What does this look like to you? It's kind of a Rorschach test, where what you see in it is supposed to suggest something about how you see the world.

(I'd like to say that it looks like a squirrel with its tail hanging down from a branch, but my honest first thought is that it looks like a demon hand reaching up from the depths of hell.) :)

Like I mentioned last week, I'm holding a silent auction for this large photograph for a period of 24-hours which starts now, as of the delivery of this email.

The winner will own the only physical photograph of this particular image that will ever exist. (I reserve the right to print one for myself, but besides that.) The photo is a 20×24″ gelatin silver print produced on thick fiber-based photo developing paper by me in my darkroom--not at all made with a computer.

When I Googled how long these type of prints last, I found-- "Silver gelatin fiber prints properly processed, framed, and displayed could last several hundred years or more. Toned silver gelatin prints will have even more longevity."

The origin of the black paper shape is that I recently printed a photograph of my mom from a 38-year-old roll of film that I developed, and the photo was backlit, so I wanted to burn in the curtains in a window behind her in the picture, so I traced and cut out this shape to cover and preserve the faces while darkening in the background with a second exposure. The jagged lines are because it went over a child's hair.

If you are interested in the photo shown here, just reply to this email or message me on Instagram with your bid (whatever is comfortable for you) within 24-hours--as long as the corresponding Instagram story is still up.

I greatly appreciate all bids no matter what amount they are for. If you're selected as the winner of the photograph, I'll send you a private link to the item.

Thanks for reading, Reader.

Ryan