Welcome to the future! Or at the very least, Happy New Year. I waited a couple of days before sending out the first newsletter of 2025 because I wanted it to have some value beyond the standard end of year recap. The truth is, most of y'all have been with Archival Recordings for most of 2024 so that would have been a waste of energy. I realize that your time and attention is valuable so I want to make every appearance in your inbox worthwhile. On that note, let's dive in!

I started 2025 off with a few hours photographing Echo Park with my buddy Halline, an L.A. based photographer and videographer who has been producing really good work for years. It was an opportunity to catch up with an old friend but also a chance to get going on one of the goals I have for 2025, which is to get out and connect with people in person a lot more. Whether that is making time to build with other creatives or vending at fairs and festivals, I plan to be "outside" a great deal more going forward.

It's hard to even explain to people how much Echo Park has changed since the 90's. When I was in high school I had a girlfriend that lived off Echo Park Blvd. and let's just say it was an adventure almost every time I visited her. Although it is definitely a safer neighborhood now, the gentrification that has transformed the area has come at a cost. You have to look long and hard to find the remaining traces of the place that once was. It's not the only part of the city that has become an unfamiliar space to many locals but it is one of the most prominent examples in L.A.

On a somewhat related note, I just published the latest Archival Recordings photo essay titled, "Contemporary Dystopia". This body of work is all from 2024 and it really drives home the general sense of decline that I see when I photograph much of the city. The uneven post-pandemic recovery is running headfirst into the 2028 Olympics and I have concerns about what that means for the average, working class residents of the city. I hope that things start moving in the right direction but regardless, I'll be documenting the process. Speaking of the Olympics, there is a great newsletter by Alissa Walker called "Torched" that goes deep on the upcoming games and their impact on the city. Highly recommended.

Archival Recordings Publication Tier (Final)

In the last newsletter I announced a few changes to the printed zine subscription (now known as the Publication Tier) a little prematurely. I have since finalized the details which are below:

The Publication Tier is a yearly paid subscription to Archival Recordings that gets you 2 printed zines (designed by Nonstndrd Creative) sent to you directly. The price is $40 per year.

The first zine will be released over the summer with the second following at the end of the year.

If you are a subscriber to the previous zine subscription it will not renew. You will need to subscribe to the new tier to receive the upcoming zines. If you have any questions please feel free to email me directly and I'll be happy to help.

Subscriptions are live at this link:
https://www.archivalrecordings.com/#/portal/signup/65b3d4cdbef2f30001666073/yearly

Lastly, the wait for Archival Recordings Zine 04 is almost over! They will be in the mail to current paid subscribers at the end of the week and available for sale online around the same time. Thank you for your patience, I think you'll be happy with the result!

That's all from Archival Recordings right now, thanks for reading and see y'all soon!

-Kwasi