About a year ago I decided to take a little trip down memory lane. That’s right, I decided to take a look through my many proof sheets going all the way back to the beginning! Now I’m pretty picky about I what I print, but what surprised me after spending a couple of days at it was the discovery that there might be some gems here that I missed for some reason.

All in all, I found around a hundred or so images that looked like they deserved a chance to be printed and prove themselves. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Go through a lot of paper (at $1.00 or so a sheet for 8×10), chemicals, not to mention a lot of time. On the other hand, now that I’ve found them I won’t know if there are any keepers here unless I give it a shot.

So I will be slowly going through the many flagged proof sheets and printing in between current work. No doubt it will take a long time, but I am excited by prospects!

The question is why do so many images I recently peered at through the magnifying loupe somehow now look more appealing than they did at first glance? To be honest, I’m not completely sure. Perhaps a different perspective, a new point of view, or the fact that I am older and hopefully somewhat wiser. Or maybe I was too hasty the first time around.

I’m sure this could be psychoanalyzed, but the bottom line is that I’m not sure it really matters. What does matter is the fact that taking some time off and then going back to the sources can be illuminating. Just as it makes sense to study your finished prints for a while to confirm they are what you envisioned, or determine they need some more work … or belong in the trash.

There’s no shame if you find out that the circular file is the end result when looking at your finished work. In fact the trashcan, fireplace or whatever mechanism you use to dispose of the also-rans is one of the most important tools you have at your creative disposal! So please do go back through your old proof sheets. Maybe there won’t be anything there, or what you end up printing may be so-so … or maybe you might be surprised to find some overlooked keepers you somehow missed the first time around!

Several weeks ago, Philadelphia’s Mount Carmel Jewish Cemetery was struck at night during a wave of hate crimes and hate threats taking place across our country. While the main focus in recent months appears aimed at Jewish institutions, the breadth of activity really is much more widespread than that, with attacks against transgender women, African Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, Hindu Americans, Sikh Americans and others also taking place.

It seems intolerance is on the rise of late. However, such reprehensible behavior is not new in America; it really never goes away, just simmering below the surface only to rear its ugly head when triggered by a particular event or sentiment.

So far there is no evidence that the more than 100 toppled or broken headstones in the cemetery was a deliberate act of “anti-Semitism” or just a random act of vandalism by local teenagers. To me there really isn’t much of a distinction, as it involved a cowardly act of violence based on intolerance of those who are some way different.

As someone that deeply loves this country, I find the current wave disturbing on many levels. What can effectively be done to combat the current wave of hatred? Pronouncements by our elected leaders and action by law enforcement … perhaps.

What really encourages me are the generous acts of lovingkindness on the part of individual Americans, for whom such behavior has no place in their daily lives. I witnessed this firsthand when I visited Mount Carmel Cemetery to participate in cleanup activities. While most of the volunteers were Jewish, many were not! And funds to restore the cemetery, as well as the suburban St. Louis Jewish cemetery similarly attacked were quickly established by the American Muslim community.

Yes, it is the acts of individuals that will certainly move us away from the current darkness and these acts will manifest themselves in many large and small ways. This struck me during the cleanup and when I came back the following day to try to capture for myself the magnitude of what had happened that night. As I walked through the 5-acre cemetery I made some photographs of the sadness before me. Headstones toppled on one and other; some split in half. One thing stuck out of the chaos … a single headstone broken and toppled over. Onto the cold winter grass it cast a shadow of gloom and despair, but sitting on top of it was a shining piece of stone deliberately placed.

In the Jewish faith it is customary to leave a small stone on the grave as a sign to others that the grave has been visited. But perhaps more importantly, it enables the visitor the opportunity to honor the deceased’s life and memory.   Someone … who may or may not be Jewish took a moment and placed that small stone atop the fallen and broken headstone.

That small stone and the act of placing it there created a shadow of its own, but in this case, I choose to believe a shadow representing hope, that will only grow into something much bigger, if we stand up as individuals and Americans to perform the small but meaningful acts that will put hatred in this country back under the rock it came out from.

I’ve been telling my students to forget about what everyone else thinks they should be photographing or what they perceive is expected of them, believing this might yield a result their peers or others might think is good … or worse currently in vogue. It’s really not worth the effort or the heartache. Unfortunately most people you talk to about your photographs don’t really know what you care about … and they certainly don’t care about you personally.

The more I think about it, the gallery game is just that … a game. Even more so are the myriads of competitions, etc. Many who judge you could never make a truly compelling photographic statement. Just check out your local photo/art scene and see if you agree. That isn’t to say that galleries and other venues for photographic work are not important. They are and I have had my photographs shown in them (Truth in advertising: I currently have a show up at a local venue). But it’s not necessarily, nor should it be your photographic end game.

As I said in a previous entry, as time goes by I am becoming more and more convinced that the most important thing in our photographic lives is to satisfy ourselves … that we find subject matter that truly inspires us and then effectively translate what we envisioned in our minds eye to a fully realized finished product. That means something that is well seen and produced using good craft. If we don’t do that then what’s the point?

Of course others may not see or appreciate your vision, but so what? Assuming you are satisfied that you have done the best you can don’t get discouraged. If your work is finely produced, you truly believe in it, and perhaps most of all, it provides you with pride of accomplishment and a sense of fulfillment … then be your own dog! No one or nothing else matters.

Last week I was sitting in the lobby of a nursing care facility here in Doylestown. Not the most exciting place to be sitting, but that is part of the deal now. I was just sort of waiting around until I noticed a very interesting display across the lobby on the far wall. I recognized the distinctive Moravian tile that has been made since 1898 at the world famous Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, in Doylestown. They’re handmade and produced in a manner similar to that developed by the pottery’s founder and builder, Henry Chapmen Mercer (1856-1930). Mercer was an American archeologist, artifact collector and tile-maker, not to mention the designer of three distinctive landmark buildings in Doylestown. Beginning in the 1890s he devoted himself to finding old American artifacts and learning about German pottery. Mercer believed that American society was being destroyed by industrialism, which inspired his search for American artifacts. In addition to producing unique tile creations, Mercer began a collection of early American tools he assembled that is now housed in the equally famous Mercer Museum, also in Doylestown (NOTE: I think I am very lucky to live here, where we also have the incredible Michener Art Museum!!!).

Anyway, back to the wall display at the nursing care facility. In addition to containing simple, yet beautiful Moravian tiles, there was a description of Mercer’s philosophy that said his tiles have been and should be works of art and works of art can never be made by machinery … they must be crafted by hand and not by mechanical processes.

I not sure I fully buy into America being destroyed by industrialism … it was certainly being changed from a predominantly agrarian society, but that was also the direction the entire Western world was going, and there was no turning back.

The question of course is whether “modernism” and technological development with all that comes with it can be balanced in such a way that protects what is still precious about the environment, as well as the way we should ideally live and carry out our lives … including our creative lives.

So what does this have to do with photography you might ask? I actually think a great deal. I truly believe and have found in my own experience that anything worth doing is hard. But having put in the hard work, there is true satisfaction in the accomplishment!

We can be lazy and sloppy in the analog world and the results are easy to see. But I think the dangers are even greater with digital because it’s just so damn easy. This semester I’m teaching two photography classes and all my students use digital devices of some kind. I tell them the most important thing they can do to improve their results is to slow down and concentrate. No need to squeeze off 500 shots during the course of an afternoon hoping to find a keeper somewhere buried within all the rubble. Then there is the question of what happens with Photoshop. I think it is critical that it be used subtly and judiciously. Yes, we dodge and burn and use different contrasts when we print in the darkroom, but in the digital world it’s just too easy to blatantly manipulate … because … well … it’s just too easy.

And what about color? I think the success of a color photograph is based in great part on how color is properly used, be it subtly or bold. That takes great seeing, thought and work. Finally there is the print itself. Don’t print a bunch on your Epson, Canon, etc., without some serious review of the final results. Better to make sure what you’re looking at is what you originally envisioned.

So in the end, whether you use film and print in a darkroom or shoot digital and print with an ink jet printer, what it really comes down to is whether you have accomplished what you set out to do in the first place? Have you expressed what you saw in your mind’s eye with a purity of vision? But most importantly did you make a real effort to produce the best you could instead of taking the easy way out?

Think about it.