I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this book - the cover is obviously very familiar - see my post on the Last Chance Module. I have just started to read this book but it appears to be just what I was looking for in terms of another set of opinions about the West. It has also introduced me to the Autry Museum in LA, started by Gene Autry of Movie fame.
Vicki stuck to just 5. Interesting that we had one in common - Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey - she has not read it but found it and thought I’d be interested in it!
This year my S.O. came up with a cheap way to do stocking stuffers - simply put a list of 5 books to recommend to the other person. I went overboard and put 10 - didn’t cost me anything to add 5 more. These are NOT guaranteed to be crowd pleasers - just books that I think have merit. Here are my recommendations:
1 The Leftovers Hardcover by Tom Perrotta
2 Ilf and Petrov’s American Road Trip: The 1935 Travelogue of Two Soviet Writers
3 The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring Illustrated Edition by Richard Preston
4 In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin Hardcover by Eric Larson
5 Last Exit to Brooklyn (An Evergreen book) by Hubert Selby Jr.
6 God in the Wilderness: Rediscovering the Spirituality of the Great Outdoors with the Adventure Rabbi Paperback by Jamie S. Korngold
7 The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey by Che Guevara
8 This Land, How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West. Christoper Ketcham
9 Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey
10 Young Men and Fire Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
This is what a quarter century of photography looks like. 4Tb to be specific. Dad taught me photography when I was about 13 but I really wasn’t serious about this pursuit until his passing in 1996. Since then I’ve made it my passion. In the last three years I’ve done more film photography than digital but I still do both. So here ya’ go 4 TB of mediocre photography!
Vicki had this idea that I should gather all the photos that have been accepted into the various contests that I’ve entered over the last year or so. Safe to say that my non-professional status is holding up as I have not sold a single one! ?
I forgot to mention that another one of my photos is hanging at the Northwinds Art Center in Port Townsend, WA.
The web site had two videos and the one I looked at did not have my entry in it and it appeared to be a video of the entire exhibition. I saw the 2nd video which is of the Juror making comments about how he goes about jurying such an exhibit. It was there so I was relieved to see that it was actually in the exhibit.
Vicki took last nite to decorate the house for Xmas. She pulled out all the stops - The Santas have not been seen on display for at least a decade! The framed fibre art is really interesting - Vicki’s sister made it when she was a kid and gave it to Vicki. The framing was expensive but it came out great. She is NOT planning on giving it back to Julie! The last picture is sort of what the rest of the house looks like so you shouldn’t get the idea that we live in a pristine palace !!:)
This image was selected to show at the SAGE Gallery in Sheridan Wyoming next month. I submitted a total of four images - not sure this was my strongest image but it’s the one that they selected so.. time to print and frame it. I usually get it nicely framed because so far none of my entries have sold so they just come back to me, hence the reason to have a nicely framed photo.
I decided I would do a book about the landmark exhibition New Topographics (NT) held at the George Eastman House in 1975. The book is a compilation of my photos that best fit into this genre along with some notes about NT. Below is a Dutch video showing some of the original photos from that exhibition.
Here’s the photo that Vicki will use for the Holiday Cards. It’s from our October trip to Wyoming and Montana. This was taken by our guide during a Grand Teton tour
A few posts back I wondered if this photo was faked:
Well I just recently found this image:
I think having a 2nd photo in the series makes it very unlikely that the first one was faked AND makes it even more of an amazing shot. So here it is on display in our living room
This is part of a series of art projects by M12 Studio. Here’s what they say about in on their website:
Last Chance Module Array. Last Chance, Colorado. (Modules No. 4, 5). With Onix Architects, Groningen, the Netherlands. 2015-2016.
The Last Chance Module Array is part of M12’s Prairie Module series. The array is made up of two cubes that have been extruded to create a visual field containing a multiplicity of crosshatched forms. Despite its formal simplicity, the Last Chance Module Array contains many points of conceptual entry, from farm and ranch architecture to rural planning grids. The forms are reminiscent of rural timber frame structures and pole barns—their timbers having been finished with a Japanese wood burning technique known as Shou Sugi Ban, wherein cedar is burned to make the material more durable. The overall arrangement resembles a ghost-like structure, akin to what artist Robert Smithson referred to as a “ruin in reverse.” Alone in the landscape, it appears newly built or, just as easily, to have always been there, disintegrating over decades.
It turns out that to get to this art you go by High Plains Raceway on Colorado 36. This is a destination I go to frequently. Going out east gives me another chance to photography the prairie.
I plan on going out here more as there are so many different looks possible - I ended going on a totally cloudless day which is NOT what I would have preferred. Might also be worth seeing if I can get friends to pose out there. Below is an example of someone else’s take on LCMA
I’ve created a new medical syndrome called “Once in a Lifetime” syndrome. I came upon this because a relative called to say that their mate had entered into a confusional state and wanted to know what to do. The description was that the person kept asking the same question over and over again , having forgotten the answer as soon as it was given to them. This would in all likelihood turn out to be TGA- transient global amnesia which is a real medical diagnosis. A self limited condition where all parts of the brain work except for that module that makes new memories. As my relative was explaining what they were seeing all I could think of was David Byrne’s “Once in a Lifetime” Lyrics.
“Once In A Lifetime”
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, “Well… how did I get here?”
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself, “How do I work this?”
And you may ask yourself, “Where is that large automobile?”
And you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful house”
And you may tell yourself, “This is not my beautiful wife”
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself, “What is that beautiful house?”
And you may ask yourself, “Where does that highway go to?”
And you may ask yourself, “Am I right? Am I wrong?”
And you may say to yourself, “My God! What have I done?”
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was and look where my hand was
Time isn’t holding up, time isn’t after us
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Letting the days go by, same as it ever was
Here a twister comes, here comes the twister
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Once in a lifetime, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
If you prefer the Donald Trump version here it is:
I have a couple of compact cameras and decided I’d like to sell one or several. As I was testing the Nikon 35Ti it became clear that the funky analog display was not working as it should - the aperture can be set but not displayed properly. So I can’t really sell the camera except at a deep discount. I wanted to verify that everything else worked so I picked out some C41 film that I wouldn’t be unhappy if it got ruined. Thus the bad camera + bad film Thanksgiving 2020 experiment.
Of course this is no way to run a proper experiment but hey it’s MY experiment. The film’s name escapes me but basically they take normal C41 film and wind it on the spool backwards so that there is a red tint to all the exposures. Not really all that pleasing ( not sure why I bought it in the first place). So I took the film into black and white , tweaked it a bit in Affinity Photo ( Photoshop alternative) and got usable photos.
The last image was shot thru a window and the autofocus focused not he window not the scene. The out of focus rendering is pleasing to my eye so it stays.
Provoke was a short lived photo magazine printed in Japan in 1968 - there were only three issues but it set off a spark in Japan. The three volumes have been re-released - I got mine from this photo bookstore in Tokyo. The predominant style is ‘are, Bure, bokeh’ which is grainy, blurry and out of focus. The masters of optics and camera manufacture in Japan at the time must have wondered why they were killing themselves to make high quality lenses if this was the type of photography that was gonna be displayed. I don’t know but would wonder if this new style of photography led to the popularization of the cheap point and shoot cameras?
I forgot where but someone recommended this film to try. I’m always up for new film. One of these days I will embrace the idea of keeping it simple and using the same film, developer combination. But until then……
Several years ago I ran across this photo of a tornado touching down near Simla, Colorado. I really was motivated to get a copy as I was born in Simla and love storm/weather photography. Turns out this was shot by James Smart, an Australian who came to the Western US to try his hand at storm photography. I purchased a print and it hangs very prominently in our living room. Over the years I’ve had this nagging thought that it might be fake. I didn’t realize that it was one of the National Geographic’s Photo of the year for 2015. This suggests that it probably not fake as these days entries and winners especially come in for extra scrutiny looking for fakes, stolen images, etc. So now I’m back to thinking it’s the genuine article !
Every morning, now that I’m retired, I am up by 6:30 am thanks to my dog Arbus. Let the hounds out, take my pills and start the coffee. Then with coffee in hand I start the computer. The photo websites that I check in with include:
The Online Photographer. Contemplative photo blog with more text than photos.
PetaPixel Your generic photo blog - sometimes the entries are trash but others are quite good
DPreview Great source for digital camera reviews. They added about a year ago a film photography forum which is where I go mostly
Instagram My instagram account. I use IG to motivate me to do more photography. Besides friends and family I connect with other photographers.
Frames Magazine on Facebook. This is a link to the Frames web page. But you can visit them on Facebook. It is here that you can put up you photos for comment.
Here are some entries I’ve put up
In constant sorrow all through my days!
I am a man of constant sorrow,
I’ve seen trouble all my days.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised
The place where he was born and raised!
For six long years,
I’ve been in trouble
No pleasure here,
On earth I’ve found
For in this world
I’m bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now
You can bury me in some deep Valley,
For many years, there I may lay.
Then you may learn to love another
While I am sleeping in my grave
While he is sleeping in my grave!
Maybe your friends think
I’m just a stranger
My face you’ll never see no more
But, there is one promise that is given,
I’ll meet you on God’s golden shore.
He’ll meet you on God’s golden shore!
I just acquired this little gem of a camera from Japan. Comes from Japan Camera Hunter which is run by Bellamy Hunt who has absolutely glorious things to buy most of which are outside of my budget. This little camera was within the budget so it was purchased. It has a zoom going from 24 to 50 mm which is a wonderful range if you do street photography. It has flash. Something I’ve never seen before is a left and right shutter button. You can use both or activate one of the other. It has a feature allowing you to take selfies and film wind out which means the film in the canister is wound out at the beginning and as you shoot the film it is wound back into the canister. This feature means that if for some reason the back of the camera opens up you only expose film that hasn’t been shot.
These pictures were shot on Ilford XP2 which is a chromogenic black-and-white film that is a C 41 process. I’ve just started to process my own C 41. So this particular outing I did something which I generally don’t recommend to beginners which is to try out a new camera, new film, new film processing. In the end everything worked out just great.
