P-P-P-P-P-P-P

Construction debris , Albemarle County

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That is:

Previous Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

It wasn't exactly the crack of dawn when I finally got out the door this morning, but it was still within the first hour and a half of early light. I'll admit it : I'm still a sucker for early and late light. I'm stuck in that aesthetic. Perhaps after another decade of working with it and around it, I'll figure out a way to expand my repertoire.

Nonetheless, I had fully intended to work with the Linhof and find a composition or two to put on sheet film. I was prepared with three cameras, six lenses, two tripod heads, a bag of film with three sheets of FP4 and half a box of Fuji quickloads. In actuality it doesn't appear as if I was unprepared. After finishing off, right beside the van, a roll of 220 that has been in the Mamiya for 5 or 6 weeks,  I headed off with the full pack and tripod. What I came back with were several point and shoot digital photos. After wandering around the new Earlysville Road/Dickerson Road intersection, a crowded black & white composition presented itself. Checked it with the cardboard viewer, set up the tripod and camera with the 210mm lens, went through my forward tilt focusing routine, calculated DOF, and headed back to the pack for a sheet of film. Wait a minute, I don't have any holders in the pack. Ooops...wait another minute, I don't have the quickloads either. All the film is still in the van, in the film bag, six or seven minutes away.

How long does it take to decide either to give up the image, or make the 15 minute round trip to fetch the film? It took me about five seconds. Not too wedded to that image, are we? This is what I got instead. And it gives me a clue as to what I should be putting together in this section of the site. I think it's going to be more immediate digital imagery that could logically be contained in a daily/occasional journal.

Really, this lesson says nothing about my preparedness, as much as it does about my poor memory. And being out of shape using the 4x5. As I learned long ago, when there are so many bits and pieces that make up the kit, most of them being required to make an image, it can be fatal to forget one piece. Several years ago I drove two hours east to Hanover County, unpacked the gear, chose my location, set up the tripod, and then realized that I didn't have the rail clamp for the Sinar. There was no point in jumping around or swearing or trying to improvise. I put everything back in the van and went looking around Richmond for a rail clamp. What a futile waste of time that was. But it taught me that I needed to create a packing list - and look at it prior to departure.

The point is that all pieces need their assigned place, and they need to be put back in that place each and every time so that they are routinely where one expects them to be when needed. At least I didn't drive away from the house without something necessary. But in this instance I had the film bag from the Sinar kit with the pack for the Linhof kit, so the film wasn't where it was supposed to be when I got on location to use the T4. It might behove me to do a mental checklist more often. 

Reception

Many thanks to all who came out last night to look at the pictures and say hello. It's been a while since I've seen some of you, so it was grand to get you there in person to look at my work. I especially want to thank Roger and Victoria for coming so far for something this slight.

 More comments later...

SOME TIME LATER... 

For those of you who were wondering, yes, 'twas I who wrote the artist's statement. Isn't that what an "artist" is supposed to do? I've been known to write a thing or two in the past. None of it has seen the glaring light of publication that these words will find. But it's also true that I've been writing and composing images on paper, with words, far longer than I have on film. It came to me several years ago when I became seriously involved with still photography that what I had been writing with my short stories all those many years ago, and even into the period of interest in cinema, were still images with some psychology peripherally associated.

William Cronon

After I posted a comment yesterday about the influence that William Cronon is having upon me, Mark Hobson at the Landscapist quoted rather extensively from Cronon's essay. My statement has a quote from the essay as well. I'm not even going to bother to quote from the essay here. Go and read it for yourself by following this link. Or read Hobson's engaging commentary.

Time & a Mind

It's not an entirely new experience, but this public showing thing hasn't happened in a number of years, so the thrill is still that - a thrill. Claire and I hung the show tonight, although I forgot to take the print that was hanging on the wall here because it wasn't stacked with all the others ready to go out the door.

 It feels good to put something out there again. I enjoy the work of making photographs - and prints on occasion - but it's putting something together like this that other people can see that makes it come together. It's part of the process of how I like to communicate. While there is definitely an end product, my expectations are low enough that it's not the product - the selling of the prints - that is the reason for putting this thing together. It's the desire to show people I know what else I do with my time and my mind.

Amongst Other Things...

After some help from tech support, the direct link to the thumbnail page works fine. It's moved down the page, but is certainly visible. Does anyone still need to be instructed to click on an image or text to start slideshows or enlarge an image?

Make it Easy For Them

By now the web site appears to function properly, and brother Roger has made a good suggestion to try to streamline the slideshow function in the gallery view of thumbnails and images. I've sent off a question to Squarespace about this and we'll see what they suggest.

Bill McCormick called yesterday after receiving the post card. He was having trouble getting on the website. This caused some concern, and a request to Roger that he confirm that all was functioning. It seems to be fine from his location. So Bill, try again. Get online before you enter the url, or something. And thanks again for the call.

Put together three more prints this afternoon, and after those it was time to do something else. Even with everything ready and right there in front of me, I can't do this for more than an hour or so. If my work table was higher and I didn't have to lean over quite so far, it might be a bit easier. Instead I'm over here fiddling with other parts. Only three more prints and frames to assemble. I can't imagine the work involved to put together 30 or 40 frames, much less the cost.

More publicity material is the thing now. Print deadlines are probably approaching fast. I'm having trouble getting the pdf of the show down to a manageable size so that people will open it. I guess I can't put all the images in the file. Encountered Twan - the owner of C'ville Coffee - on the mall Friday night peddling his Honeycakes. He mentioned something about sending pictures to the papers. His point is to do as much as possible for the section writers. I can do that.

Artist's Statement added

After some collection and inevitable repetition, weeding created something of a coherent statement about the show. It says it about as well as I can at this point. Better still, look at the photos.

Progress In Process

Putting the pieces together, a bit at a time. Learning how to make this work; gathering material...It's definitely a focus thing. Many have stated the necessity of a project to make any real progress forward with one's chosen medium. The deadline thing is an immense help to narrow the options.

 It was over two years ago that the date for this exhibit was determined. During that time, the possibilities were still endless. It wasn't until about June that the theme for the ManMadeWilderness began to come into focus. It's still rather amorphous, but this weekend should see some further development on the statement front.