A Joyful People

Thinking Back

A friend yesterday brought up a moment from my past, it got me reminiscing today.  

When I was 21, I traveled to the States for 6 months from my native Canada. When I got to San Francisco I made friends with a variety of older African American men, in West Oakland California. At that time, it was a rather rough ghetto area of the city, lots of drug use etc. I was basically the only white person there. I became close friends with a man named Sonny, a former prize fighter, and heroin addicted jazz trumpet player named Dupree. Dupree was a great trumpet player.

Sonny had a closed jazz club called MY FAVOURITE THINGS, that I helped him with. I made photographs of my friends there and entered a totally different world. Those men taught me so much, being with them affected my entire life. It was a great time; wish I could go back.

Here is a photo of Bob, skinny me, and Sonny eating a dinner in the club. The second photo is of Dupree on the streets of San Francisco, where he busked for loose change.

Note* a not to a friend about the photos.

Surprised you remembered Sonny’s name. You got me thinking of olden times. 

The photo is Bob Cl, Sonny, (right side). Second photo is Dupree B. Dupree was a great jazz trumpet player, the photo was made on the streets of San Francisco where he played for heroin money. 

The pic of Bob me and Sonny was made in a closed Jazz club in West Oakland. That dinner was cooked  by another man who was a former athlete and heroin addict. He played 3rd string quarterback for the Esks back in the 50s We bonded over that, because I was from Edmonton. Forget his name now. 

Bob, Sonny and Dupree were all friends from their time in San Quentin prison. Bob used to tell me prison stories. 

Sonny was my closest friend there, miss him. Be taught me a lot about helping others.

Note** Remembered the name of the cook and former Esk, Ray.

Bob, me and Sonny

Dupree on the streets of San Francisco

UNB Newsletter Write Up

There was a nice write up in the University of New Brunswick newsletter back in May. They have 6 ULF images in their collection. $6000 CAD was earned, which will be used to help the families in the form of goods given back to them.

UNB May 2024 Newsletter

Quote: Horace Mann

 

Newest Pl-Pd Frame Design

Here is the newest frame design for the NON Platform-Palladium exhibition. Narrow pine wood with a charcoal stain. Will compare these to the earlier white frames, to see which I prefer.

LINK: Old News Paper Story and Maybe a New Exhibition

I applied for a second exhibition a the Art Gallery of St Albert. Did two new submissions, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP in Platinum-Palladium prints and AMBROTOS KANATA ambrotypes.

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Here is an old story from my last joint exhibition at the gallery back in 2017, MY FATHERS LAST DAY series. It was a beautiful experience, I was able to show dads photos and then did a talk about him.

ST ALBERT GAZETTE STORY (2017) on MY FATHERS LAST DAYS

Developing healing

Photographer and social documentarian Gerry Yaum is set to present a talk on his work tomorrow evening at the Art Gallery of St. Albert

Scott Hayes Aug 30, 2017 12:01 AM

"Photographer Gerry Yaum did something that many people might find unthinkable when his dad was in the hospital. They were close to each other, and the adult son spent a lot of time with his elderly father during his struggle with terminal pancreatic cancer. There were already many photos along the way, and the art series probably wouldn’t have ended properly without getting the last shot too. If you think about it that way, it would have been unusual to not take the last photo. Yaum, a social documentary photographer, has worked on projects ranging from Thai sex workers to people who live in slums, among others. He says that his work is an attempt to tell the stories of forgotten or marginalized people. My Father's Last Days, the title he gives to the photo series of his father that’s now on display as part of the exhibit Healing Process at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, is a project unlike all of his others: to make a record of someone who meant something important to him personally. It started off mostly as casual photos, since Yaum always has his camera with him anyway, taking pictures of whatever he sees. “Later on, as it became more social documentary in nature, just documenting what he was going through, he co-operated with me. One of the questions I had to ask Dad near the end was if it was okay to photograph him after he passed away,” he explained. “That’s a pretty tough question to ask your father. He said I could. He understood how important the photography was to me and my dealing with what was going on. He even encouraged it.” The work stands as not only a memorial to his father but also a door-opening moment to discuss the nature of art in terms of people’s own healing and self-care during hard times. Yaum is preparing to sit down for a special artist’s talk at the gallery tomorrow evening to go into more depth about this series and his work in general. The exhibit, also featuring the contributions of Sima Elizabeth Shefrin and Darian Goldin Stahl, has sparked a lot of interest with the public. This has opened up a ripe opportunity for a more in depth interpretation right from the artist’s mouth. The response to Healing Process has been overwhelmingly positive, said gallery director and curator Jenny Willson-McGrath, even despite the strong imagery that elicits powerful emotional responses. “Patrons are really engaging with the show. We have had great conversations and exchanges with many visitors the past couple of weeks who have shared their own stories about personal experiences of illness and loss.” Yaum elaborated further. “Whenever I show these difficult photos, it allows many who view them to open up and share painful memories from their own lives. Many gallery visitors have told me stories of how they have lost their loved ones to cancer and other diseases. At the opening night for this exhibition, people were crying. Opening up to the pain of loss helps us all deal with it better. That is the beauty of social documentary photography: it is about the human condition. It is about our shared humanity.” While he will undoubtedly talk at length about the work and its subject matter, he will also go into detail about his techniques and the analog process of making the prints using old film cameras, his darkroom, and all of the photochemicals that you don’t get much of any more in the age of cellphone photography. There will also be a Q & A session."

Primer Added to the First Platinum Frame

Before sleeping I added a primer paint to the first Platinum-Palladium frame. I will do one, probably two coats of pearl surface white paint to finish things off. 

Then add glass, the wire, make the print, mat the print and load the frame and we are set! Then do all that stuff 25 times and we have an exhibition, ready to hang.:) Eazy Speazy!!!

Platinum-Palladium Exhibition Frames

Working on a new type of frame. I want to create a wooden 16x20 inch frame, white in color about 1 1/4 inch deep. The frame would be for a still non existent exhibition of 11x14 inch Platinum-Palladium prints from THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP series. I will need 25 frames.

My first attempt is making 3 frames using pine wood. I need to sand and paint frame #1 yet but it seems OKish. 

I worry the rabbet (where the glass and matted picture sit behind the frame) is not deep enough. My current bit cannot cut deeper, in my router table setup.

Families Dream

 

Facebook Friend Help

I am getting lots of help with my new venture into Platinum-Palladium printing from countless Facebook friends. You gotta love Facebook for its ability to help teach you things. Whenever I have a photo related question, I put it out there and my friends usually come through with helpful answers. 

Here are the answers to a question about paper choice.

Platinum-Palladium Handmade White Wooden Print Frames

Am going to try to make some 16x20 inch white wood frames this week off. I will use the frames with the coming 11x14 inch Platinum-Palladium work I am printing. Probably from "THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP" photographic series.

I have the idea of how the frame will look in my mind's eye. I want the frames deep with narrow face. Now it is just a matter of building them, which I think I can cam do. Will try to make 3 or 4 of them this week off work. I always wanted to exhibit my work in white wooden frames, but the cost has stopped me. The cool thing now is that I can make my own, dreamed of frames, at a cheaper price!

Will post some pics of the works progress.

Link: How Irving Penn Did It!

Irving Penn's Platinum Prints were made in stages, multiple coatings of the paper, using "pin registration". I found this quite interesting. With modern photoshop and digital neg techniques, probably not necessary. Still, it would be fun to try.

Irving Penn Platinum Printing Technique

Printing My NON Exhibition

I will put together my THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP platinum print exhibition collection, before I get it! So that means, I will make, mat and frame 25 11x14 inch platinum- palladium prints!! When I eventually do get an exhibition for the work, everything will be ready to go!

Ordered Me Some Platinum Paper

Been doing more reading about various Platinum printing papers. These two papers, I have never tried before. I will give them a go in the 11x15 inch size. I got 50 sheets of Arches Platine 310gsm (a beautiful warm town paper) of and 25 sheets of Revere Platinum (cheaper cold tone paper). Both paper's do not have calcium carbonate in them (an alkaline), which gives them better archival qualities and a higher Dmax (deeper blacks). I will test these papers for the coming large scale Pl-Pd printing, before deciding which paper I prefer.

I also have Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag Fine Art paper in stock.

Cost $203.30 USD

Photo Idea: For the Fun of it!

I was thinking during my security round of a fun project to do. I know I already have lots photo relating things to do, but this would be so much fun.

What if I created the following.

25 FAMILIES OF THE DUMP 11x14 archival, signed, stamped, matted and handmade wood framed, Platinum-Palladium images.

25 MY FATHERS LAST DAYS 11x14 archival, signed, stamped, matted and handmade wood framed, Platinum-Palladium images.

25 THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY 11x14 archival, signed, stamped, matted and handmade wood framed, Platinum-Palladium images.

25 THAI BODY SELLER 11x14 archival, signed, stamped, matted and handmade wood framed, Platinum-Palladium images.

25 AMBROTOS KANATA 11x14 archival, signed, stamped, mattered and handmade wood framed, Platinum-Palladium images.

I have all the images; I have the skills to do Pt-Pd prints, matting and wood frames. So why not do it? I could then make gallery submissions on all these photo series and then if I get an exhibition, I can just dig out the finished work and ship it to the gallery. Later on at my life's end, I can donate the work to collections. It would be expensive of course but heck, I do not drink, do not smoke, do not gamble, do not have children. Got to spend the money some way! And this way is an important way.

Plus, it would just be beautiful to have all that work completed, in its finest form, to view at my leisure. A way to feel good on a daily basis.

Super Expensive Platinum-Palladium Chemicals

Bought a Platinum-Palladium Kit and some Palladium on the side. With the shipping the cost was a crazy $1200+ CAD!

I have been putting off this buy for several years because of cost. Believe it or not, I paid sale prices, form Bostick & Sullivan.

I wanted to have the chemicals on hand in case a major exhibition comes through. 

I would still need to buy printer inks etc. before I could start making Pt-Pl 11x14 prints. I have all the paper I need but would also require the plastic sheets for digi negs.

$USD

$USD

Sticker Shock

 

Photo Idea:: Donated Sets of Three?

Been thinking of late about the Platinum-Palladium and Salt prints I want to create of the beat photographs I made during my lifetime.

What if I made 3 of each top image, in the 16x20 inch and or 20x24 inch sizes. Then I could try to donate the work to 3 different prestigious museum collections around the world. Not sure anyone would want them but I could try. I would try first with the highest of high end facilities then move on down until 3 museum collections, said yes.

In my final days it would be soothing to my heart to know the people in the photographs would live on, that their important stories would continue to be told.

I think this idea might work.

Gosh, retirement cannot come soon enough!!!!

UV Nuarc 40-1K Printer Plans and FaceBook Comment

Friends on Facebook are glowing over the printer. Here is one comment.

JA: Gerry Yaum also, prints are sharper because the light source is a point, and it has a built in vacuum table. Just awesome

GERRY YAUM:

JA….that was something I hoped for. I used to argue with a local photo club guy about the sharpness added by the vacuum table. He always said there was no difference, I said there was. 

Looking forward to trying it out. 

The idea is to print the best of the life’s work in platinum/salt, then donate it all to a reputable place before I die.

Nuarc 40-1K UV Printer Plan

Still not using this machine. It is so huge, hard to get in the house. I am thinking of setting up a work area in the garage for it. The hope was to eventually do 20x24 Salt and Platinum-Palladium prints with it, post retirement. 

I should be able to put something together, this coming spring, summer, fall.

Note* Old Blog Post:

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

My Nuarc 40-1K UV Printer Has Arrived

The Nuarc 40-1K vacuum UV printer from Vernon arrived today in snowy Edmonton. I placed it in my garage and will unpack and set it up in the spring when I can clear a space for it. It looks undamaged and in good shape, I got an extra new bulb in the deal as well. Hopefully I can use this wonderful professional unit to do high quality Platinum Printing in the years ahead!!!!

Bought a Used Delta Jointer

Bought a used Delta Jointer for woodworking. I will use it in unison with the planer to mill recycled wood.  Not sure how much I need it but good tools make everything easier! It will help with the exhibition and AMBROTOS KANATA frame making. Buying it used with delivery to the house made sense. Cost $200 CAD.

Quote: Gordon Parks

 

Sick

Been sick as a dog the last 2 days. I usually do not get sick, so this is very debilitating for me. I worry that as I age this will become all too common and I will not be able to complete AMBROTOS KANATA and all the Asian social documentary projects. I am assuming I will get more sick with every year closer to my death, that is the normal way of things. 

I need to be able to fight through illness to get the work done, that matters most, will need some luck here as well. Never smoking and never drinking during my lifetime will help longevity but there are so many other factors. I think the ability to work when your sick might also bee a major bonus,, not sure how well I can do that. I will do my best, for as long as I can.

Submission Packages Sent Everywhere

Since I spent so much time and effort making up the 2 CASA packages. I decided to send it to every where I could find. It is important that the AMBROTOS KANATA story gets told for the first time in a gallery space and that THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP continues to be told in galleries (this next exhibition will be its 5th).

 Note* If the families is told again, it will bee thee first time as Platinum-Palladian prints.

Made Two Gallerry Submissions

I just made 2 gallery submissions to the main gallery at CASA in Lethbridge, Alberta. It is a nice facility with an CARFAC artist fee of $1500+. I submitted THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP and AMNBROTOS KAANATA. Families would be printed in 11x14 P.latinum-Palladium with wooden frames and AMBROTOS would be Ambrotype of various sizes, also in my handmade wooden frames.

Pretty tough to get into a place like this, and they favour local folks, making it even harder, but thought I would give it a go. I really need to start exhibiting AMBROTOS KANATA. The problem is all the time required to make up all these submission. I basically spent the best part of 3 days working on these 2 submissions. I hope in that I can use some of the same material for future submissions to other galleries, saving on submission work time.

CASA Art Gallery in Lethbridge, Alberta, photographer unknown