I wanted to get a correspondence going with you. So I set up a basic newsletter sign up. It’s not a marketing email. It’s a letter! I thought it might be fun to send out a little note with a recent photograph. Here is the first one that I sent out earlier today. It’s a movie “review” and a photograph from an ongoing experiment with my new 50mm lens. And if you want to receive future newsletters (they’re free!) then you can sign up HERE or at the Newsletter sign up on the homepage.
November 17, 2024
Dear Reader,
I watched a movie a few days ago, an independent film from 2011 called Another Earth. In deciding what to watch, I allowed the algorithm to make the choice for me and it looks like the AI is beginning to understand me.
Baseline: the story is about a young woman who gets accepted to MIT at age 17 to study astrophysics. On the night she’s out celebrating her acceptance, humanity discovers a habitable world in the night sky. A pale blue dot, which hadn’t ever been there before. Driving home drunk while trying to view the planet, she crashes into another car, killing two of the three passengers. This opening sequence lasts about five minutes. The storyline of the film begins four years later when she is released from prison.
A story of redemption, of the journey towards forgiving oneself (or not) for irreparable damage inflicted on other people, Another Earth was a fundamentally character-driven movie painted on a backdrop of loose science fiction. The planet in the night sky turns out to be a duplicate of the planet Earth and on it, a duplicate of all of us.
The idea that another version of yourself is out there, visible yet just out of reach, jolts the imagination and brings up the inevitable question of whether the other you has made all the same choices. Deviation is an invention of choice, a side effect of cause, and an accident of physics. All true definitions, even if they may seem contradictory.
Not the greatest movie, but good, simple and true to itself, never straying from its central scope, never trying to do more than it should, effective, captivating, honest. It even won an award at Sundance. For a film with sparse dialogue, the director’s eye takes on its own kind of character role, guiding the viewer throughout the film with a specific sensory experience. Even the soundtrack does its part.
And the algorithm that put this film in front of my face in the first place did well to show me something that sparked a few thoughts. I suppose this first letter turned out to be a bit of an accidental movie review. Check it out if you’re so inclined. And, as any secret astronomer might suggest, don’t forget to look up! There’s always something cosmic going on in the sky.
Cheers,
Matia
A PHOTOGRAPH
This photograph is called SAND PLANET.
Maybe it’s just a beach. Maybe it’s a mountain range. Maybe it’s not of this world. In reality, this image comes from Wrightsville Beach. An experiment with a 50mm lens, with light, with contrast, with perspective.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
I wrote a narrative essay about loss and grief and punk and Durham and cameras. Have a read if you haven’t already!
SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION
I’ve been working on a Patreon to support Secret Astronomer. It’s online and the tiers have been created, so take a look. It’s a work-in-progress at the moment, but if you feel inclined to support me in this way, I’d love it. Tiers range from $1/month to $50/month.
