ENTRE NOUS
Newsletter
May 2026
French, literally “just between us”,
“in private”
[ahn-truh noo, ahn-truh noo]
/ˌɑn trə ˈnu, ɑ̃ trə ˈnu /
My love letter to your sovereignty
Letter From The Editor
Good Morning, my friend.
Picking up where we left off:
Ever since that fateful date with Gina, I have been writing Morning Pages almost every day.
Twenty years later, I am still doing them.
A thousand things have emerged from that daily practice. Stories. Ideas. Businesses. Relationships. Prayers I did not know were prayers until years later.
It will suffice to say this:
To the degree I am sane at all, I have writing to thank for it.
I have another confession to make.
I have made my career in photography for the past twenty years. Cameras have paid my bills, opened strange doors, introduced me to unforgettable people & places, and taught me how to see.
Still, I am finding writing to be more creatively rewarding than being behind the lens.
I did not have this on my bingo card for my 49th year.
A dear friend recently witnessed me:
“You shoot like you write, and you write like you shoot.”
She’s right.
The word photography literally means light-writing.
Photo (light) Graphy (writing)
I construct my photographs like a written essay.
Get very clear about the subject.
Support it well.
Let everything else fall away.
Making a photograph of a person is a layered experience. On the surface, I am documenting a moment in their life. Underneath that: people come to be seen through the eyes of another.
They come to be witnessed.
Seeing one’s self through the eyes of another can be a transformative experience.
Don’t we all crave that?
Some try to find it in fame.
Some look for it in a lover.
Some come to a photography studio.
If I witness you witness me, I’ll finally be able to believe in my own beauty.
Looking up into the chasm of a dark night’s sky begs the big questions –
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What does my life mean?
Is any of this even real?
Looking across the chasm into the witnessing eyes of another is the only proof we can have:
Yes.
This month’s Darkroom story – Hotel Casi – contemplates the cost of witness. It is not free. It is not for the cowardly. For those brave enough to risk it – the payoff is priceless.
Much love –
Paul Duane
Gift of Tongues
by Paul Duane
“Aaaaaaaaahhh!!”
“Oooooooowww!!”
My neighbors are having rough sex.
At least one of them is enjoying it tremendously.
I love my apartment.
I do not love its walls.
I have never seen her. I have only seen him.
I am surprised that he is able to deliver such a performance.
“SQUAAAAAAK”
I would tell you that she is actually an African Grey parrot – except that I have lived with one, and Parrots know how to use their words.
“SQUAAAAAAK”
She speaks in a language that only her little tribe understands.
“SQUAAAAAAK”
By this she means, “where the fuck is dinner”
I have been given the Biblical Gift of Tongues.
“SQUAAAAAAK”
This one means, “Can you believe they elected a black man for president? Everything’s gone to hell since then”
“SQWWRRRAAAAAAAAKK!”
This one is special. It means “It’s your mother’s birthday tomorrow, did you get her anything, you thoughtless, worthless son? Also, I’m still holding a grudge about that time you gave me a gift card for my birthday 9 years ago.”
SQUAAAAAWWWWWK!
“Where the fuck did you put MY METFORMIN YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH MY MEDICINE AND CIGARETTES!!!”
“Oooooow! Oooooow! Ooooooooooowww!”
I have serious questions about the sex sounds.
I listen closer.
I can hardly bear my own imagination.
“Ooooowwww!”
By this, he means, “Where are my people?”
“Ooooowww Ooooowwww owww!”
By this he means, “How did I get here? What did I do to deserve this?”
“Ooooowwww oooww oow!”
This one means, “I do not believe in a kind, loving, all knowing God anymore. The evidence of my existence denies that such a being exists.”
“ooooooooOOOOOOooooooohhhhh”.
This one really affected me: “If there were a God, I would pray my days to end soon, but no such power or grace exists, not even the grace of free will, of being able to end my own suffering. May a parasite or a car or perhaps even a small house fire take me sooner than later”.
He is their new puppy.
The Darkroom
"Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second"
The most common question I get about my work as a boudoir photographer:
“What is it like?”
Women don’t hire me to make pictures of them, per se –
They come to see themselves through my eyes.
Not every story involves a camera in my hand.
Every story revolves around being seen.
It’s all about witness.
A Preface to
“Hotel Casi”
Hotel Casi is a flirtation with witness.
Its name comes from the Spanish word, “Casi”, meaning “Almost”.
Witness is the most exquisite human experience – and it is costly. Sometimes we aren’t even aware that we are paying the toll – regardless of whether or not we use the bridge.
Contains erotic themes – for an adult audience only.
“And when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. What do you call it, Freedom or Loneliness?”
– Charles Bukowski
The Darkroom is open to patrons who subscribe to the print edition of Entre Nous.
Your edition arrives the first of every month bearing vintage postage, sealed with wax.
Field Reports
One day you will be called upon to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay "in shape" so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is "anarchist calisthenics." Every day or so break some trivial law that makes no sense, even if it’s only jaywalking. Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable. That way, you'll keep trim; and when the big day comes, you'll be ready.
Have you done something recently that stretched your soul? Made your balls grow bigger? Put you in real danger of humiliation, exclusion or failure?
We want to hear about it.
Share your story on the Field Reports Page. We’ll select a couple each month to feature in the Print Edition of Entre Nous.
Future Field Reports Coming Soon
This month, we found the following Field Reports particularly worth sharing. Read all of the Field Reports in the War Room:
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Talking Shit:
He performs a self satisfying routine, spewing his repressed fear and loathing of himself, onto the faces of his faithful.
His hack: performative certainty.
The Collected Wisdom of the Internet
Why I chose these:
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