Chemical Pictures - It's Finished!

Well, I didn't provide salvation for mankind, but I did finish my book, DVD, and web site.

After an inordinate amount of time, money and obstacles, the Chemical Pictures book, DVD and web site is ready for prime time (opening next week - July 20 - Summer's 17th birthday).

I'm elated, but at the same time, relieved. This has been a trying task, to say the least. While I understand that it's not perfect, I am very happy with it. If I had a couple of lifetime's and all of the resources I needed at my disposal, I could probably do a better job, but this will be fine for now. I think the users will be happy with it, too.

I'm most excited to hear what people think. About half of the content is malleable - at least the web site portion - so if users have suggestions for making it better, I'm going to listen. It's dynamic, too. I will do monthly video podcasts on a wide variety of Collodion topics. The technical forum board (yes, another one) will be active as well - but without the "noise" you get on public boards.

My biggest hope is that the students of my system will understand what I've put together here and maximize the opportunity to have access to a live, dynamic learning system. I hope that they will see the value of spending time with each video, each chapter in the book and ultimately really grasp the process and moreover, enjoy it.

The web site opens on Monday, July 20, 2009 and the book and DVD begins shipping the first week in August.

National Resonator Guitar (Dobro)

Okay, I'll probably regret this - but what the hell - this is a snippet of me "hacking up" Mississippi Fred's, "You Gotta Move" today. It's a beautiful song - check it out here by The Stones.

I'll get better (timing, rhythm, notes, slide), just give me some time. This isn't something I share a lot of (for good reason). Please,  no nasty email!

I do enjoy pounding on this thing - it's very therapeutic for me. Sometimes, I can hit stuff that would give you chills, albeit only a note or slide or two, but it sounds great. Little riffs of Delta (super-swampy) metallic blues. This is my next big life project - I want to play in the streets, at parties, for friends, etc. I'll get there.

National guitars are known for having great tone and are all around sweet instruments.

(I took it down - someday, I may post another one).

Value, What Does It Mean To You?

I've been thinking a lot about value lately. The other night on NPR, there was a program about how Americans have lost the ability to discern what value is - they are confusing it with cheap.

It was based on buying cheap products that we know are "disposable" They used Ikea's business model as an example. That's no surprise, we've been trained to do that. Our options today are top-shelf (expensive) stuff or Wal-Mart. There's nothing that's well made for a reasonable cost available to us. At least not like the previous two options. I think our grandparents knew what value was (at one time). We've all been trained to buy cheap - get it as cheap as we can - use it and throw it away. We don't even look for quality - we look for cheap.

Quinn and his National Resonator Guitar aka, DobroIt got me thinking about photography. Photography has changed so much over the last 10 years, it's hardly recognizable to me. I don't want to sound like I'm stuck in 1851, or that I'm a Luddite, because I'm neither. My thoughts go to the word value, again. I wonder what's happened to "cheapen" photography so much?

Susan Sontag wrote that all photographs are meaningless and have no value. This was based on her belief that because we're inundated with so much imagery every day, it all becomes a big, blurry, meaningless mess. We are quick to dismiss images, or ignore them - I know I am. And Summer's (my daughter) generation seems to be far worse. This worries me and it also tells me that I can share some valuable information with those young whipper-snappers (as he reaches for his cane)!

When I'm out doing my "performances" there are some obvious things happening. There's a big wooden camera/brass lens and a portable darkroom set up - these are unique, not often seen items that draw attention. Moreover, there's something tangible in watching me "perform" and listening to my stories. They see quality, dedication and passion. They hear the narrative of photography - it gives meaning to them, even to the ubiquitous digital image.

The result of the "performance" is extraordinary, or special, to their eye (the image itself) mind and heart. Photography is universal, everyone understands the basic concept of what I'm doing, but I believe they recognize the value of what I'm doing.

And lastly, please don't think that the images I posted have any value - I just wanted to expose you to another set of meaningless images today.

Höchster Schloßfest Portraits

We setup near the tower there on the river - Main River, Frankfurt.Yesterday we were sitting under large Chestnut trees (Kastanienbaum) next to the Main River in Frankfurt, Germany eating peaches and souvlaki (yes, I said peaches and souvlaki).
 
It felt unbelievably good. It's been a long time since I've felt that kind of peace and "rightness". Do you know what I mean? Being in the right place at the right time and doing absolutely nothing.
 

I've said this before and will say it again - Europeans know how to relax and they have an understanding of what "community" means. This seems to be lost on Americans. I'm a little anxious about returning to the states. I'm trying to be present to what I have here. I'm trying to be "in the moment", feel everything and experience as much as I can.

It was a big day for the Höchster Schloßfest (Castle Festival). We were on opposite side of the river, normally, we setup where you see the white tents in this photo.

 We were given some artwork and a bottle of (private stock) Riesling wine yesterday by our artist friends. It was very kind of them (thanks again!). One of them, Mirjam, brought a catalog of an exhibition that was in Frankfurt a few years ago. All of the images were Dags, Calotypes, and Collodion. There were some beautiful Albumen prints! It's called, "Frühe Photographie im Rhein-Main-Gebiet 1839-1885" I'm going to buy a copy. You can see Mirjam's portrait in my June 22, 2009 blog.

I didn't do a lot of portraits yesterday, but the ones I did I'm happy with. I also made a negative of the the huge Chestnut tree we were setup near. I really like the feel of the image. Although, I consider myself a portrait photographer, I do like to make images (now and then) of nature.

  Chestnut Tree by the Main River in Frankfurt - Wet Collodion Negative.

After I made a few images, we packed everything up in the Toyota and wandered around the fest for a while. We had a beer, Apfelschorle, Rindwurst and an Eis. It was a very nice day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Uwe - Frankfurt, Germany Uwe mit zig - Frankfurt.

I Am A Sensitive Artist – John S. Hall

John S. Hall - PoetThe poet, John S. Hall is the author my favorite poem. Summer had his book out last night and I felt compelled to share it here (for future reference).

This poem makes me smile ear to ear and sometimes I just crack up laughing when I read it. I know people that would wear this like a glove. For me, it sums up the pretentious attitude and bullshit that some artists buy into. It’s almost like a religious chant for the fundamental cult of artists.

I am a sensitive artist...

I am a sensitive artist.
Nobody understands me because I am so deep.
In my work I make allusions to books that nobody else has read,
Music that nobody else has heard,
And art that nobody else has seen.
I can't help it
Because I am so much more intelligent
And well-rounded
Than everyone who surrounds me.

I stopped watching tv when I was six months old
Because it was so boring and stupid
And started reading books
And going to recitals
And art galleries.
I don't go to recitals anymore
Because my hearing is too sensitive
And I don't go to art galleries anymore
Because there are people there
And I can't deal with people
Because they don't understand me.

I stay home
Reading books that are beneath me,
And working on my work,
Which no one understands

I am sensitive...
I am a sensitive artist...

Höchst, Deutschland: Portraits On The River

We loaded up and headed up to (north of us) Frankfurt yesterday (Sunday). It was cool and a rained a little bit. The rain has never stopped me from making photographs in the past so I set up and enjoyed the day.

It was the start of the Höchster Schloßfest in Höchst (suburb of Frankfurt). Every two weeks, during the summer, I try to meet with a small group artists (mostly painters) on the big river for Montmartre am Main. It's a beautiful area and there are usually a lot of people interested in what we're doing.

I think I know what I love most about doing this now - it's the "performance" and sharing. While the images are beautiful and I would never minimize that, the thing that I get the most joy from is the excitement and interest of the community. It's beautiful to watch people become totally engaged in my world, with no distractions and nothing pre-occupying them. They're removed from the stress of the world and completely absorbed in the art and performance of photography. That is incredibly satisfying to me. It's like giving a gift and experiencing the happiness, excitement and joy that the receiver pushes back over to you. Anyway, I'm waxing Collodion now.. here are the portraits:


Klaus - 4x5 Alumitype - June 21, 2009


Mirjam - 4x5 Alumitype June 21, 2009


Christian - Whole Plate Alumitype June 21, 2009


Team Q! Rockin' Frankfurt on the river!

1st Annual European Collodion Festival & Bièvre Photo Fair 2009

Amazing, and very fun! I’m gob smacked! Paris was magnificent!

I’ll start by thanking everyone that made the journey for the 1st Annual European Collodion Festival:

Carl and Liz from Glasgow, Scotland
Rebecca and Marti from Barcelona, Spain
Alexei from St. Petersburg, Russia
Dmitry, and Tamara from Moscow, Russia
Stefan and Mario from Vienna, Austria
Indra and Bart from Maastricht, The Netherlands
Eddie from New York, USA


There were my regular photo friends there from Brussels, Gent and Paris. I made some new friends, too. I met Vincent earlier in the day. He’s from Paris and was very interested in getting started in the Wet Plate Collodion process and Joe (an American) that’s been living in Paris for 20 years or so. What a great group of people! I’m honored to know each one.

We arrived in Saclay, France (hotel) Friday afternoon. About 1PM. Carl and Liz had a bump and got stuck on a train and a train station and didn’t get to the hotel until after 4PM. We decided to go into Paris even though it was later than we had planned. After a “sardine in an oven” like ride on the train, we got to where we could jump on the Metro and ended up at the Eiffel Tower at about 7:15PM. We had a dinner date at Martin Becka’s house at 8PM, so we only hung out at the tower for a little while. We jumped into a taxi and headed to Martin’s house. 

It was a lovely evening talking, laughing, eating, drinking and looking at Martin’s new project; cityscapes of Dubai – 16”x20” paper negatives (Calotypes) printed onto an Albumen-like paper – wow! These things were amazing! Martin is a great guy and a wonderful artist/photographer. His wife, Sophie, made us a delicious French meal of beef, vegetables, potatoes, ice cream/fruit, bread, and the cheese! OMG, makes my mouth water thinking about the cheese. Oh, and yes, we drank a few bottles of wine – I counted seven or eight – maybe more. They know how to live – are you listening my American brothers and sisters?

Saturday we slept in. In the early afternoon, we met a lot of the group for lunch in Bièvre. The shopping and consuming of large brass lenses and old wooden cameras started early on Saturday. There was quite a bit of good Wet Plate Collodion stuff, but I really didn’t have time to shop and negotiate with the sellers. I did see some nice stuff though. After lunch we found my booths and started setting up. We used one side for an exhibition space and the other side for the “Collodion Performance” (making plates). In a perfect world, we could have been a bit more  organized – timetables, literature in French (oops) and a tad bit more space. We’re sorting things out for next year – it will be spot on! We had work out Saturday for people to look at and we just kind of relaxed and talked. We had a nice meal and some drinks and headed back to the room for an early Sunday morning.

At 7AM Sunday (Sunday Morning Coming Down), we arrived with the Toyota loaded with camera, dark-box, chemicals, plates, head-brace, etc. to unload at the booths. The only people there were Carl, Liz, Jeanne, Summer and I. We unloaded and setup everything. We were making plates by 9AM. As the light changed throughout the day, it was quite easy to adjust exposure and bounce the light a little bit. I’m not sure how many plates I made, but several of them were taken away and I have 12 plates at home (to be varnished and sent to the sitters). So, I’m guessing close to 20, maybe even more. It was a lot of fun, but like I said, some better organization would help a lot. I have two images that I kept for my collection. These are posted here.

Around noon, Laura (event organizer) came by and said that I had been awarded something and I needed to meet near the county building at 12:30PM. Carl took over the booth with Summer and Liz. Jeanne and I headed to the award ceremony. They gave out about 5 awards and then I heard my name and went up and they gave me a medal, a certificate that says, “Grand Prix de Bièvre”, two wonderful photography books, a tripod, camera bag, etc, etc. a lot of stuff! It was very nice. At some point, I’m sure they will update their web site with the information, too. You can see a small video below – thanks Jeanne!

Along with the award, I was offered at least one exhibition (maybe two) and two workshops in Paris. And, I was offered an article in Photo magazine (Paris). Not to mention a nice spot at the fair next year, too – we’re looking forward to it!

Thanks again to everyone for making this a wonderful memorable event! Merci Beaucoup!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post Script: I had one bad thing happen on the trip. I didn’t pack this image well enough and it fell out of the packing while we were walking into the hotel. It hit the ground and shattered – it kind of made me sick, but I got over it. I may glue it back together again. That’s what happens when you make photographs on glass, sometimes they break! 

I will post of the portraits I made tomorrow in a different blog.

Collodion Images For Paris

I’m taking this image (below) and some 1/2 plate (CGAs) I made when I lived in the states, to Bievres (Paris). We’re going to do a small exhibition/show there – we should have about five or six people showing work (maybe more).

I like this image a lot (Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotype). I also like how this presentation of it exaggerates, or esteems the content (some would say it contradicts). I actually glued (epoxy) the BGA to the black glass in the frame. If you wanted to remove it without damaging the image, you could.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but I do. The distressed image is a nice contrast to the frame and the color/tone of the image matches the frame as well. It conflicts and disorients me, and I like that kind of feeling.

This will be for sale at the show. I’m looking forward to hearing what people think about the work and the Wet Plate Collodion process.

This piece was later reframed and sold at the "Glass Memories" exhibition.