A Picturesque Mess

With the constant changes to social media platforms, their design, presentation, and algorithms, I've been craving an outlet for sharing where I have more control. I used to call Instagram 'my morning magazine', and that, it certainly is not anymore. I miss the simplicity. I miss the inspiration -real inspiration that motivates and encourages, instead of giving just enough to keep me addicted, collect my data, get me to buy something, etc., etc., etc. More and more, I have felt the structure of these sites draining and depressing, keeping me unproductive and anxious. I miss the support and kindness. I miss the possibility and connection. I miss the photos!

Taken in September for a small, but international daily photo challenge group I'm glad to be a part of.

In contemplating all of this over the last several months, I kept coming back, mentally, to my old blog, Picturesque Mess. Run from 2012-2015, it was headed, "The personal and professional photo journal of Anna Allen" and was very much a visual diary, where I shared photos I was proud of, memories I enjoyed making, places explored, poems written, love and loss and everything in between. It ended suddenly out of frustration, when tumblr, which already limited the number of photos one could post, made the decision to dull the quality of said photos to a level that hurt my photographer eyes.

So, after pondering for longer than I'd like to admit over countless details regarding the logistics, production, ethics, and practicality of beginning a new blog, here I am.

O. photographs a black tailed deer.

Here's what I've decided:

-The presentation here will be similar to my old blog, with some restraint; a visual diary, centered around photography and appreciation. In a world of chaos, it should be a soft place to land.

-I won't publish creative writing or poetry, as I used to, since I'm working toward that elsewhere (still waiting to hear from the New Yorker about poems I submitted in August, 2024), but I may share updates as I make progress toward these goals.

-For his privacy, I probably won't show my son's face.

-I'll go back and begin with January of this year, and catch up to the present soon enough.

Izzie in July.

If you're here, and you're looking forward to the next post even a little bit, thank you so much.