TN 134 Railroad Bridge, April 2017
Running Water Trestle over TN 134 and I-24.
April 2017, expired 220 roll of FP4+ with Mamiya 645 Pro TL.
San Francisco, June 2016
San Francisco, June 2016. Ilford FP4+ and HP5+ in Leica M3
Vancouver on Film, May 2015
A week in Vancouver with a roll of Velvia 120 and FP4+ 35mm is about perfection.
Mostly playing tourist and not too much exploration, but even that was rewarding. Stanley Park is phenomenal, Gastown is great fun, and random side streets were well worth investigating.
- Driftwood, Stanley Park
- Stairs, Stanley Park
- Houseboats, Coal Harbor Marina
- Watercraft I, Coal Harbor Marina
- Girl in a Wetsuit, Vancouver
- Watercraft II, Coal Harbor Marina
- Siwash Rock, Vancouver
- Seaplanes I, Vancouver
- Nike, Thurlow St
- Vancouver Harbor
- Loading, Vancouver Harbor
- Trees Coffee, Gastown
- Steam Clock, Gastown
- Gawkers, Gastown
- Olympic Cauldron Stairs, Vancouver
- Sea Planes II, Vancouver
- Flora, Vancouver
- Careers Installation, Vancouver
- Side Street, Vancouver
- Self Portrait, Vancouver
On the technical side, I shot the Velvia with my Mamiya 645 Pro TL with the 45, 80 and 150mm lenses. I don’t shoot that camera too much these days - I have been working with the GA645 more often for medium format film. When I to manage to set aside the time and energy to show the Pro TL, the results are amazing. Especially with slide film, looking at the actual media in real life is a treat. Not to mention the sheer size of the raw amount of data coming from the 6x45 negatives!
This was also the first trip with my Leica M3 and while I am not as quick with the focusing as I am with my A-1, I am coming along with the rest of the process. Even having to meter with an external meter on this trip for it, I still was able to shoot reasonably quickly when the time came. And the look of the images I really love, especially on those photos with a large amount of fine detail and contrast.
A great trip, really welcoming city and who knows? Maybe one day we’ll call it home.
Photo Exploration: Cabin Wall with Guitar Strings, June 2014.
Since I first started playing guitar I had wound my strings into a little round object as they came off for new strings. It was really more a function of keeping the strings in place as they came off the instrument and not laying around haphazardly.
But over time I started to really love the circular shape and I tried to put a little intention in how I wrapped the strings. I certainly am not the first (or ten thousandth) to do so, but I did really like the way they looked. Especially the older strings when I was lax on changing them. Their worn down feel was beautiful when woven together — all the different thicknesses and material in and out, with enough natural flex and resistance to manual positioning that each set of strings was a little unique.
At Kanuga this past June, the time came to change strings on site. I’d been deliberating on taking a photo of the cabin wall by itself, but I realized that what I really needed was to make a photo of the strings on the wall. The contrast of the organic wall with the two nails (which have been there since who knows when) and the metal circles all came together very well in a late afternoon long exposure (I believe it was 2 seconds at f/11).
I am grateful of my history at Kanuga. I’ve been going there twenty years this summer, and it continues to be as formative then as it was that first year. I’ve almost always stayed in the #30–36 cabins and the textured green walls are as familiar as my own skin. I’m pleased with this image, as a remembrance of a quiet time and place in the midst of a hectic life.
Using the camera as a tool to record a staged event is of mixed regards, and the tension of still life vs more “street” or “organic” compositions still goes back and forth in my own aesthetic. However, I do believe that it is possible to create a clearer statement of place and/or time by layering objects deliberately and then recording that content than by waiting and hoping to chance upon arrangements that speak the same. If we are to have clarity of our memories and our recollections, we must be able to express those same through whatever tools we have available.
Now, an interesting step further is that I left the strings there on the wall. If another photographer was to come onto the porch and see those strings and make an image, they would have the opposite reasoning for doing so — their recording of a found formation as opposed to my intentional creation. Would they feel any connection to my work? Would their prints be at all related to mine of the same scene? Maybe next time I visit Kanuga they will still be there and I can investigate, at least contrasting my own establishing vs finding work.
French Broad Chocolate Lounge, Asheville. June 2014.
- French Broad Chocolate Lounge, June 2014. FP4+ 1
- French Broad Chocolate Lounge, June 2014. FP4+ 2
- French Broad Chocolate Lounge, June 2014. FP4+ 3
- French Broad Chocolate Lounge, June 2014. FP4+ 4
- French Broad Chocolate Lounge, June 2014. FP4+ 5
- French Broad Chocolate Lounge, June 2014. FP4+ 6
We had an extended visit to Western North Carolina in June, and one of the stops was the always fantastic French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Great coffee, great treats.
Shot with the Mamiya 645 Pro TL and expired FP4+ 220 film.