The Diner, Hot Summer Night, Van Lear, Kentucky

 
Van Lear, Kentucky: A magical summer night in a tiny Appalachian town. The best of bluegrass from the porch of a tiny bungalow, paint peeling like shavings in a carpenter’s shop. Meeting Loretta Lynne’s family, mingling with her friends and neighbors. One main street with white clapboard houses, and a small diner tucked beneath the boxy  old Van Lear Historical Society building.

Each year, Van Lear, birthplace of Loretta Lynne, remembers the first coal train rumbling away from the tipple at Consol Mine #151 by hosting Van Lear Days, a day of parades and celebration followed by an evening of down-home bluegrass. The town, situated in the middle of the Paintsville Coal Field, is tiny, nestled in a bend of the road across Miller’s Creek. Winding our way through Kentucky’s narrow, serpentine mountain roads, we arrived to find musicians in T-shirts and jeans setting up on the porch of an old bungalow, spotlights clustered amid traffic cones and tangles of cable across dusty Main Street. Visitors and neighbors perched in lawn chairs, opening coolers stuffed with Cokes and fried chicken. Campaign posters for the local election festooned the porch, luminescent in the glare of the lights.

Bluegrass on the Porch

The music was indescribable – bluegrass played in its home and at its roots. Peggy Sue, Loretta Lynne and Crystal Gayle’s sister, sang and told stories. We met Loretta’s neighbors, and listened as they reminisced about their local girls who had made good. After, I wandered into the tiny diner (Icky’s 1950s Snack Shop) beneath the Van Lear Historical Society.

Armed only with my Canon digital point-and-shoot with its f/2.8 lens (I had no vintage cameras that year in Kentucky), I saw this tableau in front of the counter and snapped one image. The original file was underexposed and of poor quality, but careful use of the Curves function in Photoshop, together with increasing contrast and saturation combined with the “Local Contrast Enhancement” function in Astronomy Tools pulled up a quality image.

Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” always comes to mind as I view this image: with Hopper, the diners are captured through the restaurant’s window; with “Van Lear Diner”, the  tableau is frozen as they wait, the woman rummaging in her purse and the youth, clearly come from work in his ragged shirt, stretching restlessly as they endure the stifling air of the tiny diner.

Here, the fast lens and enhanced depth of field of the digital point-and-shoot wins out over a classic bellows camera, with its aperture limited by the surrounding leaf shutter mechanism. CCD chips in digital point-and-shoots are smaller than negatives, making the effective depth of field greater than any film camera’s at an equivalent f-stop. This factor can be a disadvantage when trying to blur a cluttered background, but it is an asset when depth of field is needed with the lens wide open.

References:

Nicolas. 2002. WebMuseum, Paris.  “Edward Hopper.”  http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hopper/.

Wikipedia Article: “Edward Hopper.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hopper.

Wikipedia Article:  “Van Lear, Kentucky.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Lear,_Kentucky.

“Locked Out”

As I write on ancient and nearly-ancient photographic devices, I am not immune to the ironic tension between my topic (the dawn of photographic technique) and my methods (the Internet blog, the computer, digital scanning, etc., etc.). To convey my message on early photography, I use the latest of information technology. I have no wet darkroom in my home; there are no sinks stained with Dektol, and my enlarger languishes in my storeroom. I wrinkle my brain learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization, for Luddites*), crunch HTML to size a 1910 Premo’s golden brass and gleaming wood, and bounce tips on preserving ancient leather off the antennae of orbiting satellites.

Yet despite my roots in photography’s beginnings, I am struck by the recurring impact of technological advances on the art of photography and the subsequent impact of the new photography on society itself. Now another wave is coming that will change photography irrevocably, its first tendrils foaming around my my toes as stand on today’s shore and look into the future: the cell phone camera. Moving from the junky images that teens shared with their friends, cell phone cameras are becoming high resolution devices capable of serious imaging. George Eastman gave us a the ability to make photographs quickly and conveniently. Now Nokia and Samsung provide an always-present way of recording images and sending them instantly to Cape Town, New York or Uncle George in Winnemucca. This has profound implications for both society and art.

We have all become accustomed to cell phone videos and images on CBS, NBC, and CBC. When dictatorial regimes tried to quash democratic movements in the Middle East, silencing news media and the Internet, it was jerky cell phone clips that told the story of the resistance movement. The importance of this new social groundswell is attested to by Philadelphia’s Immaculata University’s new course in cell phone photography (Margaret Rock, MobileMedia):

“Professor Sean Flannery teaches the class with a focus on how to be a more responsible citizen journalists, rather than awkward bystanders.

“I think it’s part of our responsibility to teach kids how to use this tool,” Flannery said.

Flannery works with Hunter Martin, a professional photographer, who lectures about the technical aspects of photography, such as composition, lighting and editing. Flannery, meanwhile, deals with the ethical responsibilities that come with taking and publishing them, and issues like voyeurism around public and private spaces.

Cell phone photos and videos have played an essential role in recording and publicizing recent conflicts around the world, particularly the ongoing unrest in the Middle East, which is often beyond the reach of conventional media. On a more individual level, phone cameras ensure that every moment of private life can be documented, and increasingly, posted in real-time to social networks.

As mobile photographs record many moments of global importance, Flannery said he hopes “to sell the students on the notion that the camera phone and its usage in culture is news in the making.”

Yet there is another emerging aspect to the cell phone camera: with the advent of quality cameras such as those found on the iPhone and Android devices, this mode of photography is now entering the fine art world.  Consider Dan Burkholder’s images taken and processed on the iPhone.  The new web site iPhoneography is devoted entirely to photography and image processing applications for the iPhone.  Better Photography‘s Tony Sweet just published in Outdoor Photographer the excellent article “Fine Art Camera Phone Photography.”  Most editing applications have been directed at the iPhone (see Tony’s article), but a few are coming out for Android-based devices.  I predict that, within five years, images taken with cell phone cameras will find their way into exhibits at major galleries.

I recently broke down and moved my life to that flagship of new technology, the Droid X. Acquiring a Droid is like gaining a mail order bride: love grows, but slowly, and there is a lengthy period of getting know each other. A week went by before I became facile at the simple act of answering my calls.  Transferring my contacts successfully into Google’s cloud memory system took three weeks and dissecting the brains of everyone who knew anything about this new technology.  With immense power comes immense flexibility – and immense complexity, with nothing nicely set up in the way one finds with lesser instruments.  Finally, I did what everyone of my generation does when faced with ultimate desperation: I asked my children. Yet  three months down the road, the Droid is a part of my body, and I’d rather leave my underwear at home.   Its capabilities are impressive. Devoted as I am to my beloved antiques, I am now never without a camera.

The Droid X is either a powerful hand computer with with phone/camera attached, or a phone/camera with a computer attached – it can’t quite make up its mind – but nevertheless, it fulfills most of both functions quite well.  The computer side includes the Android 2.2 operating system with a 1 GHz processor, GPS, position/attitude sensor, full Bluetooth and internet capability, HDMI outout, 720p video capture and 8 gigabytes of memory with ~75,000 downloadable applications from the Android Marketplace.  The eight megapixel camera has excellent resolution and is partnered with a large 4.3 inch, 480×854 pixel high resolution screen.

The Droid camera’s picture quality is excellent, and its cameras software offers a number of optional modes, but one drawback is its determination to render perfect pictures – according to its standards.  This means refusing to record blurs and any conditions not conducive to ideal, “Kodak moment” images.  Consequently, the shutter waits to fire until the subject is stationary, necessitating fighting with the internal software to produce any kind of artistic blur.  I was able with some effort to shoot impressionistic images of a fir forest while panning vertically, though the camera wanted to wait until I stopped moving to fire the shutter:

However, it balked at recording blurs in a patch of wind-tossed poppies, firing the shutter (despite muttered swear words and repeated jabs at the shutter button) only when it could capture a nice stationary picture that would make Aunt Matilda happy:

Tossing poppies, "Droid Style"

This is a nice image, but nowhere as impressive as if I had been able to record the blurs of the tossing flowers; the image has no suggestion that a wind was present.  This is a very automatic camera, and being creative often means having to fight with its internal programming.  With stationary macro subjects, autofocus works well, except that the camera seems at times to have a mind of its own regarding exactly what the subject is and where to focus.  However, a bit of fancy footwork with the focus/exposure lock on the shutter release button yields some nice results, such as with these white peonies at the Denver Botanical Garden:

White Peonies

The closest focus on macro mode is approximately three inches (about eight centimeters), giving a magnification ratio of approximately 1:1. This covers much macro work, but does not allow the extreme close-ups permitted by my Canon digital point-and-shoot, which will focus to within one centimeter of the lens surface. Still, not bad for a cell phone.

As one whose favorite shooting conditions are evening and and moonlight, the Droid has one serious drawback: it is almost useless under low light conditions. Although it performs well without flash in a well lighted room or for sunset shots, after the sun goes down, the noise level skyrockets and picture quality plummets.

The Droid is ideal for hikers and backpackers. Android Marketplace lists a number of outdoor-related applications ranging from GPS-based compasses to full topographical mapping functions. With the addition of a screen protector and a rugged protective case, the Droid is ready to guide your steps and bring back memories like this image of the Holland Creek Trail near Ladysmith:

Holland Creek Trail, Ladysmith, Vancouver Island

After a day’s hiking and photography, an added bonus of the Droid is the ability to curl up in your tent, pull up a reader like Aldiko or Kindle, and read in your sleeping bag – without a flashlight! If you can’t sleep, go outside and and admire the stars and the Milky Way, guided by the Google Sky application: just point the phone at an area of sky, and the GPS sensor and internal celestial map interact to display constellations, planets, and major celestial objects on the screen.

However, this gadget’s greatest advantage is with street photography, as the title image will testify. Special images arrive inevitably when one does not have a camera, and the Droid now rides at the ready on my belt clip. Out cameraless last week, I parked next to these two young men as they struggled to open their truck, where the keys hung listlessly from the ignition. I could not resist the impulse to catch them as they strove with screwdriver and coat hanger to enter. Returning later with my groceries, I found them sitting disconsolately in the bed of their truck, waiting for help.

The high-resolution mobile device, with its compactness, Internet connectivity, and ready availability, should become an indispensable tool for interviewing, reporting, and human interest stories.  On a recent cycling trip to Saltspring Island, I found myself at the door of sculptor Morley Myers.  Morley kindly gave me a complete tour of his gallery and studio.  His sculptures in metal and stone are powerful and beautifully done, blending creation with the natural structure of the stone, but I was struck by the color and uniqueness of his models in styrofoam, resin, and wood.  Not wishing to take his time while I assembled my Graphic, I snapped this quick image of Morley in his workroom:

Morley Myers in His Studio

The main (and more established) competition to the Droid is the iPhone4. Slightly smaller (4.5×2.3×0.37 inches) than the phone-on-steroids 5.0×2.6×0.4 inch Droid, it sports a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash. Despite its lower megapixel ratings, the iPhone camera is excellent, in PC World’s comparative tests producing a slightly brighter and only marginally less sharp image. The iPhone’s main advantage at the moment is its wide variety of image processing software. At present, software for the Droid is limited to a mobile version of Photoshop and photo printing software apps published by HP, Brother, and several other printer manufacturers. One may confidently expect that the gap will close rapidly.

Original Box Kodak, June 1888 (Courtesy George Eastman House)

Like the original box Kodak of 1888, with its cumbersome, string-cocked cylindrical shutter and circular image, the smart phone camera is here to stay, and the world will never be the same. That clunky little box launched a social and artistic revolution. The cell phone camera, nestled quietly in our pockets, may do no less.

*Note:

Luddite: The name applied in modern times to those opposed to new technology, especially automation and computerization.  The term derives from the nineteenth century social protest movement of British handloom weavers who, facing the loss of their livelihood as the Industrial Revolution introduced automated looms, burned mills and factory machinery starting in 1811.  The movement derived its name from the English weaver Ned Ludd who, in 1779, is reputed to have smashed two knitting frames in a “fit of passion.”  An exhaustive collection of links to the Luddites and modern neo-Luddism can be found at Martin Ryder’s University of  Colorado site.

References:

Burkholder, Dan.  “iPhone Artistry.”  http://www.danburkholder.com/Pages/misc_pages/Portfolios/iPhone_Artistry.html

“Luddite.” Wikipedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite.

“Ned Ludd.”  Wikipedia article.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Ludd.

Rock, Margaret.  MobileMedia, online posting, Mar.3, 2011.  http://www.mobiledia.com/news/83179.html.

Arches, Mission San Jose

This is quite a different view of Mission San Jose from Mission San Jose at Midnight.  After wandering the grounds at in the depths of the night, I returned at midday to explore the wonderfully-preserved (and still active) chapel and walled grounds.  Normally, one avoids the harsh noonday sun, with its dense shadows and color-bleaching light, but in this setting, the heat and light which had bathed this old mission for centuries seemed appropriate.  I was struck by the interplay of light and shadow with the weathered stone and curving arches of this corridor, and captured it with the 1914 Kodak at f/22 on XP-2.

Later, I wandered the grounds and found these weathered doors with their grey pole shades that may once have been covered with grape arbors:

Doors, Mission San Jose

Once again, this image was taken with the 1914 Kodak with its Rapid Rectilinear Lens.  The camera is now 97 years old, and the lens design, first introduced by Dallmeyer in 1866, has been capturing wonderfully sharp images for 135 years.  Taken at f/22 on XP-2.

At Pearson College

Many people are fascinated by vintage cameras. Not all people, but those that aren’t are ignoramuses* and don’t count.

You will find that a vintage camera can be your entry into the lives and work of others; not only will you be granted the gift of great images, you will make friends. If you pop open a shiny 1950 Voigtlander Bessa, with its lovely curved struts and Art Deco styling, you are clearly an artist. Or at least, someone interesting. Or maybe just odd. But still interesting. In the end, you are much more likely to be granted a photograph than if you wave a digital point-and-shoot under someone’s nose and look like another annoying tourist.

Conversely, if you have classic cameras, and people are kind enough to be your subjects, give something back. Do not, as the scriptures put it, hide your camera under a basket – bring it out and share it, particularly with young people who may have never seen a film camera before. Their enthusiasm will be your reward!

Lester B. Pearson College in Victoria, B.C. is one of thirteen United World Colleges.  The United World College movement was born from the bitter experience of World War II.  The founders believed that much could be done to overcome hostility and conflict if young people from different nations, races and religions could be brought together to learn from each other. Together they established a new concept of education that would become a powerful force for peace. The first United World College, the College of the Atlantic, was founded in Wales in 1962 and was followed by the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific in 1974.

Pearson College is a unique two year pre-university school that brings 200 students from 100 countries to live and learn together in an idyllic seaside setting amongst the moss-covered bluffs and twisted arbutus trees of Pedder Bay west of Victoria. Students pursue the full International Baccalaureate Diploma Program while living in an intimate community with faculty, staff and their

families. A wide range of activities are offered, but innovation is welcome and students are encouraged to find, pursue and share what they are passionate about. All students attend on full scholarship and are selected based on promise and potential, regardless of race, religion, politics or financial means.

Through the kindness of Pearson’s Jim Freer, director of the college’s photography activities, I was able to bring vintage cameras to the students. The small group setting allowed the students to touch and work each of the cameras, seeing their evolution from the fixed-focus-and-rail of the 1914 Kodak to the sleek lines and front element focusing of the Voigtlander. They came to appreciate the mechanical challenges arising from the simple act of moving the shutter release from the lens to the top plate, and worked the lovely brass pistons of an early Bausch and Lomb pneumatic shutter. My enormous Mexican Noba (the subject of a future posting) was a hit, and introduced them to camera movements, large format, and the quirks of Turkish camera shops.

The enthusiasm of the students is infectious, and I certainly hope that I will be able to continue to share in the activities of this unique college.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Note: For those of you who are frustrated Latin scholars, the plural of “ignoramus” is not “ignorami”, but “ignoramuses”. The term “Ignoramus” was popularized by George Ruggle in 1615 in his play Ignoramus, or the Academical Lawyer (written in Latin) about a lawyer who knew nothing of the law, and Mr. Ruggle did use the Latin form of the plural. However, Fernando Parkhust cemented the English version of the plural into our language when he translated and popularized Ruggle’s play in 1660.

References:

“Ignoramus.” Wikipedia articles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignoramus.

“Pearson College.” http://www.pearsoncollege.ca/about.

“United World Colleges.” http://lbpcserver.net/pctest/uwc.

Christian Phillips, Master Luthier

Craftspeople at work: one of the most fulfilling sources of rich and interesting images.  Walk and wander, and keep your eyes open for interesting shops and people at their jobs.  Carrying a vintage camera is a definite asset, setting you apart as an artist and interesting character in your own right.

On an afternoon walk down Denver’s Colfax Avenue, I wandered past the front of the Colfax Guitar Shop. Glancing inside, I saw rows of guitars adorning the walls, and Christian intently sanding the neck of a guitar. I was struck by his concentration as he bent over the instrument, illuminated by the lamp over his head and silhouetted against the racks of tools behind him.

In situations like this, conquering one’s shyness and reluctance to intrude is the greatest hurdle in making arresting images. Remember that most of us truly appreciate anyone who takes a genuine interest on our work. Went I finally entered their shop, both Christian and his partner Dave were interested and most willing subjects. I took both digital and film images; the latter are awaiting development, and will be posted when available.

At Delaney's No. 1

Take your camera everywhere – even (or especially) to a night on the town. This is the place for a small camera (such as the Ensign 16-20) and a pocket-sized tripod. A miniature 35mm such as the Zeiss Contessa, or, if you wish to take a break from being vintage, a pocket-sized digital camera with the option for a fast lens and high effective ISO speeds, may make the difference between getting and missing a unique low-light image.

At Delaney's #2

Some years ago, my wife and I were in Denver’s LoDo District on the 16th Street Mall. and charming old-town district of pubs, bookstores, theaters, and restaurants. I took my 1928 No. 1 Kodak and tripod with me, and was fortunate to capture one of my first vintage night images of Janie outside the Tattered Cover bookstore (see “Lurking in the Churchyard“). We stopped for dinner at Delaney’s Irish Pub, and I was fascinated by its small indoor bowling alley.

Watching two young women sip beer at the alley, I unobtrusively propped my digital camera on the bar as one as one tried her hand with the ball while her partner, bottle in hand, watched. I captured one image as she lined up her shot, and one as she wound up with the ball in hand. The slow shutter speed and blurred image convey the sense of movement as she prepares to release the ball.

This is a shot that would have been essentially impossible under these lighting conditions using the Kodak, with its f/6.3 lens and tiny viewfinder, and is a good argument for combining both film and digital media.

Denver Rescue Mission, Five Points District

Here I am, on the hunt again. This time my search takes me to one of Denver’s most historic, yet most dangerous, neighborhoods at night. With 8,800 gang members in 78 gangs, Denver has significant gang problems, and the Five Points District is one of the worst.

In situations like this, one must balance images with safety. Seeing this group outside the mission as I drove down Park Avenue West after dark, I felt that I must at least try for a picture. With my car window open, I propped my tripod against the door with my knee, positioning my little Canon digital camera in the open window. As I came past this group at the mission, I pulled to the side of the street, took one frame, and left quickly. This was not a neighborhood where one could walk safely at night, with or without a camera and tripod.

Do I feel good about doing this? No.

It feels strange to drive by in my rented Honda, warm, safe, and well-dressed, and steal an image of people who live on the street and depend on missions for food and a warm place to sleep.

Is it a good and powerful image? Yes.

This is what I mean about being predatory for one’s art.

References:

Osher, C. N. “2.2 Million Federal Grant to Help Denver Combat Gang Violence.” Denver Post, December 3, 2010. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16765373.

Wikipedia Article, “Five Points, Denver.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Points_%28Denver%29.

The Guitarist, Pike Place Market, Seattle

Every city has a special place for photography. Seattle has many, and spectacular natural scenery to boot. Yet one of the best places for a photographer to lurk in Seattle day or night is the Pike Place Market. The market itself is almost too much of a good thing, and it can be difficult to isolate a single subject among the crowds of visitors.

I saw this busker setting up in a quiet corner outside a flower shop near the Market, and caught his image with my Ensign 16-20 on XP-2. I then thanked him with a dollar in his guitar case, which I try to do with all of the street musicians who are my subjects.

Processing in Photoshop was a challenge because of the extended tonal range in the original scan. The walkway to the right of the busker was in shadow, requiring that the darker values  be raised to bring out detail. The lightest values of the hat and books, as well as the miniature toilet for contributions, were an equal challenge in the opposite direction, and there is some loss of detail in these areas. However, the overall image is nicely balanced and the final print balances these competing elements fairly well.

This image appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of Canadian Camera magazine.

This image is an example of the importance of seizing the opportunity, not being bashful, and connecting with your subject.  On a day with our daughter in Denver, we stopped for coffee in a quaint neighborhood south of the Denver Art Museum.  My wife’s caffeine levels were dangerously low, and a small coffeeshop caught our eyes.  A cozy place, it was filled with retired couples reading papers, yuppies in jeans absorbed in laptops, and students doing homework.

The most interesting feature, however, was the barista – a young Latina woman with silky black hair and a fascinating array of tattoos whose patterns linked her with her Aztec ancestors.  After she served us with rich, flavorful coffee – obviously from a local specialty roastery – I complimented her on her tattoos and asked if I could photograph her.  She kindly assented, and I slid in beside her as she prepared the next brew, catching her against the backdrop of the espresso machine and the wine rack.

This image was taken at f/2.8 and 35mm equivalent focal length on my Canon digital camera, which was all that I had with me at the moment.  With the low light and close quarters, this shot would have been difficult with a vintage Bessa or Ensign, with a 50mm equivalent lens, a maximum aperture of f/3.8 (remember the limiting effect of the shutter mechanism around the lens), and the inability to change film speeds.  The image still suffers slightly in sharpness due to the slow shutter speed I was forced to use under these challenging conditions, but it is a good example of what one can capture if one is always ready.

Mid-Island Photo Expo, Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery

Through A Vintage Lens is at the Mid-Island Photo Expo at the Waterfront Gallery in Ladysmith on Vancouver Island this month.  “Tulips, Water Tower Place” and “Mission San Jose” won a place in the exhibit, which is to become an annual event.

With My Entries to the Mid-Island Photo Expo

The venue, managed by the Ladysmith and District Arts Council, is a large gallery with high-quality lighting located in a renovated warehouse near Ladysmith’s waterfront.   The quality of the entries underlines the sophistication of Vancouver Island’s artistic community.  Including such well-known Vancouver Island artists as Neil Fatin, the breadth and quality of the images is impressive.  I am honored to be included.

I was delighted to discover that I have been invited back to talk about fine art photography with vintage cameras.