I am drawn to Aaron Siskind’s great abstract photographs of paint on streets and walls, portions of rock formations, sand, weathered objects and other found fragments that caught his imagination. While made in interesting locations all over the world, they could have been made just about anywhere.  I like that because I believe great works of art, including those made with cameras, can be produced anywhere!  I once had a conversation with Michael Smith about this notion and he simply stated he could make a great photograph of anything, and I’m sure he could.

Siskind’s clean and direct work never fails to fascinate and excite me. And while it is not the kind of subject matter I tend to focus on very much, it inspires me to keep my mind’s eye open to the myriad of possibilities surrounding me in my daily life. Siskind’s work has also contributed to my Two Hour rule I have written about and stood by for the last several years – I photograph in areas that are within two hours drive of where I live.

One of my favorite books I own is Aaron Siskind 100, an incredible retrospective of his life work, which was published to celebrate the 100tth anniversary of his birth.  While not cheap, you can find a used copy at just under a hundred bucks. It’s a fine place to start and would in my opinion be a great addition to anyone’s photographic library.

In 2004 I was saw a major exhibit of Siskind’s photographs at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. One of the things that immediately struck me besides their simple beauty was the size of the photographs. They were large! If you’re a regular here you know I’m not a fan of large photographs and do not print anything larger then can fit on an 8 x10 piece of paper. But Siskind gets a pass … just like Adams, because their work stands up no matter what size it is printed! And while small prints of either master’s work would be like beautiful jewels, their large work is stupendous.

After I moved to Doylestown I learned that in 1934 Siskind, was commissioned to document Bucks County’s old homes and surrounding environs. In 1974, the Bucks County Historical Society published a book containing his work, Buck County, Photographs of Early Architecture. There is nothing abstract about any of this work and you would be hard pressed to find a copy, but I have a soft spot for the book and I guess, for the photographer.

If you’re not familiar with Aaron Siskind you need to be; he is one of the great masters of the Twentieth Century.

Stay safe,

Michael

Great news … you now have a print your happy with! Whether it is one you originally made and mounted, or a redo that has been done after further evaluation (see Step 17), it is essential to make sure there are no pesky little white spots on the print due to dust that accumulated on the negative and/or glass negative carrier (if you use one like me) and were not removed prior to exposure. A really good way to avoid most if not all of this is to simply use an anti-static brush to remove the tiny dust particles from your negatives and carriers before inserting them into the enlarger.

Even with the best of care it is still possible to get a white spot that shows up on your print. Let me be absolutely clear; in my opinion there’s nothing more bush league that looking at someone’s finished prints and seeing dust spots! Think about it … you’ve gone to all the trouble to produce a print you’re truly proud of, but you don’t care enough to finish the job? Even if you never show your work, why would you want to look at something done in a half assed manner?

You’re so close to the finish line! Now is not the time to get lazy!

Here’s what I do. I carefully examine my prints under a bright light. If I see a spot, then time to get to work. There are a number of products out there you can use. In year’s past I used Spotone #3, diluted as appropriate in water, and applied to the print with a sable art brush having the narrowest (e.g., the fewest hairs) of tips. Unfortunately this fine product is no longer manufactured but you might be able to find it on ebay. I friend and Monalog Collective member recently gave me a bottle so I might be back in business again! An alternative another Monalog member told me about is Nicholson’s Peerless DrySpot. I bought some but have not tried it yet. Finally there is SpotPen, which is what I have been using for the last fifteen years or so. It ‘s a set of 10 brush-tip pens containing photographic retouching dye.

When using any of these products it’s best to first test on a scrap print in order to visually determine the right dilution/pen to use. Don’t try to guess the exact matching color! Too dark and you can create a dark spot on the print. What I do is find a dye tone lighter than the adjacent area and build up to the proper color. Apply, let it dry, then re-apply until you are satisfied. It takes a little longer but is much safer!

All of this sounds laborious, but in reality it doesn’t take much time at all … especially if you were diligent about removing dust particles in the darkroom!

Do this and you can put the finishing touch on your perfect fine print! Congratulations!

Stay well,

Michael

Well let’s get started! In 10^th place … David Plowden.

David Plowden is a critically important American photographer, especially for someone like me who isn’t a big fan of the times we live in.  As I am getting older I often think about what America was like before it became the mostly homogenized plastic place it has become. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s there seemed to be so much more character, from architecture, to cars to just about everything. Cameras were made out of metal or wood, not polycarbonate or plastic. For over fifty years Plowden focused his cameras on America’s heartland, its farms, barns and prairies, bridges, steam trains, large ships that travelled the Great Lakes, urban areas and small towns, interiors of buildings, steel plants, and that which has been abandoned, capturing important images before so much or our nation’s heritage and the artifacts that are part of it vanished for good.

He has called himself an “an archeologist with a camera” who has spent his life “one step ahead of the wrecking ball” and I think this is an accurate description. Some have compared his work to that of the great WPA photographers though many of his pictures are devoid of people. Stark and often haunting images, they are incredibly serene and beautiful.

Plowden has published over twenty books, several of which I own. One of them, Imprints, is especially special to me. It’s signed by the artist and has a beautiful inscription to me.  I still remember the night well. I drove up from Virginia to Towson University near Baltimore to see the opening of Plowden’s exhibit and hopefully to get a chance to meet the photographer himself.  I brought my copy of the book with me with the off chance notion that not only would I get to speak with him, but maybe he would be kind enough to sign it.  All’s well that ends well … I had a long chat with David, and he could not have been nicer! I even had a few very helpful follow up phone calls with him.

Plowden’s craft is impeccable and his work is visually stunning.  All of the books I have are well worth owning, but you can start out with the aforementioned Imprints, which is a beautiful retrospective of his work up to 1997 when it was published.

I like to sit down in my big comfortable leather chair when I have a lot of time to think and dream about what was, instead of where we seem to be headed.  That’s when I can be found looking at David Plowden’s wonderful work.

Stay safe,

Michael

A great pastime for those who surf the net is to check out what’s the best or what’s the top 10 of whatever, from peanut butter to sports cars. And truth be told, I occasionally do this myself. So why not throw my hat into the ring with a list of my very own!

You know you want it. You know you need it.  Surely Mankind has been waiting … but is it truly ready?

Here’s my plan … to provide you with a very subjective list and discussion on my “favorite” top 10 black and white analog photographers.  Black and white analog, because that’s my interest and it’s what this website is about … and I’m in charge of this microscopic corner of the Internet universe. “Favorite”, because this is incredibly subjective and it cannot be otherwise … and finally, it’s my list! Their pictures speaks to me … they may not to you. And there may be some other very subjective reasons for my choices.  We’ll see how it goes.

I’ll tell you why I think they’re wonderful and why I think you should know about them!  I will also throw an example of one of their books to head you in the right direction!  Look, they may not be your favorites or what you consider the top 10. And of course there might me many others that are out there that I might have liked even more if I only knew they existed. So why wouldn’t I know about them? Because I haven’t seen every photographer’s photographs in person or in published form, and then there are those that purely photograph for the love of it and we never see their work at all. Vivian Meir would have been a prime example of this, were she not discovered by pure accident!  I wrote about her and the great photography we will never see several years ago if you want to check that out.

So stay tuned and I hope you will enjoy reading these periodic entries as much as I will enjoy writing them.

Stay safe,

Michael

I’ve made a good amount of pictures and managed few keepers during Covid, but not nearly enough. Nevertheless the time I spent photographing during this difficult period was incredibly worthwhile. Even though the virus made it prohibitive to take many of the pictures I like to make, what mattered, and what I’ve always loved about photography is the journey.  Everything about being out there is special to me, and if fortune is on my side, just maybe a meaningful picture will be captured during a memorable day.

Last week I wrote about Fred Picker’s Zone VI Newsletters and it seems they’re still fresh in my mind. Something he said so beautifully really struck a chord.

“Of the numerous aspects of the photographic experience there is only one that I find always wonderful, exciting, and capable of producing instant happiness.  The best part of photography isn’t talking about it or writing about it or teaching it or developing film or hanging shows or publishing books or making prints.  It isn’t selling prints or having your work admired. It’s the excitement of being out there: the anticipation of the unknowable wonder that may appear over the next hill. It is the knowledge that there is a chance of finding and recording a metaphor of your loves, your dreams, your past, and what you may feel about your future. It is the hope of searching out for yourself and your camera something incredible.” Zone VI Newsletter 47, p.10.

The rules that have governed our coming and going for almost a year and a half are now being changed as we move back to a more normal life. Today, still being a bit careful, I am going to photograph the Doylestown’s Memorial Day Parade and the very moving memorial service that always follows it at Doylestown Cemetery. It will be the 153^rdanniversary of this wonderful tradition and I’m excited to be a part of it! Not because I know I will make some great photographs, but because I will be out there experiencing something that is truly wonderful. And during that experience there is a chance that I and my camera will find “something incredible”!

Happy Memorial Day, stay safe, and best wishes for a better time ahead,

Michael

Ok, you have walked to the edge of the cliff, stood at the precipice and … jumped off!

I know this is hard. Been there done it many times.  It’s simple … you need to be true to yourself. Are you going to push yourself to produce the best you can and strive to become better? Or produce something that’s good enough?  Or worse yet, let mediocre work slide because you just don’t feel like investing anymore time?

I hate it when someone shows me a work print, or says they know their finished print needs a little more burning or dodging, or the contrast isn’t just right.  If you care at all then do the best you can! If you can make the print better do it!  If it’s a clunker forget about it and move on!

Yes, I know how painful it is, but I have no choice when there’s no alternative.  None of us who really care do. After all, this is about you as a creator of art … as a person that can look in the mirror and honestly judge who you are, and what you want to be. In the end this is about your soul … as a photographer …  as a person.

Stay safe,

Michael