Self Portrait: Collodion & DNA

I have a couple of really important goals that I want to accomplish in the next few months. One of them is to make work for my project, exhibition and book.

I thought I would get creative with my time and my commitments. We are leaving Thursday for ten days and wanted to post the October Video Podcast on Chemical Pictures before we left. I also had an image in mind that I've wanted to make for a few weeks. I thought, why not make a few plates, create an image for my project and cover the podcast, too? So that's what I did today.

These image are about numbers, labeling, skulls & sockets, history, evilness, genetics and otherness. I distressed plate #3 a little bit. I varnished it shortly after making this copy and it cleaned up quite a bit - I was a little disappointed about that but I still like the image. I look so different in each image, it trips me out a wee bit.

It took four plates to get two that I really like.

"Self Portrait #3 - Jewish DNA" - 8"x10" Alumitype - Viernheim, Germany 2009 
Self Portrait #1 With Y-DNA Sequence Backwards (written by hand)

Today is Yom HaShoah

Yom HaShoah is a day of remembrance for the six million Jewish people who died in the Holocaust, and a range of events take place. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. On the evening beforehand, there is a state ceremony at the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Authority, Yad Vashem. At 10am on the day of Yom HaShoah, air-raid sirens are sounded and people stop what they are doing to think of and pay respect to those who died. Places of public entertainment are closed and flags on public buildings are flown at half mast.

Jews who were classified as "not fit to work" waiting in a grove outside Crematorium IV before they were to be gassed.

186 Steps in the "Stairs of Death" in the Mauthausen Quarry

The Mauthausen concentration camp was a Class III camp where prisoners classified as "Return undesired" were sent. It was a punishment camp where the inmates had to do hard time in a granite rock quarry. Those on the punishment detail had to carry granite boulders up steep stairs on their backs – the stairs are known as “The Stairs of Death”.

There is a sign (in German) at the bottom of the stairs that reads:

Here worked prisoners of various nationalities. With disregard of even the most primitive safety precautions, and with complete brutality, extreme work performance was demanded of the prisoners.

Here one had the best possibility to liquidate prisoners in the fastest manner. With a boulder weighing often up to 50 kg on the shoulder, while being forced to run through the quarry under constant beatings, the victim soon collapsed only to die in some corner unaided. (thanks Elke).

This leads into the quarry. You can see the distorted Menorah at the top quarry. This is where the camp is – to the left, is where I made the plate below. 
     "186 Steps of Death" - Mathausen Death Camp - 8"x10" Black Glass Ambrotype      

Mauthausen is a beautiful area, this absurd and evil thing takes all of that beauty away for me.

This was even more disturbing than Dachau in some ways. Being worked to death and used for profit adds a dimension of evil that exceeds simple execution. Don’t get me wrong, we walked through the gas chambers here and saw the table where they removed skin with tattoos and gold teeth, too. There were several places where they murdered the victims, hanged them, shot them, gassed them, and tortured them. Mauthausen has it all and then some. I will never look at granite the same way again in my life.

I didn’t make any photos inside the concentration camp. Only this 8x10 wet plate in the quarry and the color digital images outside of the camp.

Tracks Headed East

A sense of urgency overtook me today and I was able to get a couple of important photographs made. I'm exhausted right now, but elated. While I call everything an experiment, it's not exactly true. For now, however, I'm calling the work experimental.

The "train tracks" image below is something I've been meaning to try for a while. Most all of the tracks here were used, at least in some part, to transport Jews and other undesirables to either bigger train stations or directly to the concentration camps. My friend, Caron, mentioned that I should look at making some images like this - I couldn't agree more.

The feeling I get when I look at this empty, quiet image is one of anxiety. I'm waiting for a train to rip through this space headed east (the direction of this image) with cars full of people going to their death. Although, it doesn't look like it, I was very close to the tracks. It made me a little bit nervous. I shot this with my new (old) CC Harrison portrait lens - wide open - what a neo-pictorialist, huh? I was lucky to find a spot where I had access to the tracks (and schlep all of my Scheise to it). Sometimes, it's difficult doing these kinds of things. I was thinking about how I would probably be arrested in the United States for doing this... you know the whole terrorist scare thing. No one was around when I made the images. It was out of the way and "in between" towns.

"Train Tracks Headed East - Bahnhof Ahead" - 29 March 2008 - 1305 - 10x8 Black Glass Ambrotype (destroyed) - Southwestern Germany (quiet countryside). 
I'm going to keep making images of memorials, tracks, and portraits (and whatever else strikes me). I'm also going to explore making images of smokestacks. All of these symbols are very powerful to me. I have no idea how all of this is translating, or will translate, but I'll keep making images, thinking out loud, writing my thoughts and ideas down and hopefully, someday put it all together.

Viernheim Synagogue Memorial & Some Project Thoughts

I can only imagine what goes through the minds of the people watching as I make photographs in the small towns and villages here.

This morning I went out to re-photograph the Synagogue memorial in the village I live in, Viernheim. They moved the memorial (I call them gravestones - they always seem to be weeping) a couple of months ago. They also included a little sitting area and bench. It's actually a lot better.

As I setup and made preparations to make a plate, several people walked by and stared - I mean stared! One old German man, maybe 70 years-old, or more, almost tripped, as he was walking by staring. He wasn't watching where he was going. I said, "Achtung, Baby!" - I wonder if he got the reference to the U2 album, probably not.

I don't mind people watching. I'm a voyeur by profession and passion. The thing that I don't is like not knowing if they're just interested, or if they're thinking, "I would prefer that this guy go away." It feels like the latter, but I'm hopeful that it's the former.

The photograph I made this morning is gone. It made me sick, but I wiped it from the plate. This is the only "evidence" that remains of the Ambrotype. What if I made this whole project like that? What if there were no plates in the entire project, only non-tangible (digital) representations? It would be a lot like the subject matter, no?

A friend/colleague emailed me the other day asked me about my thoughts on impermanence, or ephemeral art. He's working on his M.F.A. and doing some really interesting things with chalk-screen transfers. His images are only there for a short time on a chalkboard - this theme has been explored by a lot of artists, but it keeps coming back to me, time and time again. It feels like I'm not listening.

Just as the Synagogues and people were "wiped away", I think that this method may serve the project well. I first thought about breaking the glass, destroying the images, or having Germans do that in a performance. After some thought, I decided no, that's too much. However, wiping these images  from the plates, and maybe even keeping the Collodion I wipe off as residue may be the answer I've been looking for.

You have to remember, these images are extremely beautiful when you're holding them in your hand. They're a "precious artifact" in a lot of ways.  They're also a lot of work to make - a big investment in many ways -  time, money, effort, etc. So destroying them and only keeping (digital) representations creates a sense of loss for me - a lot like how I feel when I see (memorials) representations of these beautiful Synagogues (and people) that were destroyed.

I'm going to seriously explore this some more. Right now, in this moment, I feel very strongly about it.

"Destroyed Synagogue Memorial With Apartments and Playground" 8x10 Black Glass Ambrotype - 29 March 2009 - 0923, Viernheim, Germany (I flipped this positive so you can read the text) 
Notes: The memorials seem to be "weeping" every time I photograph them. The background (apartment buildings, trees, playground, etc.) appear as a painting or drawing, unreal, if you will. The gravestone seems to be emerging from a black earth - terrible and foreboding. 

Germany issues arrest warrant for Sobibor's 'Ivan the Terrible'

German authorities issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for John Demjanjuk, 88, the alleged Nazi war criminal ‘Ivan the Terrible’ suspected of killing tens of thousands of Jews in a World War II death camp.

"The accused is currently still in the United States," a court official said in a statement. "As soon as he arrives in Germany he will be questioned and tried."

Ivan the Terrible

A spokesman for the Justice Ministry told The Local, “We are looking at how this arrest warrant can be carried out. As to how, or when, I cannot say.”

If the US authorities do not expel Demjanjuk, a formal extradition request will be made.

Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk, now living in the United States, is thought to have assisted in the deaths of at least 29,000 Jews during his time in a Nazi concentration camp in Sobibor.

Demjanjuk, one of the world’s most wanted Nazi war criminals, emigrated to the US in 1950 but was extradited to Israel in 1986 after being accused of being the infamous ‘Ivan the Terrible.’

Sentenced to death in 1988 in Israel, he was released in August 1993 when Israeli judges dropped the case against him after statements by former guards collected by the KGB suggested another man was the infamous ‘Ivan the Terrible’.

Demjanjuk then returned to the city of Cleveland in the US state of Ohio where he has been living under house arrest conditions.

Six years later, the case against him was revived as evidence emerged that he had worked for the Nazis as a guard at three other death camps. He is still on a Simon Wiesenthal Centre list of the most wanted Nazi war criminals still alive.

Story from thelocal.de

Nazis Spread The Hate Around

I'm a lot more sensitive to these kinds of acts now. It's always been disgusting to me, but it's taken on a new level. It makes me want to become a full-time activist.

It's irrelevant who this kind of hate is directed toward. In the end, it all comes back on humanity. If there's anything to learn from the Holocaust (Shoah), (and for the record I don't think there is) it's that we're all responsible for these kinds of things. Indifference and ignorance being the greatest crimes. I ask myself everyday if I'm part of the problem, or part of the solution.

Destruction of a Muslim cemetery in Paris. PARIS — A Nazi swastika symbol is seen among desecrated tombs in the Muslim section of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette military cemetery near Arras, northern France, Monday Dec. 8, 2008. Officials say that several hundred tombs of Muslim soldiers who fought in World War I, have been desecrated in northern France in an act the French president denounces as "repugnant racism". The desecration comes at the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. There is no translation for the letters which mark the tombstones.(AP Photo/Michel Spingler).

Vandals desecrated at least 500 tombs of Muslim soldiers in northern France on Monday _ an act President Nicolas Sarkozy denounced as "repugnant racism."

The desecration near the town of Arras appeared timed with the start of Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday in the Muslim calendar.

The administration for the Pas-de-Calais region said the damaged tombs were in the Muslim section of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette cemetery, a well-groomed burial ground for World War I soldiers. Some had swastikas scrawled on the tombstone, others had lettering whose meaning was unclear.

There are 576 graves in the Muslim section of the cemetery, where more than 30,000 soldiers are buried.

Sarkozy, in a statement, said the "abject and revolting act" equates with "repugnant racism against France's Muslim community" and insults the memory of all World War I combatants.

"We're Cleaning Up In Hessen"

This says, "We're Cleaning Up"

It's disturbing, and scary, when I see these kinds of blatant displays of hate and racism in a country like this.

It's from a political party here called "National Democratic Party". One poll cites that the majority of the population in Germany considers the NPD to be undemocratic and damaging to the image of the country. The NPD is viewed by its opponents and the mainstream media as a de facto neo-Nazi organization. The party opposes the increasing number of non-whites, Jews, and Muslims living in Germany. Don't misunderstand me, I think they should have the right to speak and express themselves. What I worry about is the fragility of this culture and inciting the people here. This is a very fragile place that way.

This poster says, "We're Cleaning Up" and the other one says, "We're Cleaning Up In Hessen". We live in Hessen. Think about the metaphor of cleaning up as it relates to this history. And the sheep! Wow! I suppose they know their demographic.

I'm not saying that if I lived in the United States, my neighbors would be tolerant and peaceful. However, I wonder if I drove down the street in Littletown, USA if I would see something like this?

"We're Cleaning Up In Hessen!"

Fallen Leaves

Today, I tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather here in Germany. It's late October and it's sunny and 16C (55F). Perfect weather for making plates.

I pulled out a new piece of black plastic (acrylic) and went to work. I mounted my Hermagis lens and stopped it down to a number six (6) Waterhouse stop. I'm going to make an educated guess here and say that would be about an f/30. Why? It's a 15" lens and the stop #6 is about .5"  - do the math.

Anyway, I decided I wanted to work on some kind of still life/landscape image. I chose to use the stopped down lens to show infinite (or close to it) depth and detail.

I chose to photograph our cherry tree. Cherry trees symbolize death, rebirth and new awakenings (among many other things including food and ornamental uses). Our cherry tree only produces fruit every other year. This year it didn't and I missed those delicious cherries (Kirschen).

Ever since I visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin, fallen leaves remind me of the faces in the piece called, "Fallen Leaves" - I did a 20 second video while I was walking on the "faces" - it was, loud and disconcerting.

 

I wanted to explore this idea of "fallen leaves" and yet show something resilient and strong (the tree trunk). So I setup this shot.

First, I took a jug of water and I poured it on the tree trunk. I knew it would help define the "texture/scars" on the trunk and make it dark. Water, or wet things, has/have an interesting relationship with Collodion. I really like the effect of something wet or something steel with Collodion (I think it's the reflection or sheen).

Next, I made a test exposure. It was way underexposed at 8 seconds. The next exposure, I went 16 seconds, still under and finally, after three plates, made this at 40 seconds.

"Fallen Leaves" - Cherry Tree, Viernheim, Germany

It's an 8x10 "Acrylotype" (made on a piece of black plastic). I'm happy with it. I love the light. It was early enough that this portion of my yard was still in the shade. I love how the leaves are the things that pickup, and reflect, the new morning light... and the trunk, standing tall and strong. It's surrounded with darkness and "things" coming out, or even reaching out, of that darkness. It's symbolic for me.

Art Is The Enemy Of The Routine

"Adoph Hitler Strasse" - Viernheim, Germany In my (ongoing and lifelong) pursuit of defining the meaning and  purpose of art, I've come across a lot of insightful and powerful quotes. Simon Schama said something so simple and brilliant that I felt compelled to share it with you here. He said, ""Art is the enemy of the routine, the mechanical and the hum drum. It stops us in our tracks with a high voltage jolt of disturbance; it reminds us of what humanity can do beyond the daily grind. It takes us places we had never dreamed of going; it makes us look again at what we had taken for granted."

Of course, this isn't definitive (in defining art), but for me, it defines an aspect of what good art can do and some of the purpose involved in making art.

There is something to be said for being "present" in your daily life. Present to the good and to the not so good. I believe artists are highly perceptive and extremely "present" in their daily lives (sometimes too present as they go mad or sink into depression). The subtle, unnoticed details are what tell the story. Artists are very good at picking up on those and sharing their opinions or views about them. If you think about all of the mundane and superficial information we are subjected to on a daily basis, few things are really valuable. Artists have an important voice in the world, I wish more people listened.