Casey Segal i am primarly a filmmaker
Cick to read & look:
Scracth Experimental Films
Because of a Soul Like You [Photography Project]
from winter to fall, juxtaposing compositions and subjects that depict instances of loneliness.
The contrasting images attempt to redefine loneliness as a range of emotions.
The photographs were taken over the course of one year (2022), in a manner that
closely resembles automatism. Carrying a small digital camera with me every day, I took
photos without rhyme or reason, following instinctual impulses. Later, I discovered that these
images carried an essence of that time—not in a historical sense, but in an emotionally
personal one. I’ve always wondered: What does the photographer choose to point their camera
at, and how does this reflect their subconscious?
During the process of capturing these 5,000 images, I lost a dear friend and was left in a
deep emotional state. When I began to look for connections between the images, I noticed that
the camera had become a divider between the physical world and my subconscious. There
were clues everywhere: images of solitary subjects isolated in space, or plants composed in
ways that suggest motifs of life and death. This journey became a kind of humanistic
grappling—another form of confirmation bias and spiritual romanticism. If you look deep
enough, you will find what you're looking for.
Over the past two years, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 sequences (10 images) that I feel best
reflect the themes of the work. At the beginning of the first sequence I ever made, I wrote: “I
hope to contribute beauty to this world because of a soul like you. ” That still feels, to this day, like
the core premise of the work.
Painting
December 2025 Update
Skateurbansim & Urban Design Research
The 5th and Hoyt project is the first build in our new effort to directly engage with the new wave of skate urbanism. It is our first ramp of a larger ongoing project that we are calling the Chameleon Ramps. Unlike DIY skate builds, usually made from concrete, the Chameleon Ramps are meant to be unobtrusive, limit damage to public infrastructure, and visually blend into the urban context. The goal isn’t to pose a new alternative to DIY skateboard obstacle building; rather, it’s meant to be a counter-monument to defensive design and privatization of public space in the United States, striking conversation about the deeper systemic players that hinder the inhabitation of space.
Gowanus, Brooklyn is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in New York City and has been in contention for hundreds of years. Gowanus Canal, or Gowanus Creek, was originally the land of the Canarsee branch of the Lenape people and was then colonized by the Dutch, transforming the creek into farms and mills in 1630. The man-made canal we know today was finished in 1869, becoming the United States’ busiest commercial canal by World War I.
During the turn of the century, concerns over its toxicity grew until the EPA declared the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site in 2010. The cleanup goal is set to finish in 2030, de-industrializing the space and replacing it with luxury apartment developments. With the space again in contention for new financial interests, I focus on how skateboarders disregard the intended programming of space and resourcefully re-imagine it for their benefit. Skateboarding inadvertently demonstrates how informal spatial practices can contest entrenched capital power.
I am excited to keep sharing the process of this research project with you all. Catch you next month.
During the turn of the century, concerns over its toxicity grew until the EPA declared the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site in 2010. The cleanup goal is set to finish in 2030, de-industrializing the space and replacing it with luxury apartment developments. With the space again in contention for new financial interests, I focus on how skateboarders disregard the intended programming of space and resourcefully re-imagine it for their benefit. Skateboarding inadvertently demonstrates how informal spatial practices can contest entrenched capital power.
I am excited to keep sharing the process of this research project with you all. Catch you next month.