In the age of social media, I went from desiring my own space to share content to being satisfied with lots of different ways to reach an audience of friends and collaborators. Recently, Rebecca (the other half of Pilsen Photo Coop) and I have been talking about adding a blog for sharing more photographs. Sometimes we have things that don't quite fit into a portfolio or might annoy people on facebook or just need a full story! Social media platforms aren't really set up to deal with a long format piece easily and it's not really why people tend to log on. It's about quick hits and we thought maybe a blog for some deep cuts might be fun and useful for our audience. So hopefully over the next few months we'll develop some interesting thoughts, chase down some great images, share some recipes, swoon over planning a trip to Paris or otherwise to draw you all into our world. Posts will be made by myself (Caleb) and also Rebecca and we'll make sure you know who's doing what. We have distinct voices in some ways so this will hopefully be a way for you to get to know us and our passions.

I've been shooting since about middle school, shot for the newspaper through college getting an art degree at Central College in Pella, Iowa and Rebecca Norden also started out shooting some black and white film in high school. I cut my teeth assisting commercial photographers in Chicago, eventually building my own brand and studio there as well as in Madrid for a couple years. Rebecca however did something a bit less conventional and got a gig as a flight attendant to satiate her need for new places and learned to take great travel images with her iPhone (something I'm not nearly as good at, tbh). I can't wait for her to make a post here detailing some of her hilarious run ins with the crazy that seems to follow her around wherever she goes.

Where we are currently living is this gorgeous little street in a midwestern working class city, full of nature and passionate entrepreneurs and artists working to make a city like Cedar Rapids, Iowa a bit more interesting. It seems like every week some new restaurant or shop is opening. It keeps us grounded to have a trail for running and biking right by the house or a river just down the block. When we need a dose of nature, a short drive from the apartment we have what feels like complete isolation in some woods and hills, even some hidden bluffs. We'll share lots of images from those adventures and even maybe some of us braving this cold front that just came in. Thanks for reading and we hope this is as fun for you as it is for us!  - Caleb Condit