What was learned together is best unlearned together, too.
“Supposed to.” “Have to.” “Should.” “Can’t.”
We picked these up along the way, from family, school, religion, work, and each other. Unlearning is how we simplify—how we set down what we’ve been carrying until we can see ourselves clearly. Field Notes is a place to do that the same way we picked it all up, in company.
“We become with each other, or not at all.” (Donna Haraway)
What can you expect?
It moves in two ways. Story: essays, audio, and photographs, because we notice our own patterns in other people’s. Conversations: small gatherings in New York, because unlearning is wild work and nobody should do it alone.
Who’s in the field?
I’m Lindsey, an unlearning practitioner in the Bronx. I’ve spent my whole life helping people see themselves more clearly. First, through my camera lens as a documentary photographer. Then, in the field as an anthropologist in Chile and Rhode Island. And most recently, as a community strategist all over the U.S. and U.K.
No matter where I found myself or what type of work I was doing, one theme consistently surfaced: unlearning. Clarity only comes when you put down what’s no longer right for you (and maybe never was). I’ve seen this in my own life, too—I’ve spent most of it as the ‘useful’ one, and I’m still trying to set that down. More on that in my TEDx talk “Why Doesn’t Success Feel Like Enough?”
All of it led me to this project, Field Notes on Unlearning. I call myself a ‘practitioner’ of unlearning because I’m on the journey alongside you, reporting on what I find. Find me all around NYC (and beyond) hosting the gatherings. Or right here on Substack, recording what emerges from them through writing, audio, and photography.
If you’re based in New York City and interested in commissioning portrait work, reach out at hello@lindseylerner.com.
