the middle of this all? So that’s what I’m doing: From Feb 23 to March 4, I’ll be running About a Nightingale, a ten-day-ish pop-up newsletter. I’m heading back to the Peninsula where TBOT takes place to photograph PEOPLE. I want to be maniacal about my personage photography. It’s a big peninsula, and I don’t have months and months, so I’m renting a car (the horror!) and going SURGICAL: Snap. Snap. Snap. I’ve walked the Peninsula so much that I know precisely where I want to go and who I want to photograph. Along the way I’m sure I’ll meet a host of other fabulous characters, and will photograph them, too. Beautiful weirdos begetting more beautiful weirdos in a photographic Rube Goldberg intertwingling within that peninsular brigadoon. This newsletter will document this journey (the intertwingling? the brigadoon tromping?) — a little diary with notes at the end of the day. (Counterintuitively, because I’ll be mostly shooting film (I have thoughts about this and one day will take the time to write up those thoughts), there may not be much photography, per se, in the newsletter.)

Like all my pop-ups, you must enthusiastically opt in to receive it, meaning you have to sign up:

I’ve never done a “photo-specific” project before; until now the photos and the narrative have been fully intertwined. But the narrative is done — it’s the book coming out in May. So these photos will be part and parcel and whole hog altogether of a companion book I’m making to align with the release. This new book (signed, limited edition) is called OTHER THING (SP 3), and the goal (lord willing) is to go to press by April 1. That’s a wildly ambitious timeline. (To put it psychotically.) BUT. I have a foundation of photography already from my previous walks. I’m looking to round it out with people. More people. If I get one-to-two good photographs a day on this trip I’ll be over the moon. (The plan is for the book to be 128 pages; same as Kissa by Kissa; meaning it’ll be 50-60 photos in total, plus a little essay.)

Generally speaking: I want to “do” more “photography books;” (one a year? almost as a self-enforced deadline) this is a good excuse to do one. It’ll be beautifully printed and bound in Japan like Kissa by Kissa and the fine art edition of TBOT — same binding, same papers, same cover cloths. I think it will serve as a perfect color counterpoint to the Random House edition of TBOT (a book filled with words and black and white photographs).

Why “About a Nightingale?” Well, the first big Kii walk that kicked off all this TBOT tomfoolery was called Where are all the Nightingales (we listened intently for their melodious delights each day; less and less common as the forests become more and more monocultural), and the diary documenting the making of both the fine art and Random House editions of TBOT is called Nightingalingale (recently sent issue 290 to subscribing members). Just continuing the use of our avian sobriquet for our ongoing investigation.

Many thanks to the many many of you who responded to the Things Become Other Things May / June Book Tour Poll — your responses were extremely instructive in helping me map things out. It’s looking like I’ll do … 6-10 cities / events? dinners? across the USA (Europe at another date) … I should have more information on when and where, precisely, in the coming month!

Naturally, you can pre-order TBOT now at pretty much any bookseller / online store. Here are the usual suspects:

• Amazon
• Bookshop.org
• Apple Books
• Barnes & Noble

And once you pre-order, make sure to claim your SPECIAL PROJECTS-shop coupon.

With this, I dive back into my inbox, my poor, abused, maligned inbox.

More soon. Stay sane(ish),
C