Michael Wriston

Michael Wriston

@michaelwriston.com

Little old nobody in Baltimore. Public record enthusiast and data journalist at @projectsaltbox.com. Sometimes street portrait photographer. Forever enamored by the liminal, the misunderstood, and the unconventional. Signal: mwriston.410

2.7K followers754 following1.4K posts

Pinned

If the Light Rail Link drops me and every other passenger off at North Ave with no warning one more time, I may get grumpy and write a stern feedback letter.

I never want to hear the Republican party moan about waste, fraud, and abuse ever again.

Always my favorite event of the year!!! Great art, great space, and great people. Love coming back to photograph it ♥️

Bmore Horror Club@bmorehorrorclub.bsky.social

Some photos by @michaelwriston.com from our 4th annual Beers & Fear Halloween Market last night, was a blast! Thanks everyone for coming out! #halloween #bmorehorrorclub #baltimore

I crouched in the vacant industrial lot across from Fantasies and cackled in the misty dark as the yellow foil smiley face balloon freed itself from the razor wire and hung for a moment in the buzzing pink neon glow of the strip club marquee before fleeing south into the chemical smoke.

We left Bluebird and stood under the gibbous moon as the chimney swifts swarmed in dizzy orbits around the Avenue and our hands found each other's as a man sitting in a Civic parked under an elm tree practiced his didgeridoo.

Michael Wriston reposted

Arizona: tune in to KJZZ’s The Show tomorrow during the 9:00 am PT hour. I’ll be discussing GardaWorld’s new construction contract with hosts Lauren Gilger and Mark Brodie.

kjzz.orgKJZZ's The ShowThe Show is a stream of curated stories from Phoenix, our region and around the country. With the help of reporters and producers around the region and globe we’ll mix the stories and news to keep you...
Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com

ICE just signed $7.3 billion in contracts to build detention space on land it owns, after its warehouse plan stalled. A $1.2 billion contract for a California site ICE left in 2014 went to a company tied to a developer facing more than a dozen lawsuits.

Such a pleasure to share my street portrait work with @photochronicle.bsky.social!

Photography Chronicle@photochronicle.bsky.social

Baltimore Street Portraits by @michaelwriston.com Michael Wriston’s street portraiture is all about asking strangers to stop, be seen, and briefly belong to each other’s day. #photoessay #photostory #photostories #portraiture #streetphoto photographychronicle.com/baltimore-st...

I have 20 years of experience in military intelligence and this is red flags all the way down.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com

During GWOT, the military often called these "target teams." DHS is signaling to contractors it wants to spend $100M+ building an in-house capability set up the same way the military, NSA, and CIA operate to replicate their find, fix, finish, exploit, analyze, disseminate (F3EAD) methodology.

Michael Wriston reposted

Today, we filed a FOIA request with DHS concerning an AI-generated image the @DHSgov X account posted this morning. The image depicts a Transformer facing a South Asian man, over a caption telling "Mr. Singh" to self-deport and get off American roads. We want the prompt.

Michael Wriston reposted

Thursday, June 11, 2026. Baltimore, Maryland.

wmar2news.comGovernor Wes Moore calls ICE arrest on Baltimore City School campus 'deeply disturbing'ICE agents conducted an immigration enforcement operation at a Baltimore elementary/middle school Thursday morning, multiple sources tell WMAR-2 News.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

HOMAN: You can't give me one example of someone arrested at a school REPORTER: I gave you an example of someone arrested at a school bus stop HOMAN: Is that a school?

View full thread

This matters for all creatives whether they do or don't enter contests. Every time a contest rewards AI slop over real human work, it insults true artistry, devalues the effort behind real work, and normalizes lazy, deceitful shortcuts. People's livelihoods depend on this.

View full thread

It doesn't matter that the MSF isn't the ultimate voice in photo contests. Real human beings took the time to create something with their own tools and vision, and they lost to a machine and a lazy 'artist.'