Cover of a Beirut song.
Author: Ryan Shockey Davis
In the 6th grade I was bored in math class so I started writing stories. I’m guess I’m still doing that.
Ryan Shockey Davis is a New England writer exploring poetic nonfiction across mediums. He writes about forgotten lives, ghost stories, and obscure historical narratives. These stories serve as a communion with the things that linger in the corners of the mind- stray moments, emotional volatility, and familial conflict. Ryan’s artistic method is foundering into overwritten places and lives through writing and photographs.
In addition to publishing short essays and poetry, he is an analog photographer, musician, and mender of old things. When not making ends meet by writing copy and taking pictures, he can be found tinkering with mechanical things like bicycles, typewriters, and cars.
Ryan received a BA in English from Skidmore College and a Master’s in Publishing & Writing from Emerson College. He has lived in Dublin, Ireland and Boston, Massachusetts, but is currently itinerant.
Contax 167MT Review: Perfection at the Twilight of the Film Era
What does a film camera look like? A silver metal body and black leatherette? Imagine a manual-focus lens shift on smooth machine oil to the sound of an audible click as the mirror flashes open. The tool of a professional with an eye for the decisive moment. This is all true, but swap out the … Continue reading Contax 167MT Review: Perfection at the Twilight of the Film Era
Living in the Roof
Since this all started, I haven’t seen heads or tails of the raccoon that lives under the shingling of my neighbor’s roof. In winter I occasionally sighted him, a dark shape travelling against an unlit alleyway- or slowly emerging from where the gutter had come loose and swung in the wind. My chances were better … Continue reading Living in the Roof
Prior Park
Up the hill, after the center of Widcombe and the train station and the canal crossing, is the house that will outlive me and all my old friends. There was no canonical order to the history of careless nights spent in the cheapest public houses of old Bath. As we dug into the now-extinct culture … Continue reading Prior Park
A Dreaming at the Tulip Hotel
I’m looking in from the road on a misty night at the Cape house I grew up in. It's half past five in the morning. The ancient white farmhouse, nearly as old as the country itself, stands renovated by its new owners. I can see the glow of the kitchen windows on the tall … Continue reading A Dreaming at the Tulip Hotel
A Land of Geology: Part 1
When the first explorers discovered the glacier-covered archipelago about 1,000 miles above Norway called "Svalbard", the land probably appeared slowly from the grey arctic backdrop, the imposing mountains silhouetted like a Lovecraftian alien planet. For me, Svalbard came suddenly into view from an ever-lightening night sky as my plane traveled further North. The dark of … Continue reading A Land of Geology: Part 1
Bartleby’s Machines: Hermes Rocket/ Hermes Baby Typewriter Review
The day I received my Hermes Rocket in the mail, I opened it in the five minutes I had before my Medieval Romance class was set to begin. My professor, a lovely woman in her mid 60's with a German Shepard named Bodo constantly in tow, recognized the brand immediately, and then promptly corrected my … Continue reading Bartleby’s Machines: Hermes Rocket/ Hermes Baby Typewriter Review
Olympus Trip 35 Review: A Legacy of Pivotal Moments Through Clumsy Glass
If you were born before the late 90's, there’s a good chance you have distant memories of your parents taking pictures on film cameras. You probably weren’t aware of what they were shooting on at the time of course. If your folks were anything like mine, a young couple in way over their heads and … Continue reading Olympus Trip 35 Review: A Legacy of Pivotal Moments Through Clumsy Glass
Rollei 35 Review: German Box of Wonder
I don’t exactly remember when I first acquired my example of a Rollei 35. I think it was some lost moment during my senior year in High School. The camera was made in Singapore and had a small dent on the front top right corner. I do remember countless times slipping this strange German box … Continue reading Rollei 35 Review: German Box of Wonder
Minolta SRT 201 Review: A Most Faithful Camera
The Minolta SRT 201 is my all-time favorite camera. This is not because it does any one thing well, but rather that it does nothing wrong at all. A lot of photographers swear by gear that isn’t necessarily the best or most expensive, instead opting for gear that is familiar and reliable. The SRT 201 … Continue reading Minolta SRT 201 Review: A Most Faithful Camera
Ryan Shockey Davis 