I went to grad school with Joshua Longbrake, but I never got to know him. We said hello in passing a few times, but didn’t ever get around to sitting down to a substantive conversation. Then he moved to Chicago shortly before I left town for Portland. I’ve kept tabs on him through his blog.
And what a blog it is. Quixotic, unapologetic, often poignant, occasionally weird. A runaway winner for the Ragged Band 2012 Blog of the Year Award.
Longbrake is a talented photographer who has made his living taking pictures, but he’s also passionate about writing and speaking. He’s got a particular facility for examining the interplay between art and faith; those gray lines delineating the space between hope and despair, depravity and holiness. Lines that weave like a drunk and at times disappear completely. He’s the kind of dude who loves Tom Waits. In fact, he’s recently given a series of lectures that included one devoted to old Tom.
If you’ve ever had cause to revisit why it is that you make art in the first place, or found yourself grinding and grinding, doing shit work in the hopes it will lead to something bigger and better, all with the dream of someday getting your big break, you need to read his essay on the idea of giving up.
Ragged Band 