When I originally started this blog, I discussed a few of my photos in brief detail. I figured giving a little snapshot about them was enough. But this mindset was the wrong way to go about things. I was viewing my photos solely from the lens of a collection, instead of highlighting the individual nuances between each one. Because honestly, each individual photo makes the entire collection have meaning. That said, I now want to discuss these photos in greater detail. I think having context to photos is what really makes them special—and for my nilknahs project context matters a lot. More context also provides more insight into who I am and how I think. It’s a win-win.
From now on I will be telling my stories first hand. So let me tell you how this whole thing came about. It all started with the Mirror Selfie.
https://x.com/nilknahs/status/1909616409862086816
Okay so technically it didn’t start with Mirror Selfie, because I’ve been taking photos and documenting the majority of my life. But the concept was timestamped and given meaning the day I took the photo. Mirror Selfie is the birth of nilknahs.
https://x.com/nilknahs/status/1909220980007805038
I took this photo in 2020 and it’s an absolute staple. It’s the literal moment that I decided to go down this path. I remember sitting around my crib super inspired overthinking to myself, “what should be the first thing I do, how should I go about it, what should I even say”? After thinking it through (way too much) I decided to just simply take action. Just Do It™. So I got up, walked to my bathroom, and started making a bunch of faces in the mirror. Even this action, me making a bunch of different faces in the mirror, seemed monumental. The fact that I was starting to do something with this idea made me feel proud. It made me feel adamant. It also confirmed my thinking that I have the ability to bring ideas into fruition—I can do this and I will do this. After finally landing on my favorite facial expression (trust & believe I felt like Jim Carrey in that mirror lol), I had to get the flick off in two attempts. I only had two shots left in my Polaroid camera so whatever happens, happens.
Before I take the picture I make sure to wipe the mirror clean so it looks the best. Don’t get me wrong—I’m all for keeping it real, but there’s definitely a fine line. Once I’m ready, I stand in front of my mirror, get my pose together, aaaand—CHEESE. I snap the first picture.
Okay, cool. Next one.
Readjusting my face & body, I snap the next.
Two pics down. Now we wait.
Time passes slower than usual. I’m waiting for the Polaroids to develop. I guess I’m a bit anxious? I don’t want to (A) buy more film (it’s expensive) and (B) mess up the momentum. If you’ve ever been friends with musicians, you know they often talk about how difficult it is to recreate energy. I have a lot of musician friends, and in this moment, I totally get it.
As I’m waiting for the Polaroids to develop, my mind is racing with ideas. Ideas about where I can take this and how it can become something really cool. I’m pacing around my house mumbling to myself—battling between vision and doubt. I’ve always had excellent vision (20/10 if you’re wondering—teehee) so having foresight comes natural.
But with foresight comes hindsight.
“What if I’m getting this all wrong?” I grumble to myself.
"Who cares?!" I proclaim proudly. “You'll only be disappointed if you don't try.”
After coming to terms with this, I shrug the dirt off my shoulder and keep it pushing.
I spot my red Moleskine journal from a distance and decide to jot down some ideas. I pop a squat and start writing. Journaling has been a nice way for me to keep track of all my thoughts & reflections.
Shit, doodling helps me a lot too.
Simply putting pen to pad is essential.
When I journal it feels like I’m activating manifestations—inciting inscriptions that relieves my concerns. My cousin once told me that I should write in cursive, because cursive writing exemplifies the power of inscriptions. Apparently from his perspective, not lifting your pen when you’re writing creates a stronger connection with each word. I’m not sure if I totally agree, but I understand the sentiment—when you have that spark allow the energy to continuously flow through you.
Shoutout to Danielle for encouraging me to journal more. It really is helpful.
Just as I’m finishing up, I look over and see the photos are done developing.
If you didn’t know, it’s actually not good to shake your Polaroid. The common misconception is that you have to shake them to speed up the developing process. Yes, we’ve all heard that Outkast song. But, just don’t. It doesn’t work. Instead, place your Polaroid in a dark place and wait like 20 minutes.
I look at both shots and choose the better photo. Smiling and nodding with content.
“Yeah this is it, this is the beginning.”
I think selfies are the utmost proclamation of self (it’s kinda in the name too duh lol) and it's one of those things that everybody does. We all understand it. We all get it. It’s familiar.
Taking this selfie felt very Glenn Ligon. Very René Descartes. Very existential. Very purpose driven. Very on brand in what I believe in.
"It's not about me. It's about we."
-Glenn Ligon
https://x.com/nilknahs/status/1909229991235051743
As I’m typing this I’m reminded how I even got involved with all of this stuff. NFTs, web3, onchain, provenance—all of this sounds like an ephemeral dialect that was completely new to me. New age leetspeak.
It was about five years ago when I first got my feet wet. My homie Snax suggested I dump all my XRP and buy Ethereum.
“Dude dump all of your XRP & buy some ETH”
-Snax (Founder of PizzaDAO)
At the time I wasn’t really active in crypto. I just had a small bag of coins I was squirreling away over the years. But when he suggested I get more involved with the Ethereum ecosystem, it really changed the trajectory for me. I was no longer passively investing but actively participating in an ecosystem. The entire scene was so new to me. So it was fun learning, experimenting, minting and collecting. The idea of archiving, establishing provenance, and earning royalties was just enough for me to head out on this journey.
https://x.com/pplofcult/status/1876469677402255608
So yeah, Mirror Selfie is a cool memento. It’s the culmination of my many years of artistry, my excitement about discovery, the possibility of realizing my dreams, and a honest look into who I am. It fully represents the start of my path and what I want to do. It feels good working on something I want to see exist in this world. This is definitely a very important photo. Maybe even the *most* important? Mirror Selfie is ranked S [epic] because I am epic, and this is the beginning of the epic journey.
Thanks for reading.
Peace.
When I originally started this blog, I discussed a few of my photos in brief detail. I figured giving a little snapshot about them was enough. But this mindset was the wrong way to go about things. I was viewing my photos solely from the lens of a collection, instead of highlighting the individual nuances between each one. Because honestly, each individual photo makes the entire collection have meaning. That said, I now want to discuss these photos in greater detail. I think having context to photos is what really makes them special—and for my nilknahs project context matters a lot. More context also provides more insight into who I am and how I think. It’s a win-win.
From now on I will be telling my stories first hand. So let me tell you how this whole thing came about. It all started with the Mirror Selfie.
https://x.com/nilknahs/status/1909616409862086816
Okay so technically it didn’t start with Mirror Selfie, because I’ve been taking photos and documenting the majority of my life. But the concept was timestamped and given meaning the day I took the photo. Mirror Selfie is the birth of nilknahs.
https://x.com/nilknahs/status/1909220980007805038
I took this photo in 2020 and it’s an absolute staple. It’s the literal moment that I decided to go down this path. I remember sitting around my crib super inspired overthinking to myself, “what should be the first thing I do, how should I go about it, what should I even say”? After thinking it through (way too much) I decided to just simply take action. Just Do It™. So I got up, walked to my bathroom, and started making a bunch of faces in the mirror. Even this action, me making a bunch of different faces in the mirror, seemed monumental. The fact that I was starting to do something with this idea made me feel proud. It made me feel adamant. It also confirmed my thinking that I have the ability to bring ideas into fruition—I can do this and I will do this. After finally landing on my favorite facial expression (trust & believe I felt like Jim Carrey in that mirror lol), I had to get the flick off in two attempts. I only had two shots left in my Polaroid camera so whatever happens, happens.
Before I take the picture I make sure to wipe the mirror clean so it looks the best. Don’t get me wrong—I’m all for keeping it real, but there’s definitely a fine line. Once I’m ready, I stand in front of my mirror, get my pose together, aaaand—CHEESE. I snap the first picture.
Okay, cool. Next one.
Readjusting my face & body, I snap the next.
Two pics down. Now we wait.
Time passes slower than usual. I’m waiting for the Polaroids to develop. I guess I’m a bit anxious? I don’t want to (A) buy more film (it’s expensive) and (B) mess up the momentum. If you’ve ever been friends with musicians, you know they often talk about how difficult it is to recreate energy. I have a lot of musician friends, and in this moment, I totally get it.
As I’m waiting for the Polaroids to develop, my mind is racing with ideas. Ideas about where I can take this and how it can become something really cool. I’m pacing around my house mumbling to myself—battling between vision and doubt. I’ve always had excellent vision (20/10 if you’re wondering—teehee) so having foresight comes natural.
But with foresight comes hindsight.
“What if I’m getting this all wrong?” I grumble to myself.
"Who cares?!" I proclaim proudly. “You'll only be disappointed if you don't try.”
After coming to terms with this, I shrug the dirt off my shoulder and keep it pushing.
I spot my red Moleskine journal from a distance and decide to jot down some ideas. I pop a squat and start writing. Journaling has been a nice way for me to keep track of all my thoughts & reflections.
Shit, doodling helps me a lot too.
Simply putting pen to pad is essential.
When I journal it feels like I’m activating manifestations—inciting inscriptions that relieves my concerns. My cousin once told me that I should write in cursive, because cursive writing exemplifies the power of inscriptions. Apparently from his perspective, not lifting your pen when you’re writing creates a stronger connection with each word. I’m not sure if I totally agree, but I understand the sentiment—when you have that spark allow the energy to continuously flow through you.
Shoutout to Danielle for encouraging me to journal more. It really is helpful.
Just as I’m finishing up, I look over and see the photos are done developing.
If you didn’t know, it’s actually not good to shake your Polaroid. The common misconception is that you have to shake them to speed up the developing process. Yes, we’ve all heard that Outkast song. But, just don’t. It doesn’t work. Instead, place your Polaroid in a dark place and wait like 20 minutes.
I look at both shots and choose the better photo. Smiling and nodding with content.
“Yeah this is it, this is the beginning.”
I think selfies are the utmost proclamation of self (it’s kinda in the name too duh lol) and it's one of those things that everybody does. We all understand it. We all get it. It’s familiar.
Taking this selfie felt very Glenn Ligon. Very René Descartes. Very existential. Very purpose driven. Very on brand in what I believe in.
"It's not about me. It's about we."
-Glenn Ligon
https://x.com/nilknahs/status/1909229991235051743
As I’m typing this I’m reminded how I even got involved with all of this stuff. NFTs, web3, onchain, provenance—all of this sounds like an ephemeral dialect that was completely new to me. New age leetspeak.
It was about five years ago when I first got my feet wet. My homie Snax suggested I dump all my XRP and buy Ethereum.
“Dude dump all of your XRP & buy some ETH”
-Snax (Founder of PizzaDAO)
At the time I wasn’t really active in crypto. I just had a small bag of coins I was squirreling away over the years. But when he suggested I get more involved with the Ethereum ecosystem, it really changed the trajectory for me. I was no longer passively investing but actively participating in an ecosystem. The entire scene was so new to me. So it was fun learning, experimenting, minting and collecting. The idea of archiving, establishing provenance, and earning royalties was just enough for me to head out on this journey.
https://x.com/pplofcult/status/1876469677402255608
So yeah, Mirror Selfie is a cool memento. It’s the culmination of my many years of artistry, my excitement about discovery, the possibility of realizing my dreams, and a honest look into who I am. It fully represents the start of my path and what I want to do. It feels good working on something I want to see exist in this world. This is definitely a very important photo. Maybe even the *most* important? Mirror Selfie is ranked S [epic] because I am epic, and this is the beginning of the epic journey.
Thanks for reading.
Peace.
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