Two weeks ago, I wrote about a spectacular exhibit I had seen several days earlier at the International Center for Photography called William Klein: YES: Photographs, Paintings, Films, 1948-2013. The retrospective of Klein’s life work was a real tour de force and it will be something I’ll remember. This past week Klein passed away in Paris. He was 96 years old.

I’m not going to write an obituary; I am quite certain there are or will be plenty available online, written by those more learned of Klein then me. And I’m not going to rehash what I wrote two weeks ago. What I want to say is that with Klein’s passing the number of remaining great twentieth century masters is one less. Klein was certainly a giant and will be sorely missed, as is the case with all those of his stature that are now gone. His work, while not as well known in his native America as it was in his adopted country of France influenced new generations of photographers just like that of other controversial geniuses like Robert Frank and Diane Arbus.

My question is whether there are new giants to step in and fill the shoes of Klein and all the others from Adams to Cartier-Bresson? I not so sure. That isn’t to say that good work is not being done, but I believe there was a golden age of photography, especially concerning street, documentary and landscape in the twentieth century that doesn’t exist anymore and may not be matched anytime soon. If you think I’m wrong go ahead and let me know!

Klein was a trend setter even though he fought all the existing trends and conventions of photography. Just like Frank’s masterpiece The Americans, published several years later, no one in the US would touch his ground breaking first book affectionately known as New York for short. Thank goodness for the French! It was only after these seminal works were published overseas did it become possible for Americans to eventually get to see them first hand.

So where is photography headed in 2022 and beyond. I really have no idea. That having been said, I am grateful that I was finally able to see Klein’s work first hand, and while his approach is much different than mine, with a look and feel that is also different, it has cast a spell upon me that’s likely not to be lifted in this lifetime.

Prior to seeing the Klein show I didn’t own any of his books, but have since ordered one and will be getting the show catalogue book as soon as it’s published. Now, do yourself a favor.  If you’re not familiar with Klein’s work, or for that matter any of the other great twentieth century masters, get their books or at least borrow them from the library if they’re available. They will blow your mind!

Stay well,

Michael

Not if its content is of equal greatness.

I become mesmerized every time I look at a print by my good friend Jim Fitzgerald. They’re that beautiful! I feel like I’m transported to a different place and I can actually see deep into the three-dimensional carbon transfer contact print surface. When I look at his work or day dream about it, I sometimes think about something I read almost fifty years ago. In a 1976 Newsletter, Fred Picker wrote:

“When Strand or Adams or Caponigro spend hours or days printing a negative they are following a linear path to the end. They know where they want to go, they visualize the print without getting sidetracked, and finally they produce.  Good photographers are almost always food printers …. I once read an asinine review of a very beautiful Paul Caponigro show. The headline read, ‘Making Jewels out of Jewels’ and the reviewer stated that ‘Caponigro is fighting a battle between technique and esthetics.’ Why? Because ‘the prints are so beautiful that he must be over-involved with technique.’ Nonsense: The truth is that no photographer is a better or worse printer than he is a photographer. The same ability to see photographically comes into play in the darkroom as existed in the field at the time the photograph was made.”

Yes, yes and yes … incredibly well said! What’s more boring than a technically perfect rotten photograph? And what’s worse than an overly dramatic and obviously grossly manipulated digital print? The finely executed carbon transfer print made by a true master like Jim is a meaningful piece of art because the content itself is as engrossing as the striking beauty of its presentation.

There are a lot of photographers that obsess over owning the finest lenses and perfect technique, but their pictures are not worth a damn. There are also other photographers whose technique leaves a lot to be desired but their vision is pure. I’ll take one of those photographs over a technically perfect boring image any day! William Klein’s work is fascinating case in point (last week I discussed his show at the International Center of Photography). It doesn’t emphasize technique and even goes out of its way let you know that, but it is nevertheless incredible!

Back to Jim Fitzgerald and his sublime images. Can an average photograph be visually improved through technique and processes like carbon transfer? I suppose, but only to a limited extent. It will never be great.

So, what can we do? It’s pretty obvious – work to be the best we can be in the field and in the darkroom! And here’s the thing, it’s a lifelong process, often filled with frustration. Why? While technique can be learned and improved upon with continued effort, it’s the seeing that’s hard. Adams famously said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”  Think about that for a moment.  Adams made thousands of images most of us would die for, yet very few made the cut.  We all want more than a dozen significant photographs a year but let’s be honest with ourselves; are they really good, or in other words are they truly what we had in our mind’s eye when we made them? And then if we are lucky and they are good, do we make the requisite effort to create the best print of our ability? Jim does and it inspires me to keep working to be the best I can be.

My 35mm and medium format negatives will never yield the clarity and depth of a large or ultra-large format-based carbon transfer print, let alone an enlargement made from a large format negative. They just won’t and they don’t have to! If I put in the effort the keepers I get will be visually and esthetically beautiful. What matters for all of us is that we work as hard as we can and give the entire photographic process our best shot.

Stay well,

Michael

Last week I decided to take the train to New York and visit the International Center for Photography for its exhibit William Klein: YES: Photographs, Paintings, Films, 1948-2013.

Let’s start with a bit of a conclusion – WOW!!!!

I was familiar with some of Klein’s photography but not of his other work. I don’t own any of his books (that will hopefully change soon … they’re expensive!!!) and I had never seen any of his work in the flesh, so you could say that I wasn’t prepared for the visual explosion that awaited me!

As indicated by the name of the exhibit, the show covered all aspects of Klein’s incredible and varied career, with over 300 of his works covering his photography, filmmaking, painting and publishing. While I studied the entirety of this unbelievable smorgasbord, my primary focus was aimed towards his photography. But let’s be clear – Klein is a multi-talented genius!

While there were a few smaller images, and some in color, the vast majority were large black and white pieces. There were even large blow-ups of his so-called painted contact sheets. All of his famous images were on display in groupings that tracked his books and other work – Moscow, Tokyo, New York, Paris, fashion and abstract. By the way, I learned that all of his early books besides containing his photographs were designed, edited and include his written captions. Everything was done by Klein … everything … incredible!

While I’ve vented plenty in past entries about needlessly large prints that masquerade mediocre subject material, these oversized and grainy images didn’t seem to bother me … probably because of their incredible content!  And the 35mm grain was amplified further with the use of Tri-X or HP5 film. Even the Plus-X and Tmax images were grainy.  How did I know that? By looking at the painted contact sheets!  But you really don’t notice the grain until you move in close. So how were these pictures meant to be viewed … from a distance or up close? Not sure, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Strangely both ways worked for me. Again, the content. Well there is a first for everything!

And what about the content? I guess the way I would describe it is intense, almost in your face street work, made up close with a wide-angle lens (mostly the 28mm which he considered his “normal”). Unlike the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson made primarily with a 50mm lens that isolated the subject matter, Klein moved in closer and captured more of the scene for a completely different view and a completely different viewing experience for those that would see his images. While it’s not an approach I plan on taking the pictures shook me pretty hard! Truly great work! Klein’s approach is completely different from HCB’s, but the results are equally spectacular!

Bottom line … Klein is fantastic. A true master, right up there with HCB, Robert Frank and others that I’m more familiar with. Klein seems a little overlooked in comparison to the others, but make no mistake he is a giant! Seeing this show was a possible life altering moment. I had not thought about Klein very much, if at all. That’s changed now and he’s become an instant favorite!

If you are not familiar with Klein and his work do yourself a favor and change that … soon. Study his work and learn from it. I certainly intend to!

Scheduled to close on September 12^th, the exhibit has been extended through September 15^th. So if you’re in or nearby New York do check it out!!

Stay well,

Michael

Awhile back I wrote about selling my Leitz Focomat V35 and acquiring a Focomat 1C and a Focomat 2.  I used the V35 with its color head, as I did with my beloved Devere 504. Both enlargers were a dream to use and the color heads made printing with variable contrast paper a breeze. Also, the V35 and the Devere were equipped with top-drawer lenses. The V35 came from the factory with the outstanding Focotar-2 lens, and I had outfitted the Devere with a set of incomparable Schneider Apo Componon HM enlarging lenses. The V35 is an autofocus enlarger and the Devere, while being a traditional manual focus tank of an enlarger used ingenious and easy to use below the baseboard focusing wheel controls.

Well so much for my past logic for using these world class tools and on to indulging my apparently not to hidden lust for what many consider the ultimate! Had I lost my mind?

While I had built out my enlarging bench to accommodate three enlargers instead of the previous configuration of two, my darkroom quickly became a storage location while I was remodeling my basement and sat idle since the beginning of the year. I completed my basement project at the end of May and then finally finished emptying my darkroom of everything non-photographic, purchased some missing parts for the 2C in Germany and installed them (the missing tiny ball bearings that went into the adjustable lens mounting assembly were particularly expensive and fun to install properly $^%#&&!).  Meanwhile roll after roll of exposed film was gradually taking over what empty space remained on the bench … I’ve actually made quite a bit of photographs this year despite a very busy work schedule and juggling the basement project.

So now sitting in my darkroom along with the Devere, my trusty companion of the last twenty five year or so, were what many consider the King (Focomat 2C) and at a minimum, the Crown Prince (Focomat1C) of enlargers … the Leicas of enlargers!  And of course neither was equipped with diffusion color heads and therefore lacked the convenience I love so much!  But not so fast! Why worry about ease of use and great results when you can have a 1C for 35mm and a 2C dedicated for medium format in their last incarnations, complete with the finest of Leitz lenses? No contest; they’re things of true beauty and functional magnificence!

This lovely picture brings us to the past week. What to do! Maybe I’m not thinking straight, but every time I walked into that room I knew the Devere was going to be a problem for me. I knew it so well and could use it so intuitively that it would be too easy to fall back and turn to it as I tried to get used to the Focomats sans color heads and my Zone VI compensating timer.

There was only one answer … yes maybe I am a bozo … I called my neighbor and soon we had taken my beloved Devere away. Yes, I ripped off the band aid and while it hurt I thought it was for the best. It sits atop a rolling table I built to hold my dry mount press in a storage room elsewhere in the basement … removed but not to far away.

I’ve recently picked up some Ilford variable contrast filters and several first generation mechanical Zone VI Dry Down Enlarging Timers.  Now with no choices and no excuses it’s time to get on with it!

Step one is to develop all that film sitting in the middle of the now more spacious enlarging bench. Then make proof sheets and finally on to making some prints if I got some keepers.

I’ll let you know how it goes … but if anyone has any thoughts I’d love to hear from you!

Stay well,

Michael

Last week I wrote about my big photography week off, how things didn’t work out quite as planned, but that hopefully some good pictures were made. I also talked about planning, and the more I think about it, so much in our lives seem to be planned and/or structured in some way. Now here’s something different … how about just meandering about in your car, on your bike, or even on foot with no specific destination in mind and just get lost. That’s right … get lost! You may be surprised at what you might find and see.  Don’t worry … your phone has GPS on it so you will find your way home when you’re done … well hopefully.  Actually, once my GPS lost it’s mind and kept taking me in circles in Seattle. Another time I was following it obediently and it directed me to a dead end. Not helpful. But again, don’t worry the likelihood of that happening is supposedly low.

So I think it’s healthy to get lost. In fact, I’ve been told to get lost a number of times and all’s well in my life, photographically and otherwise.  As I mentioned last time, in my meandering I ended up finding some new things I never knew about not far from where I live. I also made some pictures of things I’ve passed by a million times that upon closer inspection turned out to be more interesting than I thought!

So here’s the thing, it’s a great idea to sometimes ditch the plan or put it on hold and just try somewhere new, and not necessarily far away.  And while you’re at it be really open to observing what you are passing by.  There are many new worlds close by just waiting to be explored and gems to be captured.

Even if you don’t get lost and are driving or walking on familiar territory you can think of it as something new and different.  Recently I got together with a famous photographer/artist I know. She said she needed to pay more attention to a road she’s driven on millions of times because she realized there are some great photo opportunities to explore.

Look, I’m not giving up my projects or my plans, but I’m going to concentrate more on getting lost.  I think doing this will create a better balance in my photographic life and relieve any stress related to plans that don’t go as expected or projects that don’t get done during the expected timeframe. And the surprises will be all the more exciting! This may work for you too. Give it a try!

Stay well,

Michael

I had it on my calendar to take this past week off to photograph.  So I planned out a number of places I wanted to go. I’ve had a few of them on my to do list for several years or so.

It’s funny how there are places you want to go and for some reason or another you just never get to them, even if they’re not very far away.  Just like other things you want to get around to doing but never seem to make happen. Well this time I was pretty determined!  It sounded good when I talked about it and it looked good on paper in my notebook.

Then as usual, as the week was approaching a few things started to come up that had to be scheduled. A zoom meeting, then a conference call. Then three different couples we know wanted to get together for dinner this week.  Ok, no problem.

I decided I wasn’t going to get wrapped around the axel over it and realized my list was probably a little bit too ambitious under the best of circumstances.  So what did I do? I took my own advice as described in last week’s entry … I modified my plans a bit and went about my way to photograph all the things that get in front of my camera. I also decided to keep doing things on my schedule that are good for me and I enjoy. So I got in my daily early morning ten-kilometer walks and yes, went out to dinner three nights in a row with friends (Ok, a little much and not my normal I can assure you!).

The other thing I did was not to get into a funk if things weren’t going well when I was out there … be it a planned outing or going freestyle.  For example when my plans had to be ditched one day I hijacked a friend who knows many of Bucks County’s secrets and he showed me a few.  Thanks Dave! I also decided to head in uncharted directions where I had a hunch things might be interesting, especially when dark clouds started to roll in and the light got bad. Now what? Drive in a different direction!  I can’t tell you how many times I changed directions as I tried to stay ahead of the changing light. But you know what?  I ended up finding some new things I never knew about not far from where I live and made some pictures of other things I’ve passed by a million times that upon closer inspection turned out to be more interesting than I thought!

The most fun was when I went on a few day trips and just kept going off route when something interesting caught my eye or I sensed there might be something if I went rogue.  So I showed up to my destinations or got home an hour or two later than planned.  Who cares?

So in the end, a great week was had, and not the one I had planned on by a long shot! I had a wonderful time, without the stress, made a lot of photographs, found some unexpected surprises and maybe snagged a few keepers.

Now on to all of the things I didn’t get to plus all the other things I want to do! I’ll need a lot more than a week though!

Stay well,

Michael

I recently saw a quote by Lee Friedlander that really struck me … “I tend to photograph the things that get in front of my camera.”  How simple!  At first I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but having pondered it for a while I’ve concluded it is more than a simple statement … it is one that’s deceptively simple … and profound! And as it turns out, it’s something I do … read on!

Think about it. Do we over plan and over think our outings, so that when we get to where we want to be we’re so narrowly focused on the task at hand that we become blind to the myriad of photographic opportunities passing us by?  And what about when we are going from one place to another? Are we oblivious to what we’re missing because we’re not looking?

I own some of Friedlander’s books but I can’t say that I’m an expert on his work. That having been said I really like the concept and while I do some planning myself, especially related to projects, I try to be open to all the opportunities I see … and photograph the things that get in front of my camera.  Now does that mean that I’m firing away willy-nilly at everything that seems to be interesting? Not at all! What it does mean is that I’m open to whatever I see and if I think it has potential I do my best to properly evaluate, carefully compose and make the photograph.

But you could also take what Friedlander said and ask isn’t that what digital shooters do?  Well, I suppose, but firing away at anything that gets in front of their cameras, hoping to get some keepers amongst the hundreds or more pictures made during a couple of hours walking around does not yield good results on my opinion. And it’s confirmed when I look at the mostly mundane digital street photography populating the Internet.

If you ask my wife and kids they will tell you how I would always be taking pictures and holding up things when we travelled, or that when driving I would demand to stop the car, or worse yet to turn the car around and drive back ten miles to make a picture of something that caught my eye and wouldn’t let go. I know it was annoying, but I made some memorable pictures along the way.

So what’s the bottom line?  It’s ok to plan and be focused, but don’t worry about it  too much. Really. Worry too much and you might not make many photographs. Here’s an idea … just get out there and photograph the things that get in front of your camera!

That’s what I intend to do this week. I’m taking off some time just to photograph, and while I have specific plans for each day, I will be looking to photograph all the things that get in front of my camera.

Stay well,

Michael

A couple of weeks ago I drove up to Westwood New Jersey for a book signing and meet and greet with the great photographer George Tice. I had spoken with Gallery 270 Director Tom Gramegna who was raving about the astounding quality of the book – and yes, the shear weight of the thing – nine pounds!  He also mentioned that Tice had been working on it for twelve years! So a great double banger – I get to meet George Tice and get a signed copy of his new book called Lifework. It turned out to be a triple-header as I made the acquaintance of a very fine large format documentary photographer who was present at the event for the same reason as me. Turns out we got together this past week over coffee and Monalog will probably have a terrific new member!

That’s one of the things I like most about photography – the wonderfully unexpected and unintended occurrences, often having nothing to do with making a photograph, that often happen when you least expect them.

Okay, back to the main event.  Monalog had a very nice show at the 270 last September and will be having another one in June 2023. It’s just across the river from New York City, but while I was driving up on Interstate 287 I noticed the Paterson exit.  For those that know Tice’s work this was very fitting and it turned out be a great icebreaker that got a chuckle when I finally sat down next to George.

We had a very nice chat for about ten minutes when 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 am grateful for that. George has had a remarkable career and life and I told him a little about mine. Nothing to deep but it was very nice and a lot of fun.

All and all a great evening and the book is a real beauty. I also made a wonderful connection with another great photographer who will become part of my photographic circle.

The unexpected and the unintended … it’s nice when things don’t go necessary as planned!

Stay well,

Michael