skyler fike

New York lately. #nyc #newyorkcity #westvillage

Brilliant work @sawyer_skipper and @richardross on this masterpiece. And congratulations to @mizzenandmain on their 10-year anniversary! Thanks for casting me as Sweaty Dude in the original piece, and now as Sweaty + Refined Dude in this reboot. See you again in ten years? . Director: @sawyer_skipper Creative Director: @richardross Rockstar DP: @michaelleiato HMU: @megan.bankhead Brilliant Entrepreneur: Kevin Lavelle Sweaty Dude: Yours Truly Abe Lincoln: Himself . Congrats @mizzenandmain !

Tonight in Manhattan. . . . #manhattan #nyc #newyork

There’s a side of my personality I wish didn’t exist: judgmental, doubtful, convinced ahead of time that nothing could possibly be as good or worthwhile as people claim. As an architect and photographer, I figured I would casually enjoy Casa Barragán. When I booked my trip to Mexico City, I was even a little bummed that tours of the legendary architect’s home and studio were sold out for weeks. That judgmental side of me quickly rationalized: no big deal, I’ll go another time. Then, in a lucky turn of events, a ticket opened up—just 30 minutes before a tour. I snagged it and jetted to the location. Even standing outside, waiting to enter, I couldn’t have predicted how incredible—how spiritual—the experience would be. And now I’m wonderfully haunted by thoughts of what other buildings, films, countries, even people I’ve dismissed before giving them the chance to speak to me directly. I unashamedly double down on the Mark Twain quote from my last post: Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness […] Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. Take a lesson from me: approach everything with optimism and an open mind. You’ll save yourself countless hours of pessimism—and begin to see the world and the people around you in an entirely new light. #casabarragán #mexico #mexicocity #cdmx #architecture #architect #mexicanarchitecture #luisbarragán #barragán #travel

CDMX es mi nueva ciudad favorita. En este viaje, he estado intentando hablar en espanol cada día, porque en la secundaria y la preparatoria, los idiomas se me daban con relativa facilidad, y es muy importante a mi que yo no aparecer como uno estadounidense típico que espera que los demás se adapten a yo. No estoy perfecto, pero es asombroso a ver cómo los demás responden al incluso el más mínimo esfuerzo. Mis interacciones han sido enriquecedoras y este país me desafía a ser una persona más empatía, amable, y desinteresada. Yo estoy recordando de una cita de Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejuidce, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” 🇲🇽 Viva México! 🇲🇽

Modern romance. Or a father and daughter, I couldn’t really tell.

Been a while since I’ve been on here so just wanted to drop in and let you know that I love Copenhagen, but don’t worry because I love you more.

Tonight’s vibe.⚡️ . . . . . . . #portland #maine #vw #voltswagen #van #retro #80s #gasstation

I’ve been looking for more inspiration to brighten up my feed a bit, and what better inspiration than that found in a bathroom in South Dallas. And no, I was not sitting down for this one. Thank you @herbysburgers for the inspoo. I mean inspo. . . . #dallas#oakcliff#elmwood#texas#dtx

One of my favorite parts of living in New York is stumbling upon buildings at serendipitous times of day and capturing some distinctive element of their architecture that is out of the ordinary—even (and especially) if the building is otherwise hideous. Today I walked past this building and the shadow underneath the cantilevered corner was about 15 minutes from being dead center. I had a moment where I was like “Meh, not worth the wait.” Plus it was mostly cloudy and I wasn’t even sure I would get the shot if I waited for the sun to peek through. But I waited, and I’m glad I did. And even more delightful was after editing the image noticing that it kind of looks like the building has teeth and a tongue, arguably the only visually redeeming aspect of this streetcorner-dominating structure.

Does anyone else feel like this has been a weird year? Weird emotionally, creatively, spiritually? Of course politically and socially but let’s not plunge down that rabbit hole. I can’t put my finger on it other than things feeling…weird. There are elements of uncertainty and instability, but also mystery and intrigue. No day feels like the one before it, and neither worse nor better. I’m sure a lot of the feelings are coming after the loss of my dogs, but I believe most of it is emblematic of a turning point in my creative life and professional career. I don’t yet understand if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose that’s the deal we make with mystery. I have a personal addiction to knowing, but part of life (or maybe all of life) as an artist is wholeheartedly dedicating yourself to the comfort of discomfort, the acceptance of incertitude, the embrace of the unknown. So, what’s my point? Well, if you’re feeling the way I’m feeling, the only thing to do is—keep your head up, and trust the process. . What is the current state of your creative self?

Today I lost my best friend in the world, a month after losing my other best friend. I picked up Jet when he was barely 10 weeks old. It was my third year of college and a friend told me about some lab-pit puppies that were being given away close to where I lived. It was the smartest and dumbest decision I ever made. The puppies, about 8 or 9 of them, were in a makeshift cardboard playpen in the garage. Nearly all of them, except for one, were running around and jumping and trying to get out. The one who wasn’t was just sitting there. Staring up at me. Calm, composed, and stoic as can be. He was the only boy in the litter. I pointed and said “that one.” I held him, and my heart melted. It was like I had no choice. I didn’t let there be a choice. No consulting with my parents, to checking with my roommates (I advise against these things), I took him home. From that point forward my life changed. Jet turned 16 in January, around the time I had to put Layla down. It was too hard for me to conceive of doing a big old sweet 16 birthday for him, since Layla’s passing was (and still is) so fresh. I was going to craft him a little kids convertible and push him around Williamsburg, visiting all his friends from the old neighborhood, and revel in moment, not knowing how much more time I would have with him. This morning, as Jet woke up, he wandered into the hallway and paused, like he did every morning. Jet had CCD (doggy dementia) so wandering around and pausing for extended moments, especially in the morning, wasn’t unusual. Today, however, after his usual pause, he started heaving. I didn’t panic, as sometimes dogs just get sick. But this time after throwing up, his poor body went into some sort of seizure. His front legs gave out and I caught him as his little body fell to the floor. He peed all over himself and the floor. I thought he was dying in my arms. Jet is a tank. He’s resilient. Tireless. Strong. He magically came to, and I helped him up. I took him outside, while we both took a beat to recover from the episode. He came back in, drank his water, ate his breakfast, and laid down. He looked up at me like, “what?” (continued below)