Dave Usher was a truly great photographer. He primarily used large format cameras to create images of the natural scene that exhibited great beauty and sensitivity. He passed away last September. Dave was a photographer whose work deserved to be more widely known.  He touched many lives but I’ll bet most who met him are not aware that he’s gone. Knowing Dave, he probably would not have wanted me to write this but I feel it’s important that I do. Not much he can do about it I guess.

Dave was a former Army photographer and supervisory photographer for the US Department of Interior.  Interior was his home but he made important photographs for many US government agencies including the State Department.  Many know him for the twenty years he taught with Fred Picker at the famous Zone VI Workshops.  Dave knew more about the history of photography, major photographers and photographic processes that anyone I had ever met. But most importantly he was a damned good photographer. His photographs are held in collections worldwide and appeared in major publications including National Geographic, The Washington Post and The New York Times.  He was entrusted to print the glass plates of William Henry Jackson for the Smithsonian and for the show William Henry Jackson: The Survey Years.

Dave was a cantankerous son of gun who just happened to be a photographic master. Dave was also one of the most caring and unselfish people I ever met. He was also a friend, even though there occasional spats.  We had a sometimes-difficult relationship … and I now have learned that he is gone.

My first experience with Dave was when I gave him a phone call in the late Nineties. Turns out he lived about a mile from my house in Northern Virginia.  I knew about Dave from my reading of Zone VI newsletters. Dave was one of Fred’s key instructors, so when I found out he lived nearby it only made sense for me to contact him out of the blue and suggest he offer me a private workshop. True to form, I heard a growl and a got few choice words from the other end of the line that I won’t share here, and that was that.

A couple of years latter I decided to take a flyer and drive to Vermont to attend Fred’s funeral. I never met Fred, but had spoken to him several times by phone, owned a lot of his darkroom gear and chemicals, and of course was a devoted reader of his Newsletters.  I heard about his death and a couple of days later hoped into my Miata and drove up to Dummerston.  When I got there I didn’t know a soul, but had some new friends by the time I left. Everyone wondered who I was and why I was there, but Dave finally introduced himself, took me under his wing and introduced me to Zone VI brethren. I met some wonderful people, ended up sharing a few meals and made some photographs together.

Back in Virginia, Dave and I became good friends and we spent a lot of time together.  One day he announced he was retiring from the government and would be moving to Brattleboro, Vermont to photograph full time. And so he did.  I visited Dave several times to photograph, once with my son. We always had a great time together even though  we didn’t always see eye to eye on things … politics, religion, and pretty much most other things … except our love of photography! In September 2014 Dave had a beautiful show of his work at the Vermont Center for Photography.  I drove up to see it and stayed with him and Maria. His landscape work had a purity of vision that is seldom experienced.

Dave developed pancreatic cancer, a cruel card to be dealt.  When he was feeling stronger I went to visit him and Maria. We ate a lot and photographed. Dave even showed me Fred’s secret“Point Lobos of the East”spot.  We had a great time until we got into a stupid disagreement over something completely unimportant. There were no goodbyes the next morning when it was time for me to leave.  I tried to reconnect shortly thereafter without success and chose to let it lie. Maybe it was the cancer, the chemo, or the radiation. I’ll never know. Maybe it was both of us. I never ended up telling Dave about what I was doing to make photography an even greater part in my life … not about this website, my exhibiting, my teaching or anything else.

It always bothered me. People who knew Dave told me that’s the way it was; time to move on. I should have done otherwise.

For the last month or so I have been thinking about Dave.  While I was attending the Photo Arts Xchange I learned that Dave had passed away last September from the cancer.  On the drive back home I called his friend, the photographer, camera builder and repairman extraordinaire Richard Ritter to see if there were any other details. True to form, Richard had spoken to Dave the day before he died and everything seemed fine.  He only found out about Dave’s passing by accident when he ran into Maria several weeks later at the grocery store. I guess that’s the way Dave wanted it.

I should have been the bigger person and made a greater effort to reach out to Dave. I didn’t, and for that I will always feel terribly sad.

I hope this somehow reaches those who knew Dave … knew his larger than life personality, the tremendous good he did, the vast knowledge he shared and the timelessness of the work he created.

Dave, I will miss you.

Rest in peace big guy.

Last week I had the great opportunity to visit David W. Haas at his home in Allentown Pennsylvania. David happens to be one of the finest black and white analog printers working today.  The very large list of great photographers he has printed for includes Harry Callahan, Carl Chairenza, Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Aaron Siskind, Michael Smith and George Tice to name a few.  He also happens to be tremendous photographer who specializes in 4×5 and 5×7 large format work.

I was fortunate to meet David at the Michael Smith memorial. After the event concluded we spoke for a while in the Michener parking lot.  We agreed to get together and I quickly followed up with a phone call to schedule a visit to see his operation.

Allentown is about an hour drive from where I live and I was excited with anticipation of what I would see the entire way there.  When I arrived I wasn’t disappointed. David lives in a historic row house with most of the living area dedicated to photography.  The first thing that strikes you when you walk in the door are the many exquisite photographs David as printed that hang on the walls.  Some are his images but others are the work of clients and past legends like Carlton Watkins.  Several of the prints are quite large … up to 20×24.  But the subject matter is beautiful and the printing is absolutely world class.  Not the large junk content images we are used to seeing.

On to the darkroom … or perhaps I should say darkrooms.  All custom designed to meet David’s unique requirements and those of his clients. In the printing room I counted five enlargers, including a Leitz Focomat 1c for 35mm negatives, a couple of Omega Ds, and two 8×10 enlargers … one horizontal to enable production of really large prints. Then there was a separate but adjacent wet workspace for development of film and paper, complete with customized wooden sinks that David built.  Finally, there was a spacious area for spotting, mounting and matting finished prints.

Once, I was done with the tour and asking questions that were patiently and happily answered, David took the time to show me many of his wonderful and impeccably printed images. Contrast, tone, sense of light … all perfect!  There’s nothing more that can be said.

The time just flew by and before I knew it I had spent three hours with David.

David is truly a great and unselfish guy.  Anyone that wishes to improve their craft would be welled served by paying David a visit. He provides tutorials and workshops that can be custom designed to meet each photographer’s individual goals and objectives, and darkroom rental is an option.  And if you want the complete experience, you can even bed and breakfast with David for a nominal cost.

David’s website is https://davidwhaas.comor he can be contacted the old fashioned way at 610-433-8320.

I could have spent a lot more time with David, but I know I’ll be back.

Last weekend I attended a memorial held for the late great Michael Smith at the Michener Art Museum here in Doylestown. Stephen Perloff, Smith’s long-time friend and Founder and Editor of Photo Review Magazine, and Richard Trenner, another long-time friend and editor gave tributes to his life.  Then his wife and outstanding photographer Paula Chamlee spoke.  Very moving about a man who lived a life on his own terms and by his own rules.  Not many can say they have done that.  She also made sure that everyone in attendance had a nametag on so that they could introduce themselves to one and other and begin new friendships.  That is what Paula wanted, and what Michael would have wanted.

It was wonderful to see my good friends that I have had the good fortune to come to know since moving to here. I also ran into Peter Schrager who has been a long-time reader and commenter to this website. Wonderful to finally meet you Peter and I look forward to getting together in the near future!  But true to Paula’s wishes I met new people as well.  I met Diane Levell who’s photography exhibit I recently saw and wrote about here. Turns out we live only a few miles from each other!  I also met Steve Sherman, who’s first annual Photo Arts Xchange I will be attending and presenting at in May.  Finally, I was thrilled to meet the great George Tice and several other fine photographers and darkroom workers that I look forward to getting to know in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.

All in all a wonderful event … just the way Michael and Paula wanted it!

Last weekend I drove up to the Johnstown, NY area and participated in a photographic retreat organized by the very fine photographer Tillman Crane. I didn’t have a lot of extra time so instead of making the four hour drive on Friday night and getting a decent amount of sleep I got up at 4:30 on Saturday morning. Of course our puppy that has recently taken to sleeping on our bed decided after my incredibly loud alarm went off that it was now time to play. @$#%^&I*!  Chaos notwithstanding, I did manage to get out of the house on time.

One of the nice features of this retreat was that it was free!  Because I chose a more scenic drive I showed up a tiny bit late to my first destination, the very old and lovely Fort Herkimer Church and cemetery, located in Mohawk, NY.  I am a sucker for old churches and especially old cemeteries so this was great!  One problem … I was so busy prior to blowing town that I didn’t pay much attention to the weather a couple of hundred miles from where I live. The only thought I had was that it would be 70 degrees in Doylestown. As I drove through fog much of the way the temperature continued to drop. By the time I reached the church it was around 32 degrees, with several inches of snow on the ground!  Beautiful for making photographs in the cemetery, but after a couple of hours walking around my sneakers were wet and my thin knit gloves were useless.  The result; my toes and fingers were freezing. No problem, it would be warm inside the old church.  Wrong!  There was no heat and it felt colder than it was outside!  Despite some pretty numb fingers I think I got what I hope will be some good results … at least the negatives I developed look good.  Lesson learned … plan better when it comes to warm clothing and proper shoes!  What was I thinking … I had grown up in New York State and drove or hitchhiked across most of it, camping along the way.  I called my wife on the cell. Her response … you’re in New York State.  Right as usual.

Next onto another wonderful old house of worship, Palatine Church, located in Fort Plain, NY and thankful for the efficient heater in my car!  Naturally, I kept stopping along the way several times to make pictures!  To me, driving around with no plan in mind or just being lost, only to find something interesting is one of the most exciting aspects of photographing.  I finally showed up at the church just as other participants were packing up and it was being locked.  Fortunately the person with the key pitied me enough to let me go inside for the short amount of time necessary to make a few photographs. Then on to the Johnstown Holiday Inn to show and discuss prints.

I had a nice time photographing, met up with one of my friends who lives nearby me and ran into someone else who has attended one of my Photo Chat Get Togethers. I also spoke to Tillman who is great guy. Most of the prints I saw were digital landscapes or other digitally made images despite Tillman’s emphasis on large format and platinum prints.  I was pretty much odd man out. But no worries, it was fairly entertaining.

Several of the digital pictures I saw, like the photographs I viewed at the Diane Levell show were good, in this case those where efforts were employed to make them look as natural as possible (e.g., non-digital and not overdone).  So my question to some that were displaying their work … why not just use film?  The short answer was that it comes down to a question of ease and time. Sometimes you hear “I could never make this photograph with film and traditional darkroom processes”.  But why should I ruin a nice event?  I wrapped up in a couple of hours and then headed home.  I am sure the dinner was nice but I needed to get back.

All in all a good time and many thanks to Tillman Crane for organizing this fine event.  I got a chance to listen to some great jazz in my car, nearly got frostbite, made what I hope are a few nice photographs, discussed photography, ran into some people I know and met some others I didn’t. What more can you ask for in one day?

While I was at the Steichen/Garber exhibit at the Michener I also took in a small but very interesting show of Diane Levell’s Bucks County landscape photographs.  They were made using a digital infrared camera and digitally printed on Japanese rice paper.  And I have to say that they were as tastefully done as any digital work I have seen. Quite enchanting but certainly different from analog work – even analog photographs made with infrared film (see my description of Sandy Sorlien’s wonderful little book Fifty Houses: Images From the American Road).

The point of the series was to transform the familiar (in this case intimate landscapes) into the magical.  I think she succeeded and I will admit that I liked many of her images. But don’t jump to any hasty conclusion here and think I’ve gone over to the dark side … I most certainly have not!

Look, I also like paintings made using oil, watercolor and egg temper.  What is used to create the painting creates different results – they’re different mediums. So I think it’s all right for me to also like digital prints if they are good pictures tastefully executed (I saw a few more good ones while participating in a photo retreat this weekend … more on that to come). They just are not the same as film-based silver gelatin (or platinum, etc.) prints and in most cases they don’t do it for me.  To me it’s a different form of art.  Ok, that’s my opinion and it won’t be a surprise to those who regularly visit this site. Digital is just not the same I am not sure the technology will ever be capable re-creating what I see and experience from all-analog produced images

So here are some questions.  Am I glad I went to see the exhibit? Yes. Was the work good? Yes. Do I like digital photography in general? No. Do I think you should see the exhibit if you’re nearby? Also yes.  Is Dianne Levell a talented photographer? Absolutely! After doing a little research, I learned she uses film and alternative processes, depending on her objective. It turns also out that we are both members of the Red Filter Gallery and she lives here in Doylestown … perhaps we will meet someday!

The exhibit runs through July 28^th.

On Saturday I went to see an interesting show at the Michener Art Museum, here in Doylestown, Bridging Two American Muralists: Daniel Garber & Edward Steichen(Note to self – I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful treasure of a museum in a small town and within walking distance of my home!).  Steichen was one of the Twentieth Century’s photography giants. But his first love was painting, which led him to move to Paris as a young man in 1900. It was after he returned to the United States that he took up photography with a vengeance and the rest as they say is history.

To be honest, I wasn’t aware that Steichen started off as a painter.  I know this now as a result of seeing this small but fantastic show that focuses on his mural work and that of the great Bucks County artist Daniel Garber. Garber has one of the most incredible senses of light I have ever seen and I have often taken my students to the museum to see many of his wonderful paintings that are in its permanent collection. Why? Because as photographers we can learn a lot about light and composition from studying the great painters!  But you need to actually go to see the paintings. You just cannot get the full appreciation of the great’s sense of light unless you are standing in front of their work. So do go to art galleries and museums whenever the opportunity presents itself!

Back to Steichen. Like many photographers of his time he started off by making somewhat blurry photographs to approximate impressionist paintings. Thankfully this trend quickly passed!  The seven paintings on display are anything but blurry. The murals are very large and incredibly colorful. The canvases measure 120 inches in height. Two are 96 inches wide and the other five are 55 inches. All include larger than life portraits of other painters, their children or Steichen’s patrons. Each canvas also includes flora associated with specific human traits or desires and served as the basis and inspiration for the composition.

Looking at the paintings it is easy to see how they informed Steichen’s latter straight photography, most notably his formal portrait work, and it was a real treat to learn and experience something about this great photographer I wasn’t aware of before. Steichen was a true multi-talented artist who could paint as well as he could photograph. It’s a shame that he gave up his painting and destroyed all his remaining canvases. Fortunately you can experience some of his rarely seen paintings, but only if you move quickly. The show ends on April 15^th.  So if you are near Bucks County, it is definitely worth a visit to the Michener to see this wonderful exhibit by two truly gifted artists.