2021 has revealed itself as '2020: Reloaded'

I'm tired but I can't look away. - Vol. 10

2021 has been described by some as the deluxe version of 2020 and with that statement, I agree. It’s only been one week?

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@digitalfuturemag

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Culture Corner

Mass delusion in America theatlantic
’From what I heard at the insurrection’ A chilling read.

Trump went ‘ballistic’ after being banned from Twitter politico
Lucas of the Digital Future Pod has now one thing in common with the disgraced president.

Bean Dad revealed the danger of parenting for clout mel
It was a painful thread to read and the discourse surrounding the main character that day was jarring.

CIA rebrand, who’s responsible? paper
After publications ran with Ryder Ripps being responsible they got comment from the CIA that he wasn’t responsible at all with the Gen Z infographic government rebrand. WHO DID IT?! We need to know!

Martin Scorsese and Daniel Day-Lewis interview on "Gangs of New York" (2002) yt
A lot of information to unpack here. DeNiro originally cast as Bill, Scorsese hating the Cape Fear script, Scorsese almost directing Schindler’s List, having to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to break his 5-year break from acting, and praise of Harvey Weinstein. (YIKES)

What’s it like to be directed by Nancy Meyers? vulture
The actors of Nancy Meyers’ filmography discuss what her special sauce is. Join the NMCU.

5 cutting-edge tech failures that you can still purchase today input
I’ll be the first to say it, I still want Google Glass.

The rise of the Charcuterie-Free Charcuterie board vice
Candy Charcuterie boards make me want to throw up.

The Breeders on MTV (1993) yt

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Introducing - Tyler Andrew

A photographer based in Brooklyn, New York, Tyler Andrew is a champion of traditional film photography. He’s able to capture moments that would be mundane to some but is able to frame them in a way that is romantic and personal. Digital Future asked him to share some of his favorite shots and provide anecdotes for some. (He provided words for all of them)

I chose photos that constructed how 2020 was for me, I think it's cool representation of a weird time.

I took this photo within a month of my moving to Brooklyn. It was at Bib’s record release in February of 2020. Doors were at 1 am? I forget who else played besides Bib and Krimewatch. I remember going to the show not even thinking this would probably be the last show I attended for the foreseeable future. Looking back at this photo now and I’m sure this is the case with a bunch of people - I can’t imagine being in a room with these many people let alone without having a mask on… it just seems so strange. 

This was taken in March of 2020 at Bushwick Inlet Park in Williamsburg. My friends from out of state were in town so I was showing them around. This is when the idea of a lockdown was no longer a joke but becoming pretty serious very fast. Lines to check out at grocery stores starting stretching for blocks and all the bread, toilet paper, etc were all sold out. Everyone was unsure of what the future held. I remember seeing this person staring off into the city and wondered if she was worried about the future. I returned to this spot every day during the lockdown in the spring to watch the sunset. I enjoyed a lot of good ones there.

This is a photo of an empty West Broadway in Manhattan. If you’re unfamiliar - this street goes north and south through SoHo. It was taken in the spring of 2020 when everything was shut down. NYC was essentially a ghost town during this period. One day during work I was talking to a doorman on this street and he said even during 9/11 SoHo and this street, in particular, was never this empty. It was so quiet you could hear a penny drop from another block.

This is another photo that was taken sometime in the spring of 2020 during the lockdown. I think it’s imperative people realize that just because the majority of people living in America were able to collect some type of unemployment… there were just as many people existing here that weren’t able to earn an income at all because of everything shutting down. I was and still am thankful to wake up every day with a job that never got cut off or stopped because of the pandemic. I don’t know why or how I got so lucky but I’ll never take having my job for granted.

This was taken in June of 2020. After not having my own place and crashing on couches for six months since moving to Brooklyn - I finally signed a lease with two of my really good friends and had a place to call my own. During the BLM protests, every single night fireworks were set off that we would watch from our roof. From the first roll with my new Contax.

This photo was taken during one of the BLM protests in June of 2020 - Everyone was mostly photographing negative aspects of what was going but I didn’t want to put any more of that energy into the world and decided to photograph something positive - like people holding flowers that to me symbolized hope that things would change as well as equality and peace. I was, fortunately, able to sell this with 3 other photos of people holding flowers to raise money that I ended up donating to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. 

This photo was taken at the end of the summer - my girlfriend and I met during the pandemic so right from the start the way we would interact with each other as foreign and strange. We met with masks on, all of our dates would have to be outside because indoor dining was no longer a thing. We didn’t have places to go out to at night. We spent most of our summer eating, reading, and hanging at different parks all over NYC. We both wouldn’t have had it any other way though as we are very much both people that really enjoy being outside.

Skateboarding, I don’t know where I would be without it. This photo was taken in the fall of 2020. The lockdown of NYC had way more negative effects than positive on the people that live here but one amazing thing was that it enabled me to skate ANYTHING. Any spot you previously knew as an instant bust - became skate-able. No people to tell you not to do something, no cars to get in your way. The days I spent skating in the spring felt like we had the entire city to ourselves. I never experienced that feeling in a city before. This photo is of my friend JP skating one of the spots in Queens that became popular during the lockdown.

One of the last photos of 2020, my girlfriend and I holding hands after going sledding with our friends in Fort Greene. I want this photo to symbolize hope for a healthy and better all-around year for everyone in 2021. 2020 was rough on everyone and everything that exists. I hope whoever reading this enjoyed this very, very, very condensed summary of my year. 2020 was not the best year for many reasons but something important I took away was all the time I had to stop and think. I thought and learned a lot about the person I am and what I wanted to do with my life. I hope everyone was able to take away something positive from 2020.

Please follow Tyler on Instagram

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That’s it for this week! Please leave recommendations for guests you’d like to see next week in the comment section. Peace and love.