Hypernormalised Language

February 8 2025 · philosophy books blog

Normalised language is loose convention across prose, narrative form, formality, and conciseness in text we write. Academic papers, professional writing, advertising, group chats, and workplace chats all have different forms of normalisation. Texts can also be normalised by the way they look – if you see a two-column LaTeX document your mind recognises that it’s an academic paper before you’ve even read a word.

In Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More, Alexei Yurchak …


Hawkdun Sunset

Foot of the St Bathans Range.

Foot of the St Bathans Range.

It’s the middle of summer and the golden tussock has overtaken its shorter agricultural cousin. Back down the Manuherikia Valley, bands of green grass run up the sides of the Dunstan Range. Productive Land they call it. Indeed it is, but visually that splash of green is at odds with the golden …


Maniototo Landscapes

Old Dunstan Road.

Old Dunstan Road.

Hawkduns.

Hawkduns.

Early evening in Ida Valley.

Early evening in …


St Bathans - 1877

St Bathans. 1877

St Bathans. 1877

St Bathans is a small town in the Maniototo with a history of gold mining. On a recent trip there I was reading a run-of-the-mill information board and noticed the photograph accompanying it. It was unexpectedly large and incredibly detailed for such an old image. Tagged in the corner was Burton Bros – a photography …


Hasselblad V Lenses on Sony Mirrorless Cameras

On a recent trip to the Maniototo I was shooting the Hasselblad 501cm film camera. One evening up the Manuherikia River the skies clouded over. There wasn’t enough light to shoot without a tripod so I put away the film camera and experimented with shooting the Hasselblad lenses adapted to my digital Sony a7rii.

Shooting down the valley towards the Home Hills. …</figure></div>

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