It was a few years ago that I received the last Freestyle Photo catalogue in the mail and was advised there would be no more. Surely this was a bad sign for analog photography I thought. Thankfully Freestyle remained in business and I continue to purchase supplies from them, most notably paper (I have been a customer for a long time – years ago on a business trip to Los Angeles I found the time to make a pilgrimage to their Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard).  Nevertheless I was sad not to receive the catalogue that came out a once or twice a year. Another sign of the times I guess. Sort of like my continuously shrinking newspaper and what remains of the great magazines.

So you can’t believe how excited I was about a month ago when I went out to get the mail.  There in the box was a Freestyle Photo catalogue!  On the cover in bold lettering it said NEW AGAIN … REDISCOVER THE WORLD OF ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY.  Damn! Now if I hadn’t just spent $300 with them for three more boxes of Variant III I would have placed an order for something just to feel good!

For those of us that prefer using film cameras and making prints in our darkrooms, the catalogue serves as a reconfirmation that what we love so much is NOT DEAD OR DYING as some would have us believe. Want more evidence?  Take a look at the price of topflight film cameras. Take medium format. After nose-diving, prices for used Hasselblad, Pentax 67, Mamiya 7 and Fuji/Bessa folding rangefinders have skyrocketed.  Digital is not going away, but neither is film. Instant film and new cameras that use it are back too. And I don’t think paper is saying goodbye either.

So for those sitting on the fence over getting into, or back into analog photography, feel free to jump off and have a nice soft landing. There is plenty of fantastic high quality gear that is cheap, and of course you can still spend the money if you want a new or used Leica or Hassy, etc.

Anyway, I just spent a good part of the weekend in my darkroom. The world may be going crazy all around us, but it’s still a great time to be alive if you like using film and making prints!

I know … I only listen to vinyl, and only through vintage tube electronics, and I only use film and make silver gelatin black and white prints.  And I prefer “straight” photography. Ok, I get it, there’s a pattern operating here.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Allentown Museum of Art to take in the exhibit Fresh Perspective, Modernism in Photography, 1920-1950.  Little did I know that I was going to see three different shows!  Let’s start with the exhibit I travelled to see.  The Fresh Perspective show contained twenty-five mostly 8×10 black and white prints by Edward Weston, Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Eisenstaedt, August Sander, Walker Evans, and others, some of which I was not familiar with. Everything from landscapes and landscape fragments, to formal portraits, to cityscapes, to objects used and worn in everyday life.  A few pictures stood out in particular to me … Edward Weston’s Kelp, Point Lobos, Margaret Bourke-White’s Aerial View of New York Bus Terminal Building, and Eggs with Slicer, also by Edward Weston. A very nice little show and well worth seeing!

I left the photographs of the Masters and strolled into a large auditorium containing the Lehigh Valley Photography Club 2019 Juried Exhibition.  As you can imagine, there was a large cross section of photographs covering all subject matter in both black and white and color. Of course mostly larger digital prints.

Then walked two floors up the stairs to a very large show, Carrie Mae Weems, Strategies of Engagement.  The New York Times has called Weems “perhaps or greatest living photographer” and I have to say the exhibit was fascinating on a number of different levels and perhaps it is top level representative of the current state of exhibited photography. Very large silver gelatin and digital black and white prints, purposefully out of focus color prints, even huge hanging images printed on thin muslin cloth. Most appeared to be staged or posed in some way.   There is even text and videos. The work focuses on racial stereotypes and problematic issues in American history concerning Native Americans and African Americans.  Very different to me, and to be honest, I had trouble wrapping my head around what I saw, but I believe worth seeing.

The trip to the Allentown Museum showed me where photography has come from to where it now is at the art museum/gallery levels. Also on display was the work of many who make photographs for the joy of it. It all gave me a lot to think about. I had started off with the older work, then went on to the camera club photographs, and ended with the new work.  When I finished, I just had to return one more time to view the older work.  I looked at those twenty-five prints again, then smiled and left for the ride home.

If you happen to be in or near the Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley do check out the Allentown Museum of Art.  The Fresh Perspective and Carrie Mae Weems shows run throughMay 5^th and May 12^th respectively.

After I finished seeing the two exhibits at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts I had lunch in the cafeteria, then hightailed it to the small town of Andover, MA. About a thirty-five minute drive and I showed up in time to take a leisurely stroll through the Addison Gallery of American Arts located on the beautiful grounds of the famous Phillips Academy.  The public schools I attended growing up didn’t have a gallery housing more than 18,000 works by some of the most prominent American painters and photographers! That’s all right, I survived and am now happy to have found this incredible gem!!!

Contemplating the View: American Landscape Photographs is a great show and in many ways was as much of a surprise for me as the Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico exhibit.  The show contained more than 150 photographs from the museum’s large photography collection and included an incredible and what might seem to be an unlikely cross section of great American photographers. Highlights included images by landscape masters Wynn Bullock, Mark Klett, William Garnett, Robert Adams, Alvin Langdon Corburn, Alfred Steiglitz, Edward Weston, Minor White, Harry Callahan, Ansel Adams, Ralph Steiner, Sonya Noskowiak, Aaron Siskind, Eliot Porter, Richard Misrach, Lois Conner, Frank Gohlke, Lewis Baltz and John Willis, but also unexpected work by Bill Owens, Elliott Erwitt, Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, John Szarkowski and Roger Minick.

As was the case with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts show, I had the opportunity to see some landscape favorites produced in smaller sizes, like Ansel Adams Mount McKinley. There were others such as Wynn Bullock’sStark Tree and Harry Callahan’sSunlight on Water. Then there was a truly unexpected and beautiful photograph by Elliot Erwitt, Church at Wounded Knee. That is just one example of the many surprises awaiting you if you can get to this great show before it closes on March 3rd. And guess what … admission is free!!!

Not sure three exhibits and almost seven hundred miles driving in one day is for everyone, but it was a memorable and inspiring day I will always cherish.

Last week I wrote about the Ansel Adams in our TimeExhibit, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. That is now over, but you still have a chance to see the fantastic show that ran in parallel to it … Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico.  I will admit that I wasn’t familiar with Iturbide’s work and had not even heard of her before seeing this wonderful exhibit. Turns out that she is considered by many that do know about her to be Latin America’s premier photographer.

Again, so much to see and learn, so little time!

To say that the show was a surprise and a thrill would be an understatement! The highlights for me were her wonderful black and white environmental portraits and street scenes of daily Mexican life made with 35mm and medium format cameras.  Particularly special were the pictures she made at Mexican fiestas.

In an interview with The Guardian published on February 23^rdIturbide says “The camera for me is a pretext for exploring life and culture around the world, and what usually guides me is what surprises me as I look at things,” she says. “If I am not surprised, I cannot take photographs, because it is missing that emotional dimension.”

Her photographs are all surprising.  The show runs through May 12^th. Highly recommended and well worth the visit!

A couple of weeks ago I found out about this exhibit and quickly realized I needed to get to Boston before it closed. When I checked out the Musuem’s website I saw there was another exhibit running in parallel, Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico. Then I learned of another intriguing show, Contemplating the View: American Landscape Photographs, at the Andover Gallery of American Art located about forty minutes away on the campus of the Phillips Academy.

What does one do armed with such information? Two words … Road Trip!  Got up before way before the crack of dawn and was on my way before 6am.  Three exhibits and almost seven hundred miles later I pulled back into my driveway that evening at 10:30pm.   A lot of driving, but thankfully I had some great music to listen to and a lot of folks to catch up with on the cell!

I want to focus on the Ansel Adams in our Timeexhibit for now and will cover the other two shows in subsequent entries.

For many the question is how many times do you need to see an Ansel Adams show? I’ve seen several, including the famous retrospective at the National Gallery Art in Washington, DC.  The answer for me is whenever the opportunity presents itself!

I have also visited the Wilderness Society’s Washington DC headquarters several times and viewed Adams’ incredible Museum Set. Can you imagine sitting at your desk or walking through the office and looking up only to see Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico staring back at you!  I also was lucky enough to visit the Master’s home during a workshop with John Sexton and saw many wonderful images there.

So let’s get to it. The exhibit primarily included works by Adams, many familiar and a number no so much. It also included pictures by other great photographers that came before him, such as Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Timothy O’Sullivan, and Frank Jay Haynes, as well as others that have followed him such as Mark Klett and Lois Conner.

The pictures by the pioneering photographers were very interesting, but to be honest with you, much of the newer work left me cold.  To say I am tired of gimmicky collages and boring large color photographs is an understatement.  Ok, now that I got that quickly out of the way, let’s focus on Adams!

An eye opener for me was that many of the prints, including some very famous ones, were small in size.  I mean about 8×10 or less!  Generally, we are used to seeing Adams prints much larger in size.  If there is anyone that can routinely pull that off it is Adams, as much of his work is truly majestic.  You are used to seeing 16×20, 20×24 and even larger prints, but these smaller ones were incredible little jewels!!  They’re truly amazing and force you to look closely to explore their detail and discover their hidden secrets!

Here are my highlights in particular order taken from my next to nearly illegible notes I scribbled down.

Monolith, The Face of Half Dome 

Clearing Winter Storm– an 8×10 version that was deeply selenium toned, as well as a much larger print without the toning effect

Moon and Half Dome

Adams first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras – 15 exquisite 8×10 prints includingMonolith, The Face of Half Dome

A number of small images I had never seen before in the flesh or in print, including several beauties from Adams’ “Shipwreck Series”, photographs made in 1932 of rusty metal and rocks found on the beach.  Others included Indian Mortar Holes, Big Meadow, Yosemite National Park; and Leaves in Pool, Sierra Nevada, California

Other wonderful small prints of street and nearby scenes I had never seen before – Cigar Store Indian, Powell Street, San Francisco; Political Sign and Circus Poster, San Francisco;  and Laurel Hill Cemetery, San Francisco

Golden Gate Before the Bridge 

White House Ruin, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona accompanied by a very similar earlier photograph previously made by Timothy O’Sullivan 

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico

Georgia O’Keefe and Orville Cox

The Enchanted Mesa, near Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico 

Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake, Alaska

The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park

Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California

Sand Dunes Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument

Grass and Burnt Stump, Sierra Nevada, California

And finally, a fantastic picture of graffiti I had never seen before– Wall Writing, Hornitos, California

Enough said. The exhibit closes in less than a week.  If you are even remotely close to Boston you must GO SEE IT!

I finally got around to calling Freestyle just before they closed on this past Monday.  Good news … they were going to be getting in more of the 100 sheet boxes of Fomabrom Variant III VC FB 8×10. Sigh of relief.  But then I decided to ask how many boxes they were actually going to be getting. Eight total and two were already spoken for. Well if I were flush with cash I would have taken the remaining six boxes. Instead I ordered three.

So I am good for a while, but I do worry about how spotty it might be to obtain some of the more boutique papers when you need them on a moments notice. Ilford – no problem. Fomabrom – maybe another story.

My recommendation is to make sure you always have enough critical materials on hand, be it paper, film or chemicals. You don’t want to see the dreaded words “out of stock” next to your tried and trues, especially if they are sourced from small overseas manufacturers.  The best plan is to keep your stocks up to date in order to avoid bad surprises.

The paper arrived on Saturday and went in the freezer.  All is well in my world … for now.

I am hoping that this is the final installment of the saga concerning my trials and tribulations with this paper and its twin Fomabrom Variant III.  So is Arista EDU Ultra the evil twin.  Sadly, in my experience, the answer is yes.  Over the recent holiday week I finished my Arista paper and went through an entire new box of Fomabrom.  And the results … the same icky molting of emulsion on the Arista paper’s edges with several prints during the hypo and selenium toning steps. And sure enough, again one print was ruined as the pealing went into the image itself!

How about the Fomabrom? One hundred sheets and not one bit of cosmic debris (for you Frank Zappa fans) floating in my trays from the final ones that made it to the toning process. So I guess that settles it for now. Both are incredibly fine papers that enable magical prints. And both cost $99.95 for a box of 100 8×10 sheets.  Seems like a simple decision. I will be using Fomabrom Variant III exclusively going forward … or will I?

I just checked on the Freestyle website to confirm pricing and noticed that both the 25 and 100 8×10 sheet boxes are “out of stock” and other Fomabrom papers are mostly listed as “out of stock” or in “low stock”. #$@%^$#%^&!  The Arista paper appears to be in stock, but I’ve been to this rodeo a few too many times and I hope this isn’t a replay of those experiences.

Stay tuned.

I am not a complete Fred Picker fan boy, but I am not shy about saying that he had some important and insightful things to say (not to mention some very fine photographs he made photographic and many innovations he introduced). Recently I’ve been discussing my hit rate for 2018. I was going through my stash of Fred’s Zone VI Newsletters and found some of his thoughts that were highly germane to mine on keeper hit rates.  While he focuses part of his discussion on large format work, what he says is relevant to whatever format you may use. I really don’t think I could say it better then Fred did, so I will just go ahead and quote him! I’m sure if he was still with us he wouldn’t mind!

From Newsletter #47, June, 1986, pp. 8-10:

“I just finished filling work from 1985 and generated some statistics I found interesting.  I photographed 120 das last year of which about twenty were spent on commercial assignments and 100 were spent on personal work. I exposed 456 large format personal negatives (about 300 4×5, 150 8×10) or 4.5 exposures for every day I photographed. Some of the negatives were duplicates made either for backup or with different filters, different exposures, under changing light conditions, or made for different developing treatment, etc. There were about 300 subjects photographed. After proofing, I chose thirty-one negatives to print. That’s one negative printed for every fifteen negatives made, one negative printed for every ten subjects photographed, one negative printed for every three days in the field.

Because it took an average of three working days – twenty-four hours – to make a photograph that I thought worth printing and it takes me about two-and-a-half hours to print a new negative, I spent ten times as long making a picture that I thought worth printing than I spent printing it.

When you add to the printing time, holder cleaning, film loading, chemical mixing, negative developing, proofing, washing, toning, mounting, filling, cleaning up the darkroom, etc.; it comes to probably 35 hours or a five day work week per printable negative. The percentage is worse than that. Ten of the thirty-one prints were consumed during the traditional, painful, but necessary “New Years Day Edit by Wood Stove.”

Edward Weston said that if at the top of his form and if given adequate subject matter, (tow hefty “ifs”) he thought he could make one significant photograph for every day he spent in the field. Ansel said that twelve serious photographs a year was good output. To the hobbyist who fires off two 36 exposure rolls on a Sunday morning and prints half of them between cocktails and bed time on Tuesday night, his level of production will seem like pretty slime pickings. It all depends on what the individual photographer thinks is worth printing.”

And From Newsletter #51, June, 1987, pp. 9-10:

“There is an aspect of the Zone System that is usually regarded as vital. It has to do with the previsualizing of the print in all aspects. In my opinion, no one really can. Certainly anyone can visualize the print in shades of grapy and an accomplished photographer can note the most insignificant details of the composition but no one knowsat the time of t exposure the answer to the only important question: did he merely skillfully record what was there (made an admirable picture) or will he see in the print that subtle and evasive something wonderful?

Consider: any thousands of unprinted negatives indicate that anyone’s ability to visualize at the time of exposure in the most sophisticated terms, the emotional content of the future print, is pretty crude. If we could really do it, how come you, me, and the greatest photographers in history, take so many pictures that excite us at the time of exposure but the prints contain no more emotional wallop than a postcard? Even though the great get a higher percentage of “keepers” than ordinary folks, they also get a lot of near misses. The truth is that the balance and complexity of ingredients that make up and extraordinary photograph are so ephemeral they can be “previsualized” only up to a point. The transformation of real objects onto a two dimensional plane, rendering their colors in black and white, and radically changing the subjects’ size make it extremely difficult to foretell the emotional power, if any, the print will contain. So often the most exciting moments in the filed are disappointments in the darkroom. But sometimes you just know. Strand made about nine negatives of the wondrous cobweb in Maine. He knew.

What can you do? You have no choice but to be tough on yourself. Do a lot of work. Do it the absolute best you can regardless of the difficulties you may find. Photograph only what excites you (never what you think will “make a good picture”) and hope that the law of averages is operating.”

Take some time and think about what Fred said. Then go out and make some great photographs and prints you will be proud of!