Cool Pictures: I Picked a Strange Week to Turn 30

01/19/26, as my gf and roommate and I went to Chinatown // Olympus Stylus 120 // Harman Phoenix I 35mm

30! I feel quite different but that's mostly due to current events. I think we all feel different. But it's been very nice being 30, actually. I just didn't think I'd make it! 20 years ago, it felt like this impossibly distant thing for me. Here I am. Hello.

Suuure, America is dead and dying, but being in a city that day surrounded by all kinds of different people was refreshing enough to get me to stop spiraling into doom. I felt the pulse of Oakland under my feet and at one point, it pulled me towards the MLK Jr. Day rally happening downtown. I realized this was the spark of life inside the dead husk of America—good people who care enough to come together and do something about it. I'm fanning the flame and holding onto the feeling as best as I can. The next 10 years will be worth the struggle of the last 10. That's my birthday wish.

Nicky Flowers - Getting this roll and others back from the lab was the main thing that kept me going tbh. I love cool pictures!! - 01/26/26 - (send any comments/questions to hello at nickyflowers dot com)