The Concrete Muse/ Week of 02/25/2013: All Mechanical, All Analog Capture

One of my drawing teachers, Charles Eldred, used to say, “What’s bothering you will find its way into the work.” I do believe this. Lately, the seemingly nonsensical has been tugging on my shirttail.

Location: Near Broad and Chestnut

Image Size: 14.4” x 9.7” @240 DPI

Camera: Nikon F without meter

Exposure: Guesstimate, f8 @ 1/125

Lens: Nikkor 35-70 Zoom

Film: Tri-X @ISO 200

Dev. HC110 1:49 one stop pull—6.5 minutes at 68F


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The Concrete Muse, Week of 02/18/2013

Location: 22^nd and South

Camera:    Canon SD600 Digital Elph

Image Size: 9” x 12” @240 dpi

Conversion from color jpeg done in Photoshop

Proof: Quadtone Rip, Epson 3880 on Canon Pixma II paper,

The essential question this week has been how many layers can I put on, still move, and maintain an ongoing concentration? I really enjoy studying the subject and considering the options. Its not unusual for me to use my fingers to make a frame to see what kind of composition something might make, or I casually raise the camera to my eye just to see how the lens frames things, but not necessarily to snap an image. However, sometimes working quickly, impulsively and without conscious mediation is an advantage. In this case it was. I saw the Leonardo, the gargoyle and the reflections in the window of an oriental carpet store that is in my neighborhood. I pulled out the point-n-shoot digital I sometimes carry, took a quick shot and headed home. I had been out for hours and was blind to my subject, at least consciously. 

When I made the print, I was both intrigued and put a bit on edge. I kept on telling myself I should have shot it with more care and consideration and I should have pulled out the superior film camera. Even though I think most modern photographs are over-sharp, I always want more depth and detail in my images. Attempts to revisit the “crime” scene proved fruitless; what I had captured was a one-time event.

I think there are many lessons to be learned from this. For one, anything worth photographing is worth doing with best instrument possible. I have since banished the little point-n-shoot from my camera bag. Photographs are, for the most part, moments of convergence that are not repeatable. This is a large reason why they interest me. Too, one has to learn to let go and move forward. Philadelphia is full of fascinating things that await a visual conversation.

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Week of 02/11/2013: The Last of Ortlieb's Brewery

Location: Site of former Orlieb’s Brewery, near 3r^d and American Streets.

Camera: Superheadz Black Slim Devil

Lens: 22mm

Film: Tri-X

Develop: HCll0 1:49 for 200 ISO rating-6.5 minutes

Scan: Epson V500

Proof: Epson 3880 using Quad-Tone Rip*

Paper: Canon Pixma II Gloss for proof, Museo Silver Rag for final.

Part of the mysterious power that the urban landscape possesses for the camera is that it is ephemeral and ever changing. I knew this site would soon be seeing the wrecker’s ball to remove the last structures, so back in October I got my licks in. Desolate spots hold for me a special photographic appeal and there was nary a soul around.

*Quad-Tone Rip is a program I’m really enjoying. It controls the printer directly for black and white printing and allows the user to bypass all the mumbo-jumbo of the Epson print procedure. Common printer profiles are built in, others you can create them. (Something, which I haven’t done as yet.)  The software will work with conventional Epson cartridges but it was designed for Cone Piezographic (archival carbon) inks, something that I am planning on setting up in the near future. 

02 04 2013: The Space In-Between

Location: 22^nd and Pine Street vicinity

Camera: Superheadz Black Slim Devil

Lens: Superfat 22mm, plastic, most likely a doublet.

Exposure: f8@ 1/125 approx

Film: Tri-X 35mm

Develop: HCll0 1:49, 6.5min at 68F

Scan: Epson V500

Proof: Epson 3880 on Canon Photo Glossy II

This shot was in many ways un-meditated. I had framed the scene zooming out to 35mm and it just didn't seem to cut it. Though I could tell the light was far from optimal for a toy camera with a slow lens and high shutter speed, I took a chance.  What happens at the point of capture is fairly incomprehensible and, as I’ve found, like lightening, it rarely strikes twice in the same place. The moments captured by the camera are not just optical phenomena. I’m not even sure exactly where this was taken, but chances are I won’t get to re-shoot. It’s the fine surprises, like this one, when the unconscious and the capture device have entered into cahoots, which keep me shooting day in and day out and walking miles in the cold. 

Week of 01/28/2013: Blame it on Nipper!

“Much nonsense is divinest sense.”-Emily Dickinson

I remember in graduate school trying to articulate in a critique (and badly I may say) that I was interested in creating on canvas the same kind of feel that a 78rpm record can engender—the way the sound emerges from a noisy maelstrom.  I believe I was trying to recapture a childhood memory of listening to obsolete shellac discs-- possibly that first awareness that there was something bigger, fuller, more interesting, and (probably more dangerous) out there; more than I had imagined my future could be.

I never did figure out how to create that kind of haunting resonance in paint (though I tried and failed repeatedly), yet that center did not vanish. It’s the background jumble, the disorder, the big mess, and the nonsense that attracts my sensibilities. I’m watching the kitchen door as it were and finding it much more interesting than the parade out front. 

Last week I rambled into Fairmount. I nearly passed this one by, perhaps because I fear repeating myself. When I shoot film, I find I’m much more selective about what I photograph. I slow down (even more!) and really examine what’s in the viewfinder and think about what the final print may look like, yet something told me “Go ahead.” 

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Title: Dangling Conversation

Size: 8” x 12” @240 dpi

Location: 19^th and Spring Garden vicinity

Camera: Nikon F100

Lens: 35-70mm Nikkor Zoom

Film: Kodak Portra 400, 35mm color

Develop: Lab

Scan: Epson V500 (scanned as black and white)

Adjustments and slight crop in Photoshop

Printer: Epson 3880

Proof: Canon Pixma Glossy II

Week of 12/24/2012: South Philadelphia Rambles

1800 Block of Iseminger Street, South Philadelphia:

Odd empty spaces, Philly has many, especially between buildings; neglected accesses where time seems to stand still. Often, these spots appear drab and undistinguished. I like to think they are simply waiting ever-patiently for the right light and atmosphere so they can, at last, reveal their stories.

The day I shot this was a long, fantastic jaunt in the urban landscape yielding many images where the power of nature seemed to be smiling down on me.  I revel in such good fortune but don’t count on such luck, making mental notes of places I need to check out again. This will definitely be a spot to revisit.

Tech:

Camera:    Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2, Olympus Digital Micro 4/3 14-42 zoom.

Exp:          ISO 200 @f14, shutter speed, not recorded, approximately 2 stops under meter.

File size:   11” x 16” @240 dpi

Proofed:    Epson 3880 on Moab Lasal 235 Paper

Other:       Slight perspective correction and cropping as well as contrast/value

 adjustments and conversion to b&w in Photoshop; much masking done by hand.        

Week of 12/17/12, The Concrete Muse: Northeast Philadelphia/ Medium Format Love/ New Etsy Store!

A first photographic immersion into a country, a city, or a neighborhood is always problematic. I haven’t the temperament of a photojournalist and I don’t like feeling like a tourist. My desire is always to spend time, lots of time, and really start to let a place sink in. If I ever photograph a city like Paris, I’ll have to go and live there first.

My Philadelphia is much like William Penn’s; it ranges as far as I can walk on a good day. Occasionally, I enjoy the modern-day luxury, usually on the return home, furnished by the Market-Frankford Line or The Broad Street Subway. The Northeast is beyond my usual perimeter. Having occasion to be there a few weeks ago, I decided to make a day of it, riding to the end of the El and then walking around.

I was not prepared for the landscape. It was so spread out, so bleak and so uniform. I’m told it was developed en-mass after WWII and it certainly has a kind of cookie-cutter look. There was certainly an interesting mix of people and cultures there, but where was the evidence in the landscape? I puzzled over how I could ever capture it or what there really was to fix on film. Off the beaten path and in back of what seemed like an endless strip-mall sprawl, I shot this one, solitary frame. 

Tech:

Film: Tri-X  120 rated at ISO 200

Exposure: by guess, approx. f8 @125

Developer: HC110 1:49, 6.5 min (-20%, 1 stop) at 68F 30 seconds initial agitation,

two inversions every 30 seconds thereafter.

Scan: Epson V500

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Etsy Store! I now have a selection of  hand-proofed archival prints, including this one, up for sale. They range from inexpensive postcard sizes up to very reasonably priced 12 x 16's.

I will be adding more in the coming weeks.

Etsy: Click here! 

Cheers,

RA