Author Archives: Michael Marks

The State of My Gear … Finally!

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I think I have things pretty much figured out. So what’s been going on?  A couple of months ago I talked about the need to complete my Visions of America work and wanted to continue using a medium format camera whenever possible, especially for pictures of urban architecture and murals I’ve been making of late. I went on to say that I had  been trying out another medium format rangefinder with changeable lenses with the hope that it could become my go to for urban architecture, murals and other non-people related images. Now it’s time for the big reveal! Drum roll please… yes, it’s a Mamiya Universal! That’s right, the same camera the great Don McCullin has used for many years to do much of his striking personal work.

I had been struggling to find a medium format camera for some time that would give me the option to use more than one lens when I needed it, and to serve as a backup for my Plaubel Makina. And now for another drum roll … I’m especially happy to announce that I finally got my Plaubel back from the repair shop! And boy oh boy, I can’t wait to use it again!!!

Back to the Mamiya, after a year or so I am very comfortable and happy with the camera, but it was a bit of a journey, not without a lot of fits and starts. After seeing several wonderful videos about McCullin that featured his use of the camera, I decided to work on finding one in great shape, along with a few lenses to go with it. Easier said than done, because the cameras are old and most have seen far better days. I was lucky to find one in Japan on eBay that was barely used, if at all, and it came with the last version of the standard 100mm f/3.5 lens, 6×7 Type III roll film back , pistol grip, special cable release, metal carrying case and other goodies. Then I tracked down some other equally cherry lenes … the 75mm with its beautiful auxiliary viewfinder and a 150mm short telephoto. NOTE: When using the 6×7 film back the 100mm lens is similar to a 50mm focal length in terms of the 35mm format, the 75mm is similar to a 35mm and the 150mm is similar to a 75mm.

I immediately sent the camera, lenses and back off to my repair guy for a CLA. Once I got everything back I needed to figure out how to use it. That may sound funny, but the typical way to do that is to use the pistol grip attached to the body.  The grip has a button that engages the special cable release attached to it on one end, and to the lens’s leaf shutter at the other end, tripping shutter as is done with a view camera lens.

I didn’t like it.

Too big and bulky and too kluged.

I looked at the McCullin videos again. Just as I remembered, he was holding the camera and making exposures without the grip. It was easy to see that he was holding the camera with one hand griping one of sides of the very wide film back, the other hand was underneath the lens at the bottom of the camera body. But I couldn’t quite determine exactly how he was releasing the lens’s leaf shutter.

The Type III back that came with the outfit has a shutter release on it that connects to the lens via the same cable release that works with the pistol grip. To make a long story short, it’s sort of Rube Goldberg affair that sometimes works and sometimes not. At least that was my experience. So forget that idea.

I went back and looked at the McCullin videos, even looked at still images on the web of McCullin holding the camera. I even tried to zoom in on the pictures to see if I could figure out what he was doing. No luck. Finally it came to me that he must be tripping the shutter on the lens with his finger! I tried it out and it worked … at least after some practice!  My first few outings with the camera were not the smoothest experiences. But I soldiered on and I’m glad I did! I got the hang of it and am now pretty proficient with the procedure, despite the fact that each lens’s shutter release positioning is a little different due to lens size, etc.

The Mamiya Universal has a great rangefinder, with an easy to see focusing patch and frame lines that are adjustable for 100mm and 150mm lenses. The body can accommodate multiple backs including roll film 6×7 and 6×9.  I now have two 6×7 backs and just purchased a 6×9 back. 6 x9 provides more film real estate and approximates the dimensions of a 35mm negative. All the backs have been gone over by my repair guy. No matter how pristine a back looks when you get it you need to have it checked for light leaks. Chances are very good the foam light seals will need to be replaced!

Let me conclude about the Mamiya Universal by pointing out that it’s a screaming deal!!! Depending on condition you can pick up an entire outfit for a song. With some patience you can find everything in near mint condition for not much more.  And the lenses are great! Just ask Don McCullin!

Highly recommended!

Now that I have my beloved Plaubel Makina back I will return to the routine I have settled into over the past several years that utilizes it for a variety of applications including candid situations where I know I won’t be hurried or don’t require the fastest of response in close quarters. When the Plaubel is not the appropriate tool for the job I use my Leicas. Tri-X film with both systems.  In the last year I have exposed a lot of 120 and haven’t felt conflicted in the least over which camera/format to use. Either camera would work, but I have found what is the best combination for me at this time.

Now the Mamiya with its changeable lenses will become my go to for urban architecture, murals, the occasional landscape and other non-people related images. Interestingly, I am sorry to say that I have not used my trusty 35mm Leica SLRs, Frank and Elsa, in some time and will have to see how this plays out. But right now I feel a new sense of energy and excitement about the gear I have. Easy decisions on what to use and when to use it, without stress. The right tools for the right jobs! What could be better!

Stay well,

Michael

Getting Older, But Not Slowing Down

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This past October I turned 70 and I still think about it from time to time. I had been steadily inching closer to the big day. Not with as much panic as I had experienced when closing in on 30 becoming a reality, but still with some trepidation. Then there was a surprise! I realized the day after my birthday that I felt the same … and behaved the same as I had two days earlier.

Interesting.

Well, it turns out one of things you can’t control is getting older. Forget it. Not happening. However there’s something you can control … whether you’re going to continue to be creative, do the work with a high level of passion, and live a full photographic life!

2024 was a great photographic year for me, which means I had a very full photographic life. I went beyond my personal goals for my input to Monalog’s Visions of America project. I also had a significant number of keepers I printed that now reside on this site, and a I saw a number of great shows. Revising my galleries here got me even more juiced than I was before!  Not a bad for a year that had its share of distractions!

And now I’m pumped to keep going were I left off!  I have a number of projects I want to work on and have done a fair amount of planning to make that happen. But most importantly I just want to make pictures, print the keepers and continue to live my photographic life.

So here’s the thing. There are people I know and photographers I know of that decided  to pack it in when they were younger than me. Why? Maybe if you’re of a certain age you don’t want to shovel your driveway or mulch your garden anymore. I get that. Hire someone (if haven’t been deported), move to a different climate or get a condo, but for heaven sakes don’t give up on your photographic life!

I feel I am the happiest I’ve ever been with my photographic life and my productivity, and have no intention of letting up anytime soon.

In short, I refuse to be a geezer!

For those of a certain age, how about you?

Stay well,

Michael

Elections Have Consequences

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A little ahead of the power curve, I had just finished writing my entry for this week when I read something very disturbing, but not really all that surprising. So, a change of plans, and instead a different, more topical piece for your consideration.

Last March I wrote an entry called Dictatorship and Art … What’s At Stake.  Well people, buckle up because it’s all starting to happen, and at breathtaking speed! This past Friday it was widely reported that our fearless leader announced he would clean out the Kennedy Center’s board, its board of trustees and chairman. He went on to state … and here’s a shocker … “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”

As Mitch McConnell once said … “elections have consequences”.

Here is what I wrote almost a year ago.

Dictatorship and Art … What’s At Stake?

Super Tuesday is now in the rear view mirror and we now know for sure who is going to be on the ballot come November.  Yes it will be a rerun of 2020 and the choice we make could not be more important for our democracy and many of the other things we take for granted that are made possible by our democracy. Focusing for now on photographers and other artists, re-election of former occupant of the White House could have disastrous consequences.

We all know his infatuation with autocrats, and in particular his long running bromance with his sweetheart Vladimir Putin. So how have things worked out for Russian artists lately and is this something we should be worried about if the Orangeman and his coterie come back for the revenge tour and other fun stuff?  Let’s take a look at an excerpt from a February 24, 2022 Freedom House analysis. If anything, what is described probably is much worse two years later. The full article can be found here: https://freedomhouse.org/article/cracking-down-artistic-expression-another-strike-against-russian-democracy

“There is a section of the New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow where one turns a corner and the art transforms from the Soviet to post-Soviet era—an explosion of color, emotion, gore, heart, and the freedom that 1991 hearkened spreading across wall after white gallery wall. This captures the powerful mix of opportunity and possibility that defined the Russia of the 1990s. Today, the brutal persecution of the Russian artistic community has destroyed an integral piece of democracy—bringing an end to the dreams of freedom displayed on the New Tretyakov’s gallery walls.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Moscow regime has eliminated any opportunity to express independent perspectives in the country—enforcing a politically homogenous public through a potent combination of legislation and propaganda. Russian authorities have arrested and detained almost 20,000 antiwar activists and pursued more than 3,400 criminal cases against citizens for any infraction deemed to discredit Russian forces. Propaganda media guides assert stringent policies for outlets to discuss the invasion and ongoing war along government lines, helping complete a total social “purification.”

This crackdown extends to arenas of art and culture which served as important spaces in civil society throughout the 1990s and 2000s, when lines between art and activism blurred. Citizens’ ability to make sense of and express their perspectives through art is a crucial tenet of democracy in any society—only made more urgent and valuable as citizens endure personal and political crises which spur its necessity. Over the past decade, the regime has carefully lowered its tolerance for politically-provoking art, using broad legal jurisdiction to censor the arts around pro-Kremlin lines.

Since the start of the war on Ukraine, authorities have raided concerts in Moscow and fined musicians, including legendary rockstars Andrei Makarevich, Yuri Shevchuk, and Boris Grebenshchikov, over antiwar expressions. Legislation has placed dissenting filmmakers and writers on wanted lists, proposed book bans equating queerness in literature with pornography, and blatantly censored art exhibitions to comply with Russian National Security Strategy. On June 29, the Moscow Cultural Department dismissed the leaders of three prominent theaters, including the Gogol Center, a prominent, beloved oppositionist theater known for its community spirit and alternative visionary mission in Russian culture.

Refusal to cooperate under strict sociopolitical conditions means harsh consequences for dissenting artists. In March, theater management across Russia began pushing their teams to make public pro-war statements, and many fired cultural workers over their open criticism of the war. The 15th annual ArtDocFest, Russia’s largest documentary festival, was canceled after Russian nationalists attacked its director. In April, playwright Mikhail Durnenkov posted his hopes for a defeated Russia on Facebook to find his account immediately flooded with threats. Signatories of an antiwar petition quickly lost work, including director Dmitriy Krymov, whose performances were canceled in Moscow. Prior to the war, film and television management circulated stop lists of Russian actors who held dissenting views in 2021, systematically purging artists who did not politically conform.”

Then there is Trump’s soulmate and idol, Hungary’s prime minister and strong man Viktor Orban. On Friday, the two paled around at Mar-a-Lago. Great #@$%^&.  Like Putin and most other autocrats, Orban came to power democratically and began to destroy democratic institutions, the rule of law and the free press. In November 2022, the Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI)  released the Artistic Freedom Monitor report on Hungary – Systematic Suppression: Hungary’s Arts and Culture in Crisis. The full report can be found here: https://artisticfreedominitiative.org/projects/artistic-freedom-monitor/hungary/

A summary the report states “Over the last decade, Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has implemented constitutional, legislative, and administrative changes aimed at consolidating his party’s control over the arts. Under Orbán’s leadership, Hungary’s previously independent arts and culture sector has been refashioned as a mechanism for advancing a singular ethno-nationalist narrative. …. Systematic Suppression exposes how Orbán’s administration wields policy to limit free expression, restrict plurality in the arts, and encourage self-censorship among Hungarian artists.”

I think you get the picture.

What can we do?  Whatever you can to make sure things don’t go south in November. If we don’t we only have ourselves to blame for what happens next.

Stay well,

Michael

Now, fast forward. And here we are, not even one month into his term. Yup, elections sure do have consequences. For the arts … and everything else.

On Saturday, in a must read editorial entitled Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out, the New York Times wrote:

“America faces a new reality, and it demands wisdom, endurance and courage. The United States is now led by a president who appears willing to stampede over any person, law, congressional statute or country that stands in his way. He is driven by impulse and is disinterested in rules, history or reality.

How Americans and the world handle such a president will determine much about the next four years, and it will ask much from all of us. We must meet the moment. Mr. Trump won the election fair and square, but his position is that of president, not king or god-emperor. Every time Congress allows him to exceed his constitutional role, it encourages more anti-democratic behavior and weakens the legislature’s ability to check further erosion of the norms and values that have helped make this nation the freest, richest and strongest in the world.”

We all need to take a look in the mirror and decide who we are, what we stand for and what we plan to do.

Stay well,

Michael

Don’t Be a Lazy Bozo! Trust Your Instincts, Go Get Your Camera and Make That Picture!

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You ‘re out and about and see this great picture but you don’t have your camera. Oh well … right?  Wrong!  That’s the easy way out.  It’s one thing if it’s gone in a fleeting moment or you’re hours away from home. But if not, go home, get your camera, go back and make the picture!

Why wouldn’t you? Hmm, let’s see. Maybe it’s more convenient to forget about it and go on with your daily activities. Or maybe it’s not that great after all, and not really a big deal anyway.

What changed? You thought it was pretty exciting when you first saw it? So much for your photographic vision. Think about it … do you care about your photography or not? If not, what’s the point and who are you?

Don’t be a lazy bozo. Trust your instincts!

So I happened onto something this week while walking with Sparky. When I saw it I couldn’t help but laugh. Then Sparky and I continued on, but I kept thinking and talking to Sparky about it … all the way home. Was it worth the bother? Afterall, I was just going to have enough time to take a shower, get ready and get going to where I needed to be. Then I thought to myself, I need to make that picture and what would I be if I didn’t!  And of course there was the possibility that if didn’t make the picture now it might not be there when I returned … gone forever!

As soon as I got home I quickly went downstairs to my workroom, loaded my camera with film, grabbed my light meter and ran out the door! To be  clear, we’re not talking monumental subject matter.  But it was epic in its perfect absurdity and captured the sense of sophomoric humor necessary to express the way I feel about the strange time in which we live. So much so that I don’t give a flying fig what others think. It’s my picture, and it’s funny and meaningful to me!

The next day the snow melted and what was once there was now gone.

I can’t wait to develop the roll of film!

Yep, my year is off to a good start!

Stay well,

Michael

George Tice, 1938 – 2025

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It’s only January and another one of photography’s giants is gone. I was sad to learn that George Tice passed away on January 16th.  I own a number of his books, including his last one, the recently published spectacular George Tice: Lifework – Photographs 1953 – 2013. I was lucky enough to meet George several times and got a chance to talk with him for a while at a book signing event.  I could have talked to him all night, but I looked at my watch and then at those waiting patiently for their turn and decided it was time to wrap things up. I spent much more time talking with him than I expected so I was grateful for that. I will always cherish that conversation and my signed copy of Lifework!

George had a remarkable career and life.  One of my favorite photographs, Petit’s Mobil Station, Cherry Hill was made by George. It appears on jacket  of George Tice, Urban Landscapes. It’s a picture of something you’ve seen a million times in your life … a gas station almost empty of customers at night with a few lights on and lone car parked outside. Nothing special … right? Actually it is pretty special, as are many of the other photographs he made of scenes others would pass by without a thought.

Not everyone got his work.  Some thought it boring and mundane.  They just didn’t make the time to take a good deep look. Just like those that completely overlooked the scenes he captured so beautifully in his exquisite images. Sad and their loss.

If you’re not familiar with George Tice’s work, you need to be!  Get a few of his books and be glad there was someone to memorialize what so many had missed.

Stay well,

Michael

Being Without My Best Bud

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My Plaubel Makina 670 is my favorite camera I’ve ever owned … and I’ve owned more than a few!  I got my first one in the mid Eighties and for a significant period of my life I used what for me became the perfect camera.  The Plaubel Makina 670 is medium format folding rangefinder camera, equipped with the outrageous fixed Nikkor 80mm f2.8 lens that equates to a 40mm when using a 35mm camera. It may be the ideal focal length if you were to only have or wish to use one lens. The camera and lens was so good that it replaced everything else I owned. It was a quirky but spectacular combination.  Not for everyone, but it travelled all over the world with me until it started to develop some interesting problems. I regrettably sold it. A terrible mistake, and ultimately replaced it with a more modern Mamiya 7II medium format rangefinder camera, equipped with the equally great Mamiya 80mm f4.0 lens. I made some very nice pictures with that camera too but realized while visiting a West Bank refugee camp that rapid film changing was not its strong suit. It also wasn’t a folder.

Years went by and I tried a lot of medium format cameras to recapture what I had lost, but in the end there just wasn’t any love! Believe it or not first I tried another 670.  But for some reason the magic was gone and so out went the Plaubel.  Damn!

Mamiya 6 … not for me … still didn’t like the square format. I should have known better, given my various failed attempts with Hasselblad and Rollei SLRs.  Mamiya 7 … been there, done it. Bronica RF645, nice in some ways but the negative was not large enough for me to make a difference and it had a vertical viewfinder. Weird.  Bessa III … another quirky folder that didn’t do it for me.  I finally decided to try the “Texas Leica”.  That’s right; I’m talking about the Fuji GW690 6X9 format camera with a fixed 90mm focal length lens. I thought I might have found the makings of real happiness.

Then it happened.  I was communicating with another photographer and he told me he had a late near mint Plaubel Makina 670 that had been given a CLA by the German factory just before it shut down.  You probably know where this is heading. I couldn’t stop myself and the deal was done!

Guess what … third time has turned out to be the charm!  If this opportunity hadn’t come around perhaps I would still be using the Fuji. Don’t know, but what I can tell you is that the feeling I had so many years ago with my first 670 was back!  Not sure what transpired with #2, but I’ve had a blast using this camera all these years, and to me at least, the results speak for themselves! In short, this is the camera I want to use whenever possible.

All of this brings me to the present, well almost, because I have been without my beloved Plaubel Makina for months now. That’s because the advance mechanism decided to start acting up. I first checked out Nippon Camera in New York. They’re known for working on these cameras.  $1600 just to look at it no matter what’s wrong. Uh … no. So I sent it to my go to non-Leica repair person after he promised he could take care of the problem at a reasonable cost and in a quick amount of time. Unfortunately he ended up having some medical problems and between doctor appointments and in the end couldn’t get it working. I finally got it back and found someone else who specializes in the camera and has a stash of parts. I sent it to him and hoped there wouldn’t be any major issues, but alas the film counter assembly needed to be replaced. #@$%^&*  I hope I can get it back before February!

Needless to say, I haven’t been all that happy. Being without my fav made me realize just how much I miss it. To me the Plaubel Makina 670 is the perfect camera. I use it whenever possible for street and documentary work and it’s an all-rounder when it’s all I have with me and something unexpected pops up. The Leicas come out when I know the action is going to be fast and crazy. I hope to have it for years to come … as long it can be maintained. And that’s a potential problem that impacts many legacy cameras. But my camera is like a dear friend I know very well. It suits me and we take care of each other. I probably should give it a name. Even when I’m not using it I know where it is, sitting on the shelf, ready go to when I am.

But while my camera was gone the show had to go on! I wasn’t going to stop making pictures!  For one thing I needed to complete my Visions of America work and wanted to continue using a medium format camera whenever possible, especially for pictures of urban architecture and murals I’ve been doing lately.

Fortunately I had been trying out another medium format rangefinder (I know …yet another!) with changeable lenses for the past year with the hope that it could become my go to for urban architecture, murals and other non-people related images. Now I had to use it for pictures of people. While it’s a wonderful camera, in my opinion it’s not the best for this application. A great rangefinder, but bigger and clunkier than the Plaubel Makina. That having been said, I used it and after some missed shots and a few other hiccups I got used to it for the task at hand and it saved me. More to come on the mystery camera soon!

So you can make a good picture with any camera/lens, especially if you’re determined. And besides it’s just light tight box and a lens, with a few gizmos that makes it all work … right?

Well, not for me.  Being without my best bud has been hard. Really. I miss him and want him back!  Safe, sound, and soon! And I don’t care what it costs!

Stay well,

Michael

Takeaways From The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography, Gordon Parks: Camera Portraits from the Corcoran Collection and Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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This past week I decided to drive down to DC to see three shows at the at the National Gallery of Art. I needed to get my act together quickly as I kept putting off the trip and two of the shows where closing soon … Gordon Parks: Camera Portraits from the Corcoran Collection on January 12th and Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment on January 19th. The third show, The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography runs through April 6th.

I was just getting better from a virus I managed to catch several days earlier, but Thursday was the best day to do it. Note to travelers … you don’t want to be trying to travel to and attempt to get out of DC on a Friday! Anyway, the show that first caught my attention was Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment. I’m a sucker for impressionist art and I’ve been fortunate to see lot of over the years. I had to go!

I must be living a good clean life because the traffic was uneventful and I found a parking space right in front of the main entrance to West Building! So as you can imagine I was feeling pretty good about myself as I sashayed up to information desk, only to be told there was a seventy five minute wait.

#$%^$#%^&?&^%?

OK, no problem. I decided to hit the two photography exhibits first. Then I would circle back to the main event.

I started with The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography. I wasn’t expecting too much but I was very pleasantly surprised … six rooms of wonderful pictures by photographers I knew well, along with a number of others I was not familiar with.  I’ve seen a lot of Seventies photography during the past year and I’ve now come to an earthshattering conclusion … at least for me!  While the Seventies was a decade of bad taste in clothing, it was a fertile period of great photography. I know this because I was a participant and I’m reminded of it whenever I catch a glimpse of Match Game 72, 73 and 74 while my wife is watching it during lunch. And for what it’s worth, this was also the time I really got serious about making pictures!!

Each room had its own theme. Documentary, Conceptual, Performance and the Camera, Color, Alternative Landscapes, and Intimate Documentary. I was familiar with the work of Nan Goldin, Lee Friedlander, Roy DeCarava, Gary Winogrand, Diane Arbus, Larry Fink, William Eggleston, William Christenberry, Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Frank Gohlke and Bill Owens. But the other’s photographs were great too! A must see!

Next up, Gordon Parks: Camera Portraits from the Corcoran Collection. In comparison, a small and intimate show and I loved it!! Parks is great!!! My favorite picture was one I’ve seen in books many times but never in the flesh … Government Charwoman, Washington, D.C., August 1942 (American Gothic). Seeing that picture made the whole trip worth it!

Finally, on to Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment! Well, unfortunately the line didn’t seem any shorter than when I first arrived, but I decided to stick it out despite the crowd, and after about an hour or so I made my way through the entrance of the show. In short, I’m glad I hung in there. While packed, it was worth the wait! The show presents 130 works that originally appeared at the legendary 1874 exhibit Paris exhibit considered the birth of modern painting. Many paintings of the most famous impressionists we all know and love such as Cézanne, Monet and Pissarro where there, but many works of impressionists I had not seen before were also included. Stupendous!

This triple header was a real threat … a true trifecta!  Of final note: this is the only stop in the US for the Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment show!! If you live within driving distance and have a chance to get to DC by January 12th, you owe yourself a visit to the National Gallery of Art. Trust me on this one!

Stay well,

Michael