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Issac Dowden

@itdfilms26

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Texas Based Artist 📸📝🎬

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Part 3 - Take action:

1. Call your city council person to demand transparency (at the minimum) on new ICE and data centers. If you do not know your council member, refer to: https://www.sanantonio.gov/Council/Find-My-Council-Member
2. Join a local group. There are plenty. Follow, stay informed. The biggest issue I have seen is many people who disagree with a current happening don’t even know that it’s … well … happening. Right here, right now.

In the numerous conversations regarding politics and the state of the world I have had over the past month, I often hear our generation described at “the hopeless generation”. There are so many issues to solve, too many. All I hear is chatter or agreement, but never see any action. I wanted to provide two small, but meaningful ways, that we can be involved in change within our city with one of the many pressing issues. It doesn’t have to be this issue, but imagine if everyone in this city took up just one cause vigorously - what if everyone participated in radical care?

That being said, I wanted to briefly talk about this series as an artist. Working as an editor and formerly within film fully, I want to continue to push my series (and eventually books) to be as story like as possible. I can still use all the tools I know, just applied in a different medium. The contrast of the vigil on black and white film and the detention center in color was a natural progression of my work. I have moved from linear storytelling with a series like Erika Kirk, into emotional and contrast based thematic work.

I focused a lot on skin tones in the editing room. It’s something I did not intentionally shoot for every frame, but found endlessly interesting given the subject matter. I really tried to push highlights and gleam off of skin in the sun, continuing to emphasize colorism that may run deep within the city. I hope you enjoyed this run, and let me know your favorite photos on the posts below, or simply leave a like. It means a lot! by @itdfilms26

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16 days ago

Part 2:

The 640,000-square-foot ICE detention center situated on the east side of San Antonio was awarded a $17.3 million DHS contract to move towards full operation. It’s goal is to process up to 1,500 people daily. There is little transparency about the facility, its proposed conditions, its potential electric and water use, and other pertinent information for the surrounding community.

Source:

https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/dhs-signs-173m-contract-convert-east-side-san-antonio-warehouse-ice-facility-texas-detention-center/273-5a8d5525-85b4-4c44-aa78-b21d5510b46e by @itdfilms26

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20 days ago

Part 1 of 3: This new political series seeks to examine the ongoing developments of the mistreatment of immigrant communities through juxtaposing images. The color photos are digital, taken outside the developing ICE Detention Center on the East Side of San Antonio, Texas. The black and white photos are 400 speed film taken at the vigil held for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The fight is ongoing and not enough in our city are aware of the rapidly expanding efforts to detain and deport our fellow San Antonions. Regardless of your involvement, knowledge, or position, this is happening in your backyard. We are not separated into sides of a city; we are one people, one San Antonio. by @itdfilms26

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24 days ago

Out of Zone: Rest Versus Stagnation

I’ve been enjoying a slower pace because I’ve admittedly been able to detach from production. However, that idea of production is so closely linked to my creative process and practice. I think, much like consumption, constant production can be antithetical to art and life itself, so it’s been difficult, at the same time, to try and gauge rest versus falling behind. I know the latter is a universal feeling to some degree. I’ve always struggled with that. I’ve always wanted to be somewhere over the hill, so to speak. I’ve been enjoying a lot more of the process of things these past couple years, but that drive to produce is still present. I’m not sure if it is because I want to validation that is tied to the end result, like some Pavlovian dog, or if I view art as some linear, video-game style “leveling up” scheme where I can somehow get to where I want to be through systematic completeness. Either way, the resulting balance becomes fighting off spiritual, mental, and physical slavery to your vices, which dwell deep in rest and consumption; they coax you in and hold your head down. So much is the same with production and validation. If anyone figures that balance out, let me know, but I doubt anyone ever does. We all feel stagnant, like a candle with all its wax, or burnt down to the wick. by @itdfilms26

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a month ago

Been enjoying my time away! Slowing sliding into a new season of life, and with it new goals and new ways of operating. Gonna pump the breaks on that like eight post a month break-neck speed I was trucking along at. I have some big projects I’m committing to for the next couple years. Some already have some progress and head way, others are just now taking form, but it’s always been a dream to move to long form production - whether it be music originally, film at one time, and now, other things. Medium doesn’t matter, I just like stories. I’ve been shooting a lot. Main carry is the Nikon 1 V1 and man … I have fell in love. My post mixing film and other black and whites earlier this month - the B&Ws were from this camera. 2011, 1” CX censor with really nice handling and great autofocus for the era. Locking it back down to a dedicated B&W only, but these are some mixed selections from my daily observations. Taking a step back has been nice because I need to reframe my values when it comes to validation, gratification, and what constitutes a good picture or story. I feel like, because my work was trending towards a more sensationalized photojournalism, I was feeling like I was getting trapped. I don’t want to be a shock jock and I certainly don’t want to be one dimensional. While it’s tough to compare a protest outburst with, say, an orange traffic cone, I’m trying my best to reframe and ground it back in the art. Back to basics on composition and finding new growth in light studies and documentarian, fast shooting. That’s all for me, for now. I’m thinking of a two a month schedule. I like having photography as a creative boost, like those ramps in Mario Kart, as I work on longer projects. Keeps morale up and keeps me on my toes. Lmk what ya think. Thanks! by @itdfilms26

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a month ago

Here is the last of some film from Rodeo and Kansas. I’ve finished my bachelor’s degree finally! I’ve got three new rolls of B&W otw, and I’m looking forward to shuttling it through some of the new camera bodies I have (Nikon F and Canon FTB). A ton of digital stuff to go through from the past three months. Gonna take some time to myself to enjoy life 😎. Hope you enjoy these, and thanks as always for the support. Even though I’m taking a break, this year has been the highest output I’ve ever had. It’s been a great challenge that’s pushed me to be a better curator and storyteller. by @itdfilms26

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2 months ago

Had a great time in Kansas for a trip a couple months ago, including a surprise visit @raymersociety where I got to meet some great artists, living and otherwise. I shot some 35mm full frame and half frame. I’m dying for some Olympus half frame models and some Canonets. Anyways, this Canon Demi has been giving me trouble. I haven’t gotten a single roll correct. Either out of focus or, with these rolls, they didn’t shuttle properly. I think that one is on me. I bought extremely cheap film. But now that I know I can perhaps expect this mistake… I want to buy and try again. I have been absolutely loving shooting and showing off film. As of writing this, I have some protest and personal film photos to develop. Actually my first time shooting film (which was for the Lorenzo Araujo Vigil) at a political event. Felt right to slow down at least at first given the cause. I miss Kansas a bunch - the nice patch of weather we caught, the slower pace, and the good beer and food. I need an artistic retreat! But even though I’ll hopefully be taking a break from socials and the content grind, I’ll be continuing my work. I have one more post after this lined up - the rest of the faulty film multiples from Rodeo and Kansas combined. by @itdfilms26

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2 months ago

Some are film, some are digital. Can you tell which is which?

I’ve got two more posts that I have already set up, then I think I’m gonna take a short hiatus from the platform. Need time to get some rest and also organize and just live. Setting up posts this month was a sad affair. I don’t know why my work swings like it does. I mean it’s not like I am shooting and releasing immediately, so really you’re seeing a curation of a current mood filtered through old work. Kinda neat, but I guess I surprise even myself. I didn’t expect to do an almost exclusively black and white month with more film than I have ever posted in a single month. I have two new film cameras that I’m beyond excited to start using or keep using (I’m writing this in advance). I think there’s a stripped back and worn down curation like this that, in its absence, lack, or anticipation mimics a feeling I already want to evoke with such a liminal work.

I’ve explored liminal spaces before on this page, but it’s not something I feel drawn to shoot. However, I really like this collection. Going towards a more dystopian feel, something more like George Lucas’s THX 1138 or a Red Desert than Orwell’s 1984 or even Solaris (which is one of my favorite films). I figured I’d use this post to journal more. It’s been a year stepping away from watching movies a lot, which is kind of a final chord that’s been snipped as an attachment to that world. It doesn’t mean I won’t return in some shape or form, even as a consumer. But that consumption is exactly the point. It doesn’t make it better that I’m consumed with other things. It just is. by @itdfilms26

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2 months ago

Dry rotting adolescent memories
Baked at 87 degrees
Sharp tap, tap, taps
Of the rapping of two bony
Fingers on the razor’s edge
Of my reflection in the
Thin sliding back door
From my childhood

Primrose cicadas humming petal falls
Full of spaces in between then and now
Choking in dense humidity
Salivating in an auditory hell
Drooling visions of things
Hidden to the eye
Crawling in my skin
Festering in heart

Nets hanging loosely from goal posts
Blades of grass tall enough to braid
Laughter worth chasing after if
But only to find yourself lost in
A sea of happy tears

Anger like a parasite
Gnawing at my stomach lining
Causing it all to gurgle and burn
As I turn back into that child
Waiting at the sliding glass door

07.24.26

Took these on a Canon Demi EE17, a half frame film camera that I am having so much trouble with. Used a super cheap stock, and it didn’t shuttle properly, so I got some unexpected results! I’ll have some photos to post next month from my time in Kansas and from the Rodeo in March. Excited to show them off because despite the long wait and initial disappointment, I love how a lot of it turned out. Want to look into expired film and different ways to facilitate unexpected results. However, I might be taking a break from social media. I’m not sure which month, but I may pick one. A lot has been weighing heavy on my mind. by @itdfilms26

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2 months ago

Part 2

City Hall | San Antonio, TX

The Vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by @itdfilms26

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2 months ago

Part 1

City Hall | San Antonio, TX

The Vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by @itdfilms26

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2 months ago

Got some film developed from a point and shoot I held on to for the past about 14 years give or take. Accidentally multiple exposed a lot of frames, which aren’t here in this post. Just funny how things circle back like that.

Out of Zone: Memory

Photography sits at such a unique intersection because it is both documentarian in the truest sense and artistic. That “letting go” of your work still happens, but it’s harder to fathom, especially with familiar faces in the frame. A good photo has that power to draw you back into a place: its smells, the way the wind crackled between the trees or ripples on the water or shot out into the nothingness of an infinite sky. How do you let go of something you know, especially when the known becomes tangible? Something about making a physical product from your pain concentrates it. However, those documents can be lies. A photo is no longer yours the second the shutter clicks in the sense that it sits in this empty emotional space between past and present, a visual book mark in your book of life (to be cringe). That place can rot (repressed emotion) or it can ferment into something sweet and intoxicating (nostalgia). Those rotting photos are ones where you see a smile but remember sadness. Those fermenting photos are when you see sadness but remember all the good times around the photo. As an artist, we spend so much of our time trying to evoke and understand feelings from other people. I hope with these reflections you can gain the reverse - understanding of not just my process but my emotions. That is a piece of my selfishness in a way - a validation in some part of my own memories. Plenty of frames leave impressions on me, or bring me back to a place. Yes, these works are no longer mine, especially in the public forum. However, there is that special separation with what a photo captures that mean they can never be yours. You can never relive that, or feel that, or smell that, not truly. That selfishness makes it hard to be vulnerable, but it’s been the challenge I’ve given myself with these reflections. Confronting this has been, at times, a grieving process. I think it always will be. by @itdfilms26

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3 months ago