Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone – Joni Mitchell

Just got back in from shoveling and snow blowing outside to write this.  The Nor’easter wind was blowing the damn snow into my face while I was trying to remove it from my driveway, so I started thinking about something more pleasant … my photography!

But then, as a fresh gust blanked me, I remembered that I’ve been without access to my darkroom now for over a month or so because of my basement-finishing project.  Not only has my darkroom been turned into a storage space, it is all but barricaded $#@%^&*!  And before that it was in a discombobulated state, due to construction of extensions to my enlarging bench to accommodate the Leitz Focomat 1C and Leitz Focmat 2C that now reside next to my Devere 504.

And sitting on top of the baseboard of the Devere are about fifteen rolls of film that need to be developed @#!$$T%Y^!

As I’ve been pounding nails into countless two by fours or cutting wood with my friend on the table saw (I’m really just his glorified helper to be completely honest), I think more about my darkroom and the time I’ve lost for making photographs than the beautiful dedicated listening room I will have in the hopefully not to distant future.  And I’m sure I will be thinking about this even more while I am putting up all that drywall and painting!

I miss it all, but what if it was taken away for good? One of my friends around the corner just finished recovering from the Omicron variant. Fully vaccinated and boosted and still got the damn virus!  It wasn’t terrible except that he lost his hearing. Problem is that he’s a musician. We talked about it and what it could mean for him. Thankfully after seeing a specialist who proscribed something all is well and he can hear just fine!

That hit me awful hard. What if I lost my hearing? Then I couldn’t listen to my wonderful stereo and my vinyl collection of 4,000 or so records (I know, I know!) in my beautiful listening room I spent all this time and money building.  And what if I lost my vision … my mother had macular degeneration so I think about this from time to time … or couldn’t walk … I was in a nasty car accident about five years ago and still suffer from its outcome … what would happen to my photographic life I love so much?

Every time I begin to take things for granted I stop and think about just how lucky I am.  It’s a gift and I thank my lucky stars for it everyday. After all, it could all be completely different … a lot different.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t think about these things so much, but I’m glad I do, because you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone!

Get out there, have fun, be creative and live the dream.

Stay safe,

Michael

Awhile back I stumbled across an interview of social documentary and street photographer John Free. The question posed was “On your website it says that you are a social documentary and street photography. Can you point out the difference but maybe also tell us more about the combination of these two genres as a photographer’s choice?”

Free responded, “I think that the three most important and also difficult forms or types of photography, is social documentary, photojournalism and fine art street photography, which was called straight photography when I started. I think that the difference between them is rather simple to understand. In photojournalism, six photographs with captions might be required. Social documentary photography requires 25-50 photos, which are each supported by a caption or short story. In street photography, it all must be done with one photograph and with no caption to help explain what cannot be seen. No caption and no posing, make street photography the most difficult form of photography that I have ever been involved with. My professional work in social documentary photography was very helpful in teaching myself how to get closer to the subject. Closer in many ways, not just where I stand, but how I can convey my feelings about a subject in my photograph of that subject. To bring as much life and understanding into the image, in order for the viewer to better understand the image.”

All interesting and I think very useful, but focused on this … “In street photography, it all must be done with one photograph and with no caption to help explain what cannot be seen. No caption and no posing, make street photography the most difficult form of photography that I have ever been involved with.”

I think it’s vitally important that our photographs be able to stand on their own as complete and self-contained personal statements.  All of your creativity and vision must become dedicated and focused to ensure that the picture you make faithfully reproduces what you initially saw in your mind’s eye … and felt in your heart.  But that’s only half the battle. What’s contained in the negative must be fully realized in the final print. Otherwise what had so much promise surely will end up as an also-ran.

When you make a photograph it should be a personal and intense experience. It doesn’t matter whether it’s made in Manhattan or Yosemite Valley. Same thing when you’re in the darkroom.

Easier said then done, right?  It is if you dedicate yourself to it!

It’s a new year. I’m going to try my best.

Stay safe,

Michael

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Elliott Erwitt’s huge and incredible volume Personal Best. If you are serious about photography it’s a book you simply need to have!

I won’t be bashful, I love Erwitt and he’s just what we all need during these somewhat dark times. Why? For one thing, all his photographs are great! They capture the hilarious and absurdity in life, especially those with the dogs … just what we need today … and probably tomorrow!  I look at these pictures and they make me laugh, but most of all, they make me happy.  I’m certain the laughing contributes to the happiness. But Erwitt is more than a one trick pony … he’s made many truly poignant images that will touch you in a powerful way.  Just look at his picture of Jacqueline Kennedy at John F. Kennedy’s funeral. And there are many more such wonderful and moving images.

Erwitt’s photographs are all gems and yet there are just so many of them! The fact that many of the wonderful pictures in Personal Best were never published before really says something.

He’s lived an incredible photographic life and has had a career spanning seven decades.  Still active in his 90’s, he believes “the best things happen when you just happen to be somewhere with a camera.”  Damn!

I like everything about Erwitt. His pictures, the life he’s lived and his philosophy.

As I previously wrote about Personal Best, it gives me something to dream of and aspire to, even if I cannot have the life Elliott Erwitt has had. It forces me to strive to do what makes me happy and do it in the best way I can, so I can create mypersonal best.

Stay safe,

Michael

It seems like déjà vu doesn’t it?  A year ago I wrote about getting through 2020, having lost 350,000 Americans. Now we’re up to over 820,000 dead and counting.  Since then we have gone through the original, then Delta (still going strong) and Omnicron, which is currently spreading through our country like wildfire. 600,000 cases the day I write this! It’s difficult to process this knowing that it could have been much different if only a segment of the population decided to behave in a rational fashion.  I know several seemingly intelligent people that refuse to vaccinate, one is in the midst of recovering from Covid as I write this.  All of this is compounded by an increasingly nastier political climate fueled by lies and ever-stranger conspiracy theories.  Then there are the ravages we’ve experienced caused by climate change that add to an already difficult situation.

What a way to start 2022!  Another bad year, right?  Well you could look at it that way, sit around and become creatively paralyzed, or you can think about all there is to be grateful for and get out there! With all the crap that went on this past year, 2021 turned out to be a pretty damn nice year for me … family, work and photographically.  So how did that happen?  I was resolved not to let the bastards get me down, did what I could to make some kind of difference and continued to “live a photographic life”.  You know what … I’m going to do the same thing for 2022!  And I hope you will too.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year filled with meaning and purpose.

Stay safe,

Michael

I finished watching The Beatles: Get Back documentary Thanksgiving weekend. You might say I’ve been a little obsessed since then … just ask my wife! If you care about, or just want to get a better understanding about the creative process and what it takes to fully realize your vision as intended, then you need to watch this! Oh, and by the way, the music happens to be pretty good too!

In addition to thinking about how these musical geniuses went about creating their art, I also thought about how similar their process was to that which has been and continues to be used in black and white analog photography by those who truly care about their work.

The greats and those who aspire to be great go back again and again if the light isn’t right or the picture isn’t just so. They throw away the also-rans during and after long printing sessions and only print their very few best images.  Sometimes the print takes days to get it right … trying different papers, developers, etc., until the final result that recreates the vision originally seen in their mind’s eye is achieved.

It’s hard and often frustrating work, but when it all finally comes together, there’s nothing quite like it. And when you have experienced one of those special moments, there’s no turning back.

Stay safe,

Michael