July 2025


Clara & Bizzy, Thompson Street
Matt, Columbus, Indiana
Becky Stamatkin, owner of The Workingman’s Friend, Indianapolis
Matt, Lispenard Street, NYC
John at The Comet, Cincinnati
Bushkill, PA
At home, SoHo NYC
In July 2025 I developed the first roll taken with my new beloved camera. Finally. I love what came out of it. I love that my blind eyes can count on its sophisticated autofocus, and I can control everything else. The first photo is from a tranquil, hot morning when Clara and Bizzy came over before we set out on a walk to sit on the pier at the West Side Highway. I poured two pots of coffee from my Bialetti into a thermos with some guava jam and butter english muffins and we sat on the water.

I always say July is my favorite because it’s Matt’s birthday month. And my favorite trip of the year is the one to Indiana to celebrate his birthday on the 5th along with Fourth of July weekend. This time around we checked all boxes involving day drinking, hot dogs, time with family, and pontooning to watch the fireworks right over our heads. I’d never felt so close. Pretty idyllic.

The photos below those are of Becky, owner of the legendary Workingman’s Friend. It’s one of those places that are becoming rarer and rarer; a little piece of the past, smelling warmly of cheese burgers, peppered with red vinyl chairs, a glass brick bar counter, a cigarette machine still firmly planted in the corner. She caught us on our way out of there, having just had some of the best burgers this planet has to offer, and we had a great chat with her. She told us the place was opened in 1918 by her great-grandfather Louis of the same family name. There’s something in her that really shone. Maybe the pride she had in telling her family’s story, in being a part of what’s continuing that legacy. I thought about how fulfillment and a sense of belonging is a blessing. Looking back at these photos I’m again reminded of this, and reminded that when I do find myself feeling fulfilled, I should be grateful. That feeling, at least for me, can sometimes be so fraught. I’m prone to getting mired in thoughts of what I haven’t accomplished, or feeling like the puzzle is incomplete. But that’s a shit thought and I should stave it away—these photos are proof that I should. The home, the friendship, the family, the love I have... It is a blessing. And anything else is extra.