Head colds and Swiss abstract equalls fresh ideas

There is a common thread to these images besides their simplicity.

Alaska is creeping steadily toward that darkest day of the year as the snow piles up and the thermometer plummets down, I find this to be the toughest time of year to find inspiration to begin new projects. Weddings and senior photos are largely over with and family photos for this seasons Christmas cards are winding down. Typically this is the time of year that one relishes in not moving to much and enjoying some much earned downtime. Unfortunately (or not) inspiration has decided to not depart me in this dark season and demanded that I heed the call or forfeit sleep.

Marlboro Ultra Light

Being a visual artist I tend to tell stories that revolve around subjects that have a sense of visual dynamic. I have never attempted to communicate an abstract thought visually but lately have felt compelled to do exactly that. For the record I enjoy all forms of art, but I find it hard to really appreciate art that appears lazy or overly pretentious.  Maybe this is why I have avoided this as it is so easily done poorly.  Abstract work of Paul Klee has always fascinated me by its  apparent minimalism but visual power and presence of placement. Equally true is the work of Irving Penn and his still life's of every day objects observed in such a way as to inspire the viewer anew.

In no way am I comparing myself to these masters of minimalism, just simply stating where visual inspiration for a project based on very simple visual cues is heralding from. My idea started with a miserable head cold caught on returning from Germany, then purchasing of cold medicine and finally debating with my wife if my beloved Klee print would hang in the living room. The idea would not leave even when the cold departed, or the print was voted to stay. I simply had to get the idea out of my head.......this is the joy of being an artist and the pain. We also tend to get away with dramatic statements that a less creative person would be ridiculed for.

Ruger Sp 101 in .357 Magnum, my sidearm of choice

Well yes, winter has its advantages.

These are some outtakes from the sessions in my studio this past weekend. I will be posting the full project next month. The idea is now out of my head and into my hard drives, may sleep return or inspiration anew.

Trial and Error with big cameras

10 Plates exposed, only one produced a usable image, my note book and scribbles about producing ferrotypes.

Unfettered optimism, I’ve been accused of a lot of things, but this is certainly not one of them. Why is it then that I’m surprised when I try something for the first time and fail? Where does this ungrounded confidence come from? I love trying new things and experimenting with different creative processes, and I’m surprised when I fail to achieve stellar results on the first attempt. Probably too many hours spent as being an armchair cowboy and not enough actually in the saddle.

This is why I love Analog photography and the whole process associated with it, it never stops being a challenge and requires far more dedication to achieve passable results versus digital. I love digital, when I need something now, and have to ensure it is the best I can produce quickly……it is digital. But, when I have the time and need to get away from our world of glowing rectangles….bring me analog. I have been learning the art of large format film photography over the last couple years and finally finished my first project “Titans of Industry”. After a couple months off, it was time to get the big cameras out again and go back to square one. This time I decided to learn dry plate Tintype or Ferrotype photography in the 4”x5” format which uses thin metal and special chemicals to produce a positive image directly from the camera. Why would I leap technologically backwards again, because the journey of discovery and trial and error is far more enjoyable to me than buying photoshop actions.

Supplies: Rockaloid Bulk Tintype kit, everything you need to get started (sans camera supplies)
The tin plates arrive pre coated black so all you need to do is trim it to fit in 4x5 film holders if you are using them.

Trimming Plates to fit 4x5 film holders

Prep: Next is the fun part, coating the plates in a darkroom with Ag Plus emulsion. Learning curve time. Put too much on them and they produce foggy, crystallized images, not enough and you don’t get no image. How much you ask? Just enough….12 frames later, I have only one passable image and nothing clear. Pour a spot in the middle and then roll it around quickly to cover the plate, but you don’t want any extra thick areas that show up “white”, you are aiming for a consistent thin covering turning the black metal a light gray. Not surprisingly, this is really difficult and I’m still working on figuring this part out.




Exposure: “Expose like photo paper, not film”—Jill Enfield offered me this advice. My first batch I exposed at ISO 20 and failed to get an image, so taking Jill’s advice I lowered my exposure to ISO 8. I use a Sekonic 358 light meter for exposure times and a little Kentucky windage as well.

Rolling the emulsion onto the plate for even coverage.

Drying emulsion covered plates

Gear: Tin doesn’t fit in standard film holders, it is too thick. I picked my worst condition film holders and used a regular screw driver to expand the film rails on both sides giving me more clearance. I use needle nose pliers wrapped in electrical tape to extricate the plates….not pretty but it works.

Graflex Speed Graphic with 178mm Aero Ektar and JoLo custom add ons

Camera: Modified Graflex Speedgraphic with tilt and shift.
Lenses: Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm F2.5 also a 5” Brass Petzval f4 (can be modified to a meniscus)
Tripod: Huge bogen that nobody would dare steal
Light: Impact Fluorescent head with 30” Octobox –so far exposures need to be doubled or tripled versus what the meter says. This is probably due to the lack of blue spectrum that the emulsion is sensitized to.

Another 10 plates, this is my first keeper, black bear skull with notes. Everything dies, not everything becomes a trophy.

Hiking and Kayaking in Cassis

Sunset on the Med at the Port of Cassis

Port Miou

Our perception of the environment we travel through has much to do with our chosen mode of transportation. When leaving the Dordogne Valley we traveled by bus (since the rail station was unexpectedly closed we traveled more specifically by school bus) on a road that wound its way along the same stretch of river we had been paddling. From this view higher up the valley wall, the river appeared surrounded by houses and very much domestic and boring, but the river we knew from the kayak was just the opposite. We rarely saw houses from the river and when we did they were large, chateau’s built upon hilltops and ridgelines. The river we experienced was wild and appeared much the same as it has for eons, a clear waterway teaming with fish and very few people outside the villages. The two different perspectives are both correct, the river is at once remote and pristine and surrounded by farms, only the viewers perspective changed. I prefer the river we knew intimately, full of fish that alternated pebbled bottoms and limestone cliffs above and below the water line. All too often we rush from one place to the next and forget that the journey in between really grounds our perspective. My misfortune of getting pick pocketed in the Paris Metro threw our travels plans into chaos and caused us to miss the “highlights” of our journey, but we experienced many more different and equally important moments as a result.

Hiking the Calanques

 From the Perigord Region we traveled south to the Corte de Azure (blue coast) to get my passport
replaced at the Marseille consulate or suffer Paris again. We had originally planned on skipping the bustle of Marseille but now we had to spend a day in the town and far from expectations, it was quite enjoyable. We took in the fish markets on the docks, the citadel overlooking the harbor and even managed to convince my wife to buy some clothes. Truth be told, our closet is 75% mine and getting her to buy clothes is an accomplishment. Marseille is a large port city that has a reputation for being rough (and is deserved). After we left the consulate with my temporary passport, several hundred demonstrators were gathering down the street at a government building, which was being defended by riot police in batman like armor. Whatever was going to happen hadn’t begun but was heating up and the police brought in another 15 vehicles including armored personal carriers. We didn’t let curiosity get the better of us and headed out of town and back the sleepy village of Cassis. In the train station, police and military personnel with rifles were stationed everywhere and detaining young men. Several people exited trains to be only be detained by police soldiers, some were interrogated on the spot and others subdued and taken away. Heads down, cameras stowed, we found our commuter train and got out of Dodge while the getting was good.

Main beach in Cassis

Arriving back in Cassis felt like coming home, the crescent shaped village spread out below the train
station begins at the water line and crawls up the slopes where vineyards replace houses. Cassis is a
small port that has existed for millenia because of the limestone rich cliffs and Calanques (small fjiord) that make natural harbors. Limestone could be quarried and loaded directly to the ships in the protected waters cutting out the laborious overland transportation. Shipwrecks from before Christ litter the bottom of the Calanques with goods from all points of the Mediterranean trade routes, the local museum houses many of these treasures and maritime artifacts and is worth a visit. These white cliffs draw the tourist hordes in Cassis at 10am and they head strait for the waiting boats to take them on a calanque tour which is shorter than a French lunch date and they can check that off their list of places visited. We approached it with our usual zest for activity in warm weather, slow, human powered locomotion.

Our fist venture out was to hike the first two calanques, and get a bird’s eye view of Cassis. The first
calanque is Port Miou which has served as a natural harbor for at least 2000 years and is still home to
many small craft. Port Pin is next and does not have any permanent anchorages but many boats lie to in designated spaces for transient craft. These calanque walls range from 100 to about 300 feet tall and are the Mediterranean as I always envision it. White cliffs dotted with ancient pines twisted by the constant winds that combine the scent of pine and ocean to produce a scent that causes one to instantly become content and unhurried. We did our best to honor this region’s lethargy with lunch picnics and regional red and white wines to accompany our outings.

Launching the Super Lynx at Port Miou

Our swimming hole and favorite picnic spot.

Side street bakery in Cassis

Dinner in Cassis

 To gain further appreciation we put our kayak together and ventured out from Port Miou to explore
the region by sea. The Aire Super lynx was lightly loaded and performed like a champ even in heavy
wake from the cursed floating cattle cars full of tourists. Our perspective of the calanques was of quiet beauty, with clear waters containing clouds of sardines and limestone cliffs that disappeared into azure waters. Caves dot the waterline and coves provided our kayak with perfect spots for resting our arms and straining our necks. The only difficulty was trying not to get vertigo looking straight up from the kayak to the top of the cliffs more than 500 feet above us. We lunched on the beach at En Vau followed by a swim and resting before heading back to Cassis at a leisurely pace in the sun. We landed on the main beach near the port to rinse the salt water off everything and enjoy a cold beer while drying everything out in the sun.

Our days in Cassis followed much the same pattern, early morning breakfast at an open air café, picnic lunch on the beach or cliffs then afternoon naps on the beach. Can you explore Cassis in a day….yes, if you have too. But, to rush a sleepy village that has rebuilt itself time and again through the ages is to commit heresy. What would your perspective be: tour bus, packed boat, visit a shop or two along the water front and finally hustle out of town. Yes, we live in a busy world where you can take around the world tours on private jets and “see” the worlds wonders in a week, but what does that add to your life other than to say “I’ve been there”. That is it, you’ve been there, check it off the list. Travel should be about the experience and being apart of a place, not just a check list.

Typical French Breakfast

Cassis streets leading down to the Port