Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Where Journeys Take Us

Susan: As I grow older the winters seem to bring with them restlessness and a malcontent that annoys my spirit. I was less inclined in winter to engage in photography though I did try on several occasions to learn the “shooting in the dark” concept. My first attempts took countless patience on my part -- lining up the object of my desire to shoot.

Then there was the tripod. Was it pointing the correct way? Was the distance right? Did it tilt just so? I’d go over and over the space and angles with my fingers and hands until I would be literally dizzy. Then I would put the cardboard spacer in the camera lever to insure the lens remained open as I bathed the object in light with a bright flashlight. The last step was to ever so carefully pull the wedge out of the lever so the camera would take the photo and I could then advance the film.

To my dismay the first roll of film did not turn out; operator error I hate to admit. When I tried again I knew what to do and felt I had some incredible shots. You do not want to know what happened to that film. I wrapped it in foil for my partner in blog (Tess) to pick up and take to the darkroom ... and someone mistook it for trash (aurgh!) and dumped it!!!

I was devastated, so much so that I just couldn’t bring myself to “shoot in the dark” for a while after that.

I think in another few weeks I will be able to experiment with this medium once more. Truly…I learned a good lesson about where I leave my film for pickup. . . .

(To be continued.)

Susan Gjolmesli

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Swainson's Thrush

Sidewalk with spiked wrought iron railing.Me: Here are more of the photos from Florida and Louisana Susan shot on her trip there.

The film that was fogged by airport X-ray scanners.

Film I scanned instead of enlarging.Louisiana reliquary? maybe a chimney, maybe an entrance, all scrabbled brick.
I'm choosing again to share the images as they appeared with the default scan settings; I find the rosy tone appealing and also very characteristic of Susan.

For some reason, when I saw these images I thought of the Swainson's Thrush. This is a bird I've never seen in person, although I hear it in the forest when I am hiking.
Inez in a double exposure in front of wrought iron railing.

It has the resonance and breathiness of a wooden flute, usually beginning mid-range with a single note held a few breaths, followed by some experimental trilling. Then the song takes off, trilling mordents on a rising scale finally reaching a few exhuberent finish notes, sometimes followed by a self-satisfied whirring.

This song always intrigues me with its hollow notes that have so much timber and airflow. I hear the notes just long enough to be intrigued by them, then I am taken away as the mordents float up and up into the trees.

You can hear a Swainson's Thrush here: at the MacCaulay Library of the Cornell Institute of Ornithology.

That's my metaphor for today's images. Beauty can be shared and experienced in many different ways. I don't have to see it to enjoy it, or I might even see something different than you do.

But we both share in the enjoyment.

Cheers! More photos to come soon.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

X-Ray Vision

gulf coast mission-style buildings harking back to the 1930s, or even 1800s.Susan took a trip to the Gulf coast not too long ago, visiting both Florida and Louisana.

When I processed the film she had shot, it came out of the tank uniformly dark and gray ("fogged" is the photographic term). Most likely this was due to the rolls being pre- exposed by the X-ray scanners at the airport.

This led me to ponder how best to entice the images from the film. I was short on funds and so did not want to waste paper and time in the darkroom. I decided to go high-tech and scan the negatives rather than print the film manually.

I thought scanning would give me some control over the contrast and clarity of the images, without having to waste a lot of expensive paper. Plus, the college has a high-end Epson negative scanner that I've always wanted to try out and I now had an excuse to ask for permission to use it.

I used the default settings for the scanning software, and the negatives were output as .jpg images, with a soft rosy tone. Above is the first image, after I rendered it as grayscale.

Here is the same image with the default settings.
the same gulf-coast mission style buildings with a rosy tint.
I do prefer the rose-tinting.

Rose-colored glasses, and all that.

I'll post more of the scanned negatives soon.

Tess

Friday, February 19, 2010

Beauty of Intent

Rachel and four-legged friends. treat time?Me: The many different definitions of "Art" I have found all define art in different ways. There are some common threads. One is the component of intent: the artist has intentionally created a piece to elicit an emotion or reaction within the viewer.

A second common thread is a notion of indirection: the viewer, through their experience of the object, comes up with their own idea of what the artist's message is.
Log house. straight out of the 1800s.

This project was created with the intent to inspire thought. It is different from some projects in that it encourages a large element of discovery and accident. Probably the most surprising component for me is that as one-half of the team I have found myself to be a viewer as well as an artist. I have had "ah ha" experiences I didn't expect to have.
Hanging flowerpot, through a window

I wonder if that is a third, less obvious, goal of art: that the artist too be transformed through the creation of their art.

You who are reading this now must have a certain reaction -- either to the photographs, the ideas they express, or to the blog or the notion or nature of the blog.

We are very curious to know what your personal responses have been.

When you have a moment, please submit a comment sharing your experiences.

Needs no Words

Nellie and Inez. happy in the shade of a tree.I think in images and patterns. Susan surprised me by saying she thinks in the same way.

At first I didn't get it.

Then I realized that images we see are all created inside our brains.

I'd like to think about that for a while....
Björn kicking back in front of the old homestead.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Winter and the Dark of Night - Part II

Sunflowers, solarized and looking like they're on fire!Susan: To my dismay when Tess took my film to the darkroom the shots I spent so much time taking did not turn out. I was horrified and so bummed out. There were some terrific shots there ... my fussy self threw a bit of an artiste temper tantrum at home and vowed never to "shoot in the dark" again! And to this point I have not attempted the shooting in the dark thing since then. I have been doing the French beret pout where this technique is concerned.

In late October I tried something equally challenging for someone who does not see. It was one of those infinity shots again. My husband and I happened to be at the Swedish Club Bazaar near Lake Union. The building is high on a hill overlooking Seattle on Lake Union. The building has a wrap-around balcony on the second floor so I asked Bjorn, my husband to escort me out to take some urban Arial shots of the lake and of the city. I was given some audio description of the views and panorama. After asking some contextual questions I set about making some decisions for shots.

Vine maple leaves with sunlight coming through from the sky. The day was one of those typical gray, NW settings. I found the noise levels of the area disorienting and had to concentrate carefully on my posture and holding the camera ever so still. I was very happy it wasn't windy as the wind truly adds another level of disorientation which would have made my ability to keep my horizon upright impossible. Perhaps these are things sighted people do not think about but they are environmental conditions which do affect my mobility and kinesthetic skills.

Today I reviewed with Tess some of the hard copy prints from the summer. She has finished up her class and received good feedback from her instructors.

A question keeps surfacing. What do I get out of taking the pictures? I have responded in another blog entry... I enjoy the challenge, I enjoy capturing beauty in something tangible. It's fulfilling to discover something aesthetically pleasing, decide how one might frame it, make it even more beautiful if that is even possible and show the world how it moves you. If everything goes right, you can capture the spirit of that beauty at that time, at that moment....even if you are blind.

Tonight I have vowed to "shoot in the dark" again. It's nearly Christmas and I decorated the tree last night, all by myself. My dogs may not be willing subjects but I'm going to give the old college try.

I think I have figured out what I did incorrectly the last time. Not only am I fussy, I possess a great deal of tenacity as well.

For now I bid you adieu.

Susan Gjolmesli - and Inez

Winter and the Dark of Night - Part I

Lily 1. Solarized, looking like glowing embers.Susan: Winter thus far hasn't been my idea of fun. My summer picture taking came to a close and with it too the pretty summer flowers -- they are such good subjects and always the willing subjects! Much to my consternation as well I developed what is called a shoulder impingement syndrome in both my shoulders but as I favor my right side, the right shoulder is far worse than the left. Sometimes it is known as frozen shoulder syndrome and it is extremely painful, resulting in limited range of motion.

I have been told by my team of clinicians that it could take up to 2 years to correct! This is profoundly distasteful news to me and I am working ardently to prove this untrue! So, since my last entry I have been to the physical terrorist -- whoops therapist -- many times and will muscle through the exercises to a better range of motion. My new affirmation is something like - "Pain will make you stronger...."
Montana homestead, from a distance.
To divert my annoyance regarding the shoulder business I decided to try "shooting in the dark".

Tess encouraged me to try it and, well,the weather was dreadful, so I read up on the notes she sent, and borrowed her very cute, pink?, pliable 16 inch tripod.

I decided to photograph my beautiful copper and brass fountain art piece which has lily pads, lotus pods and cattails fashioned out of metal -- it is exquisite. I gathered the flashlight, the lightweight cardboard widget to hold open the shutter of the Holga camera, screwed the camera to the tripod and positioned it to where I thought the angle would capture a classy shot. Then I took the flashlight and shone it all over the fountain...then I pulled away the cardboard and the shutter clicked.

I then took my retired dog guide -- who is impossible to pose and ventured into the family room where a lovely fire was glowing in the Avilon woodstove on the Norwegian raised hearth. Nellie loves the woodstove so she was happy to sit there in front of the heat. She watched me set up the funny looking tripod and aim the camera her way, fairly close, and put the cardboard wedge behind the shutter to hold it open. But for Nellie the fascinating part was when I took the flashlight and washed her in the light. It was as if I hypnotized her. This hyper 12 year old dog never sits still for a picture and she sat still while I shone the light all over her and then snapped the shutter....amazing.
Lily 2. Looking like delicate jewelry.
I took 6 more pictures of other things I love in my house. I could hardly wait to get the film to Tess and tell her about my experience. What was true for me about shooting in the dark was that I found it to be a lot of work. Staging each shot was very deliberate and needed to be. I tried one double exposure and just didn't like the way that felt--it felt too "accidental" to me and that revealed some definite aspects of my preferences and personal character to me. It is true, I'm not very impulsive about things; I am deliberate, thoughtful, sometimes way too serious, and I am a planner. I think too much. Where aesthetics are concerned I'm fussy, oh boy... fussy about says it all. I would like to add in my defense that fussy can be good (smile)

To be continued....

Susan Gjolmesli - and Inez