Much Improvement Needed

 I need lots of work on my 35mm photography, composition, quick accurate focusing, interpreting a scene correctly to tell the story properly, selecting the decisive moment better etc. I need to get the right camera angle, my use of light shadow need improving, the use of forground needs to be better to tell a 3D story. I need to be able to judge proper exposure with my eye not with a meter. I need to raise the percentage of good photos per roll. Sebastiao Salgado gets on average 6 work prints (good shots) per roll of film, at best I currently get 1 or maybe 2.

After spending the last two days intensely studying the work of Eugene Smith I see many faults with my work, my photographs do not sing like his, they might speak a bit occasionally but many of the images are missing so much. Lots of work needed, I think I will probably only take the 35mm cameras the next few trips overseas, I need to focus with these tools only (less is more) and tell a more complete, complex story in a more improved visual way. I need to feel and understand my subjects better, not only on a superficial emotional level but deep deep in my gut where it counts.

I am part of the way to my destination but still have a long way to travel, maybe with a concentrated effort in 10 years I will get to where I need to be.

W. Eugene Smith, Pittsburgh 1955

Salgado's Homage To The Planet, Genesis

Here is another new link to Sebastiao Salgado's  wonderful new book Genesis, I ordered it from Amazon last week, can't wait to leaf through it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3l0BxP5A_Y

Positive Message Submission

Got my annual reject slip from the McMullen Gallery today. This is a tough gallery to get into but I think I am failing there before I start, when you have words like dump, slum and prostitution in your submission its a non starter with this place. The McMullen caters to sometimes terminally ill patients and their grieving visitors so they try to send an upbeat art message. I need to find a positive message photographic series to send them next year.

I do not want to compromise my personal vision by selling out just to get shown but I believe I can create something that I believe in and that will have a positive hopeful message that the McMullen might want to show. I do not want to go the pretty landscape, bubbling stream, snow covered mountain peak way but maybe I could do some landscapes/cityscape's that have a message but are also 100% positive in nature. I keep thinking back to the beautiful Buddha statues I have seen all over Asia, maybe I could do some of those, its something I would feel comfortable shooting and something that would fit into the McMullen's rather limited artistic mandate.

I guess I should not worry about this place to much its sort of only 1/2 an art gallery but still it would be nice to get in and those that do get into this limited mandate place (most galleries are in one way or another) deserve credit.

More 35mm Only Thoughts

All the dumpsite 35mm and 4x5 film is developed. Last night I also finished scanning all the 35mm stuff but I still need to get the scanner working to do all the 4x5 negs. I will be posting another 20 or so more images from the 35mm work in the coming days. Overall I am quite happy with the Leica photography this last trip, now with my new super expensive lens I am thinking more and more of going only 35mm film next time. Gosh it will be hard to leave the 4x5 behind but it might help me in 2 ways.  The first way is I will be able to travel so much lighter and faster, carrying a 4x5 with full gear in Thailand is very difficult. The second way is "less is more" theory, if I concentrate on one type of film, one format,  maybe it will help me focus more on my subject and make better pics. Heck my idols Salgado and Smith were happy to use one format, why is it not good enough for little old Gerry?

Possible 5 week trip kit:

3 Leica M6 bodies
1 Leica M4P body
21mm f2.8
28mm f2
35mm f1.4
50mm f1.4
90mm f2.8
Portable flash (for completely dark rooms)
200 rolls of 35mm film, 75% Tri-x and 25% HP5 (testing HP5 for cost reasons)

Carrying 4 bodies might be excessive but I could keep 1 or 2 of the bodies in my camera bag for quick access to another lens or if I have a film run out with my other 2-3 cameras, I could quickly grab a loaded camera and keep shooting (I had 2 camera film run outs and missed shots last trip at least 2 times). I am undecided if I will take 3 or 4 bodies next trip, maybe I should try shooting some events here in Canada with 4 bodies to see how that works out.

Quotes: W. Eugene Smith

I have been restudying the life and work of Eugene Smith, recently read quotes.

"Subjectivity is not a crime."

Speaking of why he prints his own work:

" The reason is very simple. I want the damn pictures to say what I want them to say. I want to subdue those things that are not important to the statement, and I want to make sure that the important things are open, clear, and direct. Making my own print is the only way to fulfill what I saw when I made the photograph."

Speaking on achieving success in the darkroom:

"My formula for successful printing remains ordinary chemicals, an ordinary enlarger, music, a bottle of Scotch, and stubbornness."

W. Eugene Smith American Masters Documentary

Here is the American Masters documentary on W. Eugene Smith. Smith was my first major inspiration, as a photographer he is someone I greatly admire to this day. I always felt his incredible devotion to his work and that he felt so deeply for his subjects made him so good. If you look at his life's work the power and greatness of documentary photography is truly revealed. His photograph "Tomoko Uemura In Her Bath" is my favourite image of all time,  it speaks to undying, unequivocal love. Smith really felt deeply in his heart the importance and power of photography and art, he felt what he was doing really mattered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRIjL2rn3E

Here is a story on the Tomoko photograph from a blog I wrote way back in 2007.

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.ca/2007/11/favorite-photographtomoko-uemura-in-her.html

800 ASA Stand Development Tri-x Negs

Here are some Muay Thai boxer photos shot at 800ASA, the higher ASA rating allowed me to use faster shutter speeds within the gym. The stand development was 20C, 1-50 Rodinal developed for 2 hours with agitation for the first 30 seconds (inverting tank) and every 30 minutes there after for 15 seconds (light swirling agitation). I also have 5 rolls shot at 1600ASA that I will be experimenting with over the next while.

With this new stand development method and the new very fast 35mm 1.4 lens plus rangefinder camera I should now be able to shoot in very low light successfully, not quite up  to what a digi camera can do but still it should work very well. I can go to at least 1/15, f1.4 at 800ASA, which will be tricky to shoot but it should be possible to get sharp images. I am looking forward to see what results I get from the 1600ASA boxing exposures.

"Train Is Coming Show" Is Done

This morning after 1 hour of sleep (worked developing/scanning film all night), I went down to the Jubilee Auditorium and picked up my 36 prints. Tarryn from the Jubilee who has helped me through out this exhibition helped me again to take down the framed photographs, I put them in bags then on cart and hustled them upstairs to my waiting truck. I gave Tarryn some chocolates as a thank you then that was that my first major solo show was done! It was a great experience thou I am not sure the cost of printing-matting-framing the show was worth it to me financially ($3000? $4000), that money might have been better spent buying film or traveling somewhere to make pictures. As an experience thou it was pretty amazing and challenging, I never worked so hard in the darkroom as I did for these pictures, I think I became a better printer as a result. I am also happy I was able to give a voice to the people I photographed and am glad I had the opportunity to show the Edmonton public a bit of the Klong Toey world. Hopefully what the people saw will inspire them in someway, either directly helping Klong Toey, indirectly volunteering here Edmonton or maybe artistically, creatively in some way. If the show did nothing else I hope it taught viewer how incredibly fortunate we are here in the West and to appreciate the wonderful lives they have.

I will make up the opening night show video in the coming weeks and post it on youtube, please keep an eye out for that. The small $200 check I got for the show I will put towards the 35mm Leica lens.

35mm Dumpsite Photos Part 8

Cooking breakfast Mae Sot garbage dump, Mae Sot Thailand 2013

Photoshop Lesson

I had a nice 1 hour and 30 minute photoshop lesson today given by my camera club friend Jim. Heres a bit of advice, do not try to learn photoshop on 3 hours sleep! Last night I worked until 6am developing film and then woke up around 9am before going to Jim's house for the lesson.

I plan on doing my Toot Yung Gallery colour show prints digitally so I need to improve my editing skills to a some what acceptable level. Jim is a great teacher who is helping many people in the club to learn photoshop. Today we were able to salvage a badly damaged 120mm neg of freelance sex worker Nit. I ain't throwing away any of my colour or b/w negs, they all can be saved! I can print them all digitally at some future date. Heck I could probably rescue them in photoshop, then make a digital corrected negative and then print it traditionally in the dark (the best of both worlds).

Better get to bed, going to take a nap before meeting another friend Larry tonight. Larry is a great photographer and art collector, he has a beautiful new photograph that I am eager to see, then we will share a meal and talk photography. Its amazing how long we can talk photography, 2 hours is easy, 3 or 4 possible without to much effort!