Françoise Weeks

Music | Cult of Personality by Living Colour

It is great enough to have a muse or 2 to have available when inspiration hits. It is also great when a fellow artist spurs on inspiration and you create art together. I think I have worked with Françoise Weeks 4 times now. Each and every time, I know I have something to add to the special box of work that will speak over and over, loudly to an audience over a long period of time.

This last shoot we did was short notice. We usually have weeks and weeks in advance to think, decide and go over what the plan is going to be. Funny thing is, we usually keep to ourselves and allow the thought process to put it all together. At most, we come up with a theme, maybe mention a colour and go with that... Maybe a few pictures to pass on between us, then go! It is what I love most about working with Françoise. We allow each other the freedom because we know in the end, the result will be what it will be... It isn't to say we have no expectations, but we know the effort put into the arrangement will be interesting and sometimes beautiful.

Hence...






and from Françoise's blog...

A Reprise | Of Beauty and a Rant...

Music | Thighs High by Tom Browne

A thought provoking reply was sent to me which tried to console some of my conflicts of my previous blog entry. Her biggest and obvious point was that there are no answers to some questions... My response...

You've managed to state the obvious, that there are no answers to some questions. Sometimes it is true, you can't see the forest for the trees... I've managed to relieve a lot of stress by not lingering on the things that bother me that I have no control over or merely try to guide. It is amazing how light my shoulders became when I came to that conclusion.

The problem with art, however is that it is so entangled with me that my questions arise everytime I get on the computer, go thru a magazine, look at the side of a bus... or watch tv and even listen to the radio...

Was life as an artist more simple when the world wasn't driven by constant visual media? I always thought how wonderful it would be to live in Paris in the 20's. I think now how great it would be to be in Europe during the Impressionism era, which wasn't too far off when Wet Plate Collodion was discovered!

In the end... we only have the present. I know... "Deal with it, and shut the fuck up!" :-)

Of Beauty and a Rant...

Music | Butterflies by Floetry

I'm all about wanting to capture Beauty. The idea of being able to seize in an image, something that pleasures the mind, to steer an emotion is quite powerful to me. I'm hoping to create not the romantic notion of where fads and pop music comes from. What comes easy certainly moves on easy. And with the vast number of photographic images being created on a daily basis, being able to create a lasting image seems to be more, less and less a priority. Our world is so into the now and not at all about history, which in fact is what photography is all about... Capturing a moment in time and keeping it there - holding on to history... In comparison to drawing and painting, photography is still nothing more than a fetus. I wonder what photography will be like 100 years from now?

With all of the photos we are taking now, making the mundane substantial, grabbing a created facial expression to convey... something, making reality more unrealistic, what direction does one go to photograph something of meaning? I know I get lost in snapping away with my camera phone. Taking a photo is now so accessible.

We all have a right to call what we do photography. Are the lines now blurred so much that snapshots and art no longer exist? I know I have my reasons to do what I do, some blurred and some more focused. I guess if I think too hard about it, I'll stop shooting all together. But like everyone else who shoots, I do so because I want to and in many ways, have to. My search for beauty continues on...


Cain with Floral Head Piece, courtesy of Françoise Weeks">

Ambrotype

Music | Natale's Song by Sia

In a rather bold move, since having gone thru my mistrials with the ever evolving process called Wet Plate Collodion, I decided to shoot on glass, instead of the trophy aluminum that I have been using from the very start. I found it to be more difficult because of the surface tension of the two materials are so different. The glass of course is a much faster. It is also much heavier and more difficult to maneuver. As I was making my pours, I know my focus was more intense, not just because this was all new to me, but also, I could make a big mess by dropping the glass. With all of the detriment involved, I can see the allure of working with this medium over the aluminum.

As I said, I am much more in tune with the process. Fragility is a big influence of becoming more connected with every move you make while the glass is in the hands. As slow as this process is - I shoot maybe 3 plates per hour, the glass makes me feel I need to move even slower. In these days where everything we deal with and expect in daily life is instant, I love going against the grain.

More importantly than any of that, the final image on a glass plate has even more voodoo going on. Being able to see both a negative and positive image in a fraction of a second is magical. The smooth surface of the glass invites us to see the image, but because of the thickness of the glass, the appearance of depth subliminally messes with the mind.

You can't see what I'm talking about viewing these images here on screen, but I invite you to see a real Ambrotype, Wet Plate for yourself and see the magic. A great reason to turn off your screens and view real pieces with your own eyes...



Eyerish | 8x10 ambrotype

Moon | 8x10 ambrotype

For the Moment

Music | Many Names by Fred Anderson

I'm alone like I am most nights, but with the TV off and jazz coming thru the speakers, which is a nice change from the many many months past. It has been awhile where distraction is actually in tune with the way I am presently feeling. I felt a convergence between the music and the present me. I end up not feeling so alone in my solitary evening routine.

Relief Continues, Confidence Re-emerges...

Music | Angel by Weekend Players

It isn't that I needed inspiration for getting back to my groove. I've been longing to shoot for more than several weeks. After a very good start, my second subject, one of my favorite muses for the past several years has been Cain. I think I called upon her to keep my confidence up. There has not been a session where I have come out not feeling like I've accomplished something of substance.

My plates are looking as vibrant as ever and the tonal range has been fantastic. Being away for so long, with my tail between my legs for such a long time, I just can't express how wonderful it feels to pull the plate from the rinse and into the fixer to watch the emergence of beautiful plate.


2013-10-18 | Cain

ahhhh...

Music | Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus

I can't convey the feeling I had when the image came up. There was no build up... As soon as the developed plate hit the fixer, I saw my blacks the way blacks are supposed to be. My over 6 week issue of extreme flat plates is over and again, at least until I have to mix up another batch of collodion, I can shoot plates with a tonal range that I feel comfortable with.

I just met Aster at the beginning of our shoot. She unfortunately did some damage to her ankle and couldn't move around too much, but was a great trooper. After 3 plates and a few digital images in between, we were done.

A huge weight has finally been lifted off my back. I can't believe how satisfying the sigh of relief was for me. It is time to move ahead... again.


2013-10-16 Aster

Group Show Entries

Music | Look Down from the Bridge by Mazzy Star

It is good to have curators as friends. Because of possible difficulties of an upcoming and quickly arriving opening this Thursday, I was asked to be a part of a group show of Erotic Arts. This really was last minute as I had to deliver ready to mount artwork yesterday. I had roughly 2 days to select, print and frame 2 pieces. Once I had the confirmation to go ahead with production, everything fell nicely into place. No problems with the digital files, printing or even the framing. I can only hope that all my future endeavors of such nature will be as smooth.

I had an open invitation to show whatever I wanted. Because this is the same venue where my solo show will be in June of next year, I opted not to show any plates. I had a nice run of shooting some great digital images so I picked my favorite 2 and ran with it.

It has been a very long time since I printed 11x14 image size prints and then framing them in a 16x20 inch frame. I was pleasantly pleased with the results. I might have liked to go a bit bigger for the frame, but I have no regrets with the final piece as it will hang...


Framed prints ready for delivery

I Dig This...

Music | Missing by Beck

http://www.rebellesociety.com/2013/07/25/a-self-made-12-step-program-for-living-an-authentic-life/

Flying Time...

Music | Bloodstream by Stateless

40 minutes away from the 4th day of September. Where did August go? As we move forward, it is now that I want the days to move quickly towards me getting back to shooting plates. I have since found I have another solo show for June of 2014. I'm starting to shoot content beginning Thursday and am scheduling more thru the 16th. With the 8x10 up and running with that beautiful Petzval lens, I'm really ready to go. I've got fresh collodion, sunned silver and not enough plates, but should be fine getting thru this first batch of shooting.

I Love What I Do...

Music | Reach for It by George Duke

I had recently made a sale of 2 images from the Floral Head Pieces series. A new to me collector saw the images and immediately wanted them. It is always a wonderful feeling selling work from what I love to do. It becomes even more special when a letter of appreciation comes after the delivery. I don't usually gush about such things, but I just loved the way this made me feel after reading it...

Welcomed home to a wonderful package!
Even more breathtaking when I hold them in my hands.
Thinking about why I like these two so much.

They are perpetual, in a way timeless in their beauty,
Images I can enjoy endlessly despite various moods I might be in or phases in my life.
The process itself is timeless and harkens to a past.
Perpetual.

They are delicately feminine.
I think feminine comes in many forms.
In these images, you have women who are delicate in their frames and features.
They remind me of how delicate I can be in my nature.
Women are delicate, even the strongest ones, even the ones most tossed by the wind.
Delicately feminine.

They are nature asymmetrical.
I have a strong connection with nature, the outdoors, wildlife, living freely.
The flowers have the asymmetry of nature that hints at a field of wild flowers in the wind.
They are also bold and overstated yet seemingly natural in their place.
Nature asymmetrical.

Perpetual, delicately feminine, nature asymmetrical.
oh and mine!

Perspective

Music | Sending Me Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushen

Today has been a bit of a whirlwind day. I haven't physically seen my daughter in over 7 months. I'm sure our pacing will get figured out, but we did a lot in the 9 hours since the airport pick up. Besides stopping by her old stomping grounds, eating at one of her favorite places, getting on her bicycles and riding the PDX streets which she has missed, we surprised one of her best friends with a visit, where only her Mom knew we were coming. These girls have know each other practically their entire lives. They are only 6 months apart and via walking our dogs and daughters thru the park, I've known her parents probably since Dara was 8 or 9 months old...

As babies, they shared the same laps of all our mutual friends, shared the floors of the cafe we all frequented, and as they got older, made almost all of their birthday parties... Various Holidays from Thanksgiving, Christmas, Cinco De Mayo... they have spent a lot of time together.

As they got older, different friends, schools and interests took their course. But a visit with each other was never neglected, nor ever not wanted...

Lydia too has not seen Dara just as long as I. When opening the door to see who was there, welcoming bright faces were greeted and banter as if they saw each other yesterday ensued... No beat was missed.

Just like the day, looking at these girls together today, and knowing over 12 years have passed since we all met, it feels like another whirlwind has taken me. Despite time, it is wonderful to see some things just don't change...


2013-08-02 Dara and Lydia in the back yard...

Being Taken for Granted...

Music | Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation) by Rob Dougan

So in this age of images, where everyone is a photographer, it is really sad how photographs are not as important as they once were. Picture taking, as opposed to image making has become so prevalent, there is no room for content and meaning. Without those elements, we have turned our backs on what is important to take pictures for pictures sake.

I've thought about the last week I had where I made some interesting photographs, unusual in that not everyone could just go out and shoot what I did. My collaboration made the process all the better and it showed skill, effort and most of all, some passion. But in this day and age, they are pretty pictures and most of all, accessible for anyone to take them. My love / hate relationship with technology, particularly the internet and how it has changed the way we view things is both a god send and a nightmare.

Unknowingly to myself, people will be making money off my photographs. I will not see a dime... I understand that, don't like it, but realize it is the cost of being able to have some hope that I will be able to do this in the coming future... Bottom line is, the more people who see my photographs, the better... Hopefully they will enlighten, inspire and maybe circle back to me with a commission, job or exhibition...

Françoise Weeks

Music | Don't Leave Home by Dido

Almost 2.5 years have gone by since the last time Françoise and I worked together. It was the biggest project collaboration I had for Wet Plates at the time, but I knew that some great things would come of it. Indeed it has as many of those photos have been published in Europe and seen around the world.

A little more than a month ago, Françoise and I had coffee to talk of another project. We knew we wanted to create more botanical couture images, and the themes we came up with was Italian Renaissance and Gothic. Maybe 5 or 6 emails passed thru our mailboxes since then and June 20th rolled around where we created more fantastic images...


Sarah Pardini


Amanda Hathaway
These images were taken with the newly acquired Valantin Petzval lens on the Century 8x10 camera. It was a hallmark occasion for me as it was only the second 8x10 plate I have ever shot and the first plate I shot with my lens / camera combination.

Floral bouquets would be nothing without colour. We also shot with the digital camera and captured just as stunning images...



More of the colour images can be seen here...

I'm pretty sure we won't wait another 2+ years before we collaborate again...

Vallantin

Music | Spiritual by John Coltrane

Back in my early assisting days in the mid 1980's, I worked for a photographer that was sharing a space with an older photographer. He was one of the few photographers that was shooting professionally as early as the late 1940's. He was slowly moving into retirement and was getting rid of some of the equipment he wasn't using and taking up space. I saw this beautiful old camera sitting alone in the corner and if anything for me at the time, it would be a great conversation piece. He sold it to me for an amazingly generous price. The Camera, a Century, probably made in the late 1920's, early 1930's also had a very fast portrait lens made with the Kodak name on it. 405 mm f:4.5. I used it several times, shooting some film, but also paper negatives and contact printing them. I loved the size and the look, but for whatever reason, the combo sat on a shelf, being an art piece rather than equipment to take photographs...

I think I've had the camera/lens for over 25 years. With the desire of shooting wet plates, the camera came out of the basement and sat in my room being displayed again. I shot one wet plate with it and the results were fine. The lens however excelled more so with film than wet plates. Difficult as it was, I decided to put it out to the universe and see type of interest there would be for it. I had a few offers ranging a large gamut. I decided to keep it. As I became more involved with Wet Plate Collodion, and a growing desire to shoot larger plates, I set a price for the lens and put it out for sale. Lots of interest, but no follow up and I thought maybe this just wasn't going to happen.

I put an ad out stating my desired price, but also that I was interested in a Petzval design barrel lens, a period lense made in the 1800's. It wasn't til the last few years that these lenses started growing in price. Gems with a nice price became very difficult to find. I did get one email from a gent on the East that had a Petzval who was very interested in my Kodak. I had the feeling that the Vallantin Petzval was going to be significantly more in price than my Kodak. We initially couldn't come up with a deal we both would feel good about, and for me, merely afford.

My view on humanity changed a few days after our initial conversation. The gent, L.P. wrote back to me and said he went to my website and loved what I was doing. He thought that having this lens would enable me to produce more great work. He dropped his asking price significantly, gave me all the time I needed to come up with the difference in price and made a deal. Over a period of roughly one month, I sold a few things, worked on some unexpected gigs and sent out my lens.

3 days later, I got this beast of a lens. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.


Century No.4A Studio Camera w/ Kodak Lens 405mm f:4.5







Vallantin Petzval Lens

Light...

Music | When it Falls by Zero 7

Mitsu, a woman who I've been wanting to shoot for quite a long time was spending an extra day in Portland, so we could do a last minute photo shoot. I was honored and had to make time to make it work.

I decided I wanted to do an outdoor shoot as the weather was going to be nice. I also wanted the open feeling of daylight as I did when I first started shooting Wet Plates. The lighting was directional, but much more subtle than I could create using my strobes. The only issue I had was gauging the exposure. It seems I was a stop off all but 1 of the plates as the sun rose rapidly overhead.




I realized after this shoot I still have a lot to learn. Changing a variable certainly changes things down the chain. You always have to be ready to adjust...

Karma...

Music | #1 Crush by Garbage

The idea of Karma is both intriguing and quite frightening. I must have done some good things recently because in the last few days, I found I would be working with some internationally known folks for what they do and incorporating them with my own photography. The frightening thing is, I know I will fuck up somewhere and I'll get my ass handed to me. But now she has granted me good news, uplifting my spirit and allowing me to move further forward.

In a few weeks, I will be working with the great Françoise Weeks, premiere florist based right here in Portland, OR. This will be our second go around on a theme that came out amazingly, garnering her some very nice press in Europe. I will merely be happy holding on to her coat tails! Look for our collaboration no later than the end of this month.

I found out just today that I will be having my 2nd solo exhibition sometime mid 2014. As the deal gets more set in concrete, I will be passing along more details. For now, I will be working with an amazing leather mask maker from New York. We will have roughly 10 to 14 months to get ready, where as my last solo show, I had 3 weeks... Will be yet another great collaboration for me!


2011 Cain | Floral Arrangement by Françoise Weeks
-•-•-


Work and Courtesy of Le Cordonnier
-•-•-

I love you, Karma...

Anotomy of a Shoot w/ The Wee Pixie

Music | Heaven by Lamb

Since moving to Wet Plates as my main passage to photography, my shoot count has plummeted. Even back in the film days, shooting with the Hasselblad, I'd shoot at least 3 rolls, or at least 36 exposures. 35 mm would up that ante to at least 72 exposures for a portrait session. With digital, that count multiplies.

On a recent session I had, which took a little over an hour, we shot 4 exposures - 4 plates... My mind set in the past would have been, We are on a roll, lets keep shooting! But having settled in on my way, I've shot as little as 3 plates for a portrait session, to 6. Granted, the mind set for me on a shoot like this is that I'd like to get at least one killer shot. However, often I find that my collaborators and I bat a 1000 avg.


The Wee Pixie - A woman with many interests and who is a very intersting person.
The Wee Pixie is a woman who I've wanted to photograph recently. I thought she would be a great subject and would have a lot to say. We didn't nearly touch the limit of who she is as a person, but tended to keep things simple, but different for each plate. I love getting to know my subjects during a shoot, because out of context of 2 people getting to know each other, the idea of creating art diffuses some of that tension, at least for me... Under the guise of a photographer, I can be... not me. The funny thing about that is that I tend to communicate much better in that realm than if I were myself, which often, doesn't have a lot to say.

The beauty of seeing what we created shortly after shooting certainly helps in keeping the number of exposures down. With Wee Pixie, we just didn't miss a beat. Four was all it took, and we both knew it...

Spreading Out, Spreading Thin?

Music | Kiss the Sky by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra

I've been pretty focused on working on Wet Plate Collodion, exclusively. I've strayed a bit, recently with getting into Cyanotypes and shooting film for content. My eventual goal is to learn how to print with Platinum Palladium as well. To make things even more diluted, I have been working with the Polaroid Land Camera I just got and Fuji 3000B instant film. I think I can handle being spread out, knowing that the Wet Plates will be the priority.

I had a nice run of having 5 shoots in 4 days last week and was able to shoot exposures thru the Polaroid camera. Besides the nostalgia of using instant film, I do really love how the Fuji film renders a negative. Unlike the contrasty print, the negative brings about nice round edges, excellent contrast range (though I'm finding I like it a tad flat), and a nice natural border.


Ovata, scanned negative with some tone added in PS


Ovata, untouched print rendered by Fuji 3000B
So yes, it is good to explore this new direction, right?

Nine

Music | She Cries Your Name by Beth Orton

I've been curious about diptych and triptych works and how each of the images relates to the others. Sometimes trying to communicate a message, it takes more than a single image. I didn't have any deep seated meaning in wanting to create a piece with 9 or 16 and maybe eventually a 25 piece structured collage, other than I thought it would be interesting to view the individual images and as a collective whole.

I love Aimée as a muse. I've not had a session with her where I felt we didn't get anything meaningful. I got a last minute opportunity to work with her and made sure she had enough time to work out multiple plates. We actually ended up shooting 12 in all. Even though small, 2.5 inch square final plates, it still a slow process. I didn't realize how draining for me it would be. I will know next time to prepare a bit better to keep my energy level up.

I thought I would try and work a bit faster by prepping one plate after another and shoot 2 plates within a short time period. I'm realizing that when working with Wet Plate Collodion, work with the rules the Photo Gods intended. Turns out 2 of these images are vastly out of focus, something I didn't initially notice as the plates are so small. As soon as I scanned them however, it was apparent.

This was a good exercise and sometime later, I will come up with another idea, maybe another nine or a 16...