Collinsville, Illinois, September 2009
Thought this might be the beginning of a new project back in September. Six months later and there’s still no project.
Or is there? Maybe I’ve been making other pictures that are part of this project, and I just didn’t know it.
Ultrasound image of a very small Fram.
The ultrasound technician wrote the “tooooo cute” part. I don’t know. He looks like a baby Skeletor to me. (That’s He-Man’s arch-nemesis. Remember He-Man?) But I’m sure he’ll be the handsomest baby in the world when he finally pops out! I’m training him in utero to be a photo assistant. Kid’s gonna be loading film before he’s out of diapers.
Have you heard about the New York Times article? Apparently it’s getting harder to make a living as a professional photographer.
Who knew?
Unusual slideshow piece by photographer Alec Soth in the New York Times… HERE. Unusual because it’s a surprising take on Mardi Gras, and unusual because Soth is known for his luscious large format prints and all of these are digital and, well, kind of flat. But the content saves the day. The idea is so strong that it transcends the format (mostly). Ideas are everything. Here’s an older piece from his “Portraits” series.
Sydney, Tallahassee, Florida, 2004 - © Alec Soth
Just back from a trip to New York, during which I insisted, much to my wife’s chagrin, on dragging around a Mamiya 7 rangefinder. It is perfectly terrible to be married to a photographer on any kind of trip or vacation.
I’m still not sure why I insist on shooting personal work on film when it’s so difficult to tell the final product apart from digital, but I keep at it. Certain professional colleagues think I’m bonkers. When I told the certain professional colleague in question I was taking a medium format rangefinder to NY, I believe his exact words were “Now why the f*** would you want to do a thing like that?” And truly, he’s right. It’s WAY more difficult, not to mention expensive, to manage the film workflow, what with the processing, contact sheets, scanning, retouching, cataloguing, etc. On the other hand, there’s something about the process… I shoot differently on film. And I still believe it has a unique look. Or looks, really, plural. And it’s fun. And often unpredictable. There are nice little surprises when you pick up the film from the lab.
Recent post about the resurgence of film on the Resolve blog, HERE. I don’t know about a “comeback” though. I’d take that with a grain of silver halide. Ha.
I’ll post some work from the trip soon. You know, after the processing proofing scanning editing and retouching.
How about you, friends? What’s the last thing you photographed on film? You don’t have to be a professional. Send it to me if you can, and I’ll post it here and take the credit if it’s any good. Just kidding. I’ll give you credit.
