Bought Me A Wet Plate Darkroom Trailer For The “KANATA” Cross Canada 10 Year Photo Project!!!

I went tonight to view the trailer from the earlier post snd fell in love with it. It is a bit large (a 7x12 better?) and the man door lock is missing a key (needs to be replaced) but everything else seems pretty much PERFECT! The inside of the trailer is finished. The walls are not simple exposed board but covered with a plastic I-Brite material (not sure what it is called), the floor is also finished with a hard surface. There is also a counter top where I can mount a tripod or put trays, plus a furnace and electrical plugs, 110 power and battery power lights etc. The trailer is a 2013 and rated to carry up to 8000 lbs, I am the third owner.

I will only need to light proof the trailer, get some kind of safe light system and install a sink(s) and some kind of cupboards/shelfs. I will have at least 2 years to set it up before I am taking it into the field. Will need to eventually get a camper-motor home-converted bus to pull the whole thing. Step by step builds the Great Wall! This is another step in creating the grand "KANATA" photo project.

Trailer features:

- 7 x 14 feet with tons of interior height. I am 6 foot 2.5 inches and there is at least 4 or 5 inches above my head to the ceiling.

- 2012 model, twin axle.

- 3 fluorescent electric roof light fixtures (work with wet plate?, covert to safe lights?)

- 2 battery operated roof lights works off a floor battery and inverter (convert to safe lights).

- propane heater with furnace (safe with wet plate? an ignition source? probably need to leave it off when working wet plate).

- counter top.

- tie down side rack devices to secure gear when traveling.

- separate man door with step.

- 4 wall mounted 110 volt plugs along counter top (enlarger?).

- 2 windows, one on wall, one on door (cover black or with ruby lithe to make safe lights).

- roof vent with small fan (can open when working at night).

Extras: Spare wheel, aluminum shelf material, tire stops, 2 hitch locks, 2 thin ramp columns for rolling things into the trailer. Also got some heavy duty metal tie down straps included. Will use the straps for a possible moped or to lock down the camera gear when travelling.

- insulated, I-bright style covered walls, metal floor.

Asking price was $9000 CAD. I offered $8600 CAD and with some polite negotiating was accepted.. The seller Les will then transport the trailer to mom and dads home for me (I have no vehicle to pull it) . I will need to cash some savings GICs to get this paid for.

I will adapt and modify a trailer into a darkroom at the house over the next few years. My thinking is to use this both for a wet plate darkroom and a normal darkroom for developing film on the road and to print with a standard enlarger or to contact print the larger negs onto RC paper as tests. There is is also the possibly of setting up some kind of digital work station printer in here, but that might work better in the eventual motor home/ bus conversion I get.

I will need to install a sink or sinks in the trailer, as well as an enlarger, safe lights, shelving of some kind etc. This could be a great tool to make important photos in far away locals. I plan on using it across the entirety of Canada, from the West coast of British Columbia and Vancouver island to the Northern stretches of the Yukon and North West Territories, from shores of far off Newfoundland to the the inner forests and cities of Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan This rugged well built, durable mobile trailer darkroom should be a dream to work with and in!!!!! AM VERY EXCITED BY THE POSSIBILITIES.

Update* The trailer will be delivered on Sunday, need to go to the bank tomorrow to do some banking. Hate to cash the GICs, really hate it but you got to do what you got to do. Hope this project and these eventual photos are as important and beautiful as I am dreaming.

Update** The HF3535 camera, my huge 35x35 inch view camera is nearing completion. I will probably be in my home in Canada by early 2020 (hope hope!!).

Update*** I will also probably eventually purchase a used 3/4 truck to pull the trailer (darkroom #3) on shorter day trips.

Wide view of trailer

Man door with step

Furnace box

Me in interior

Overview of interior with window, breaker box on right

Tandem wheels

Metal style floor

Double propane bottles for the furnace

Working counter top (for enlarger? and other working tools)

Roof hatch (need to light tight this area)

Light switch and thermostat

Me in trailer

Front view of trailer

Trailer specs

Rear trailer door hinge

Furnace

More distant view of side of trailer

Seller Les and me in trailer

One of the slim-steep ramp rails

Man door 2 (lock needs replacting)

Rear of trailer

Front and left of trailer

Inside trailer man door and switches

Left side of trailer 

Cross Canada Wet Plate Project Gear Buy Moving Forward

I am also shopping (only shopping) for a darkroom trailer to do the wet plate work in and a converted  bus camping-pulling-living unit to make the project in. My current thinking is to pull a darkroom trailer behind a converted bus. A bus is built better, pulls better, stores large gear better (HF3535 camera) and is probably safer to live in when I go to very isolated areas in Northern Canada etc to make pictures. I will need a decent vehicle to live in on the road as some of the trips MIGHTt last 2 or 3 months.

Here are some possible buys. I have no money yet for such things but can dream!! The dreams often become realities if you want them enough. The price would need to be under $8000 for the trailer and under $40000 CAD for the converted bus. I  most likely will have to go cheaper than that. Gas and the Silver I will need for this project which might last 10 years will be VERY HIGH. Hopefully I can get some artist grants, sell some work and teach some workshops to help pay for everything. We will see how it goes, step by step.

HF3535 Nearing Completion

My HF3535 camera is FINALLY near completion. 2 years late but the camera is almost done, thank god! If the camera turns out as well as I hoped I will probably order more hand made cameras from Filip the maker in the Czech Republic. Possibly a 11x14, or a 5x7 or 12x20.

Submission To Lens Culture Magazine/Site

Did a free (until September 25th, today is the last day) submission to a Lens Culture photo competition. I only submitted because one image was free. I never submit anything anywhere if there is a charge, one of my submission rules of thumb. It is a competition dealing with shadows, also got to post the picture on myFacebook page. Give it a shot if you can rush in today to do it.

Families Of The Dump, Review From 2017

Am a bit desperate to post something. With no reviews, no shows, not much of anything happening photo wise I decided to post this old review, exhibition. Part of the WORKS FESTIVAL here in Edmonton at the Lattitude 53 Gallery (a few years back).

Quote: Ernest Hemingway

"It takes two years to learn how to speak and sixty to learn to keep quiet."

Quote: Irish Proverb

"It is in the shelter of each other that people live."

Mamiya 6 Memories

I just put these old photos up on a Facebook Mamiya 6 camera page. Thought I should post them on my main Facebook connection and also re-post them on the blog. These pics bring back long forgotten memories. 

I wonder what happened to Tak (color image). I only went to the area she worked 2 times to make photos. The first time I was very nervous, she saw me walking down a muddy street filled with brothels in rural Cambodiia looking nervous and out of place. Tak came over, gently took my hand and walked me to a nearby area where there was rooster fights. She sort of saved me, Tak spoke no English and I spoke no Vietnamese and we could only manage a bit of Khmer (Cambodian language) along with gestures. So we stayed there with the roosters and a bunch of sports betting Cambodian men and watched that for a while then we left together. Later I made this picture of her and gave her a bit of money. We only met one time after that when I sat with her and a group of other workers drinking cola. They had a small wild bird in cage that everyone was talking to.

So strange to think of all that again today here, all these years later, at work in this guardhouse in Canada. Tak lived in such a terrible world, sold and trafficked, abused in so many ways, but somehow she kept her kind soul. I so hope she eventually found some form of happiness, a loving life of some kind. Here's to you good hearted Tak, thank you for your kindness.
---------------------
FROM THE MAMIYA FACEBOOK PAGE

I used the Mamiya extensively on the streets of Thailand and in Cambodia a bit in 1999.. A truly lovely camera in low light, just be careful with your film advancing (lever breaks sometimes)... Have not shot the camera for over a decade, should get back to it, a lovely tool. I really liked how you could recess the lens. I used to use 2 bodies with flash and the standard and wide angle lens. B&W done on Tri-x, Color is Agfa Optima film. More details on the photos.

Update* A comment and response from the Facebook page.

Chris Johnson...Aren't you ever haunted by thoughts of these people, wondering where are they now ?

• Gerry Yaum.. Haunted all the time Chris......saddest stuff and places in the world...I guess the best thing to do with that haunting is to try to use that feeling to push yourself and to further the story telling. The goal is always to tell the stories of the subjects, exposing their injustice, making sure their important lives are remembered.

Tak, Vietnamese sex worker in a Cambodian brothel room, 1999 Phnom Penh Cambodia

Mother begging with her young daughter in tourist area, Bangkok, Thailand 1999

Young boy begging from tourists Patpong (gogo bar/market area), Bangkok Thailand, 1999. (Sorry for the shitty low quality file, the only one I could find)

Ann Freelancer Sex Worker looking for customers on Sukhhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand 1999

Quote: Jimi Hendrix

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."

Update Sun-Matting Room

Did some more work on the Sun-Matting room today. It is starting to shape up. Love the amount of daylight in this new space, it is made up of 6 windows and 4 sliding doors. This should work well for mat cutting, spotting and framing the photography.

The room will also be a nice reading, relaxing area. Last night I fell asleep in the pictured chair for 6 hours. I was hiding under a nice big quilt! One of the real joys in life is reading and browsing books. Will be doing lots of that here under available light. Photo books, novels, non fiction history stuff, LOVELY!

I still need to dig out my big mat cutter which will be placed on the large table. Also need to put together some kind of storage drawers for all the little tools I will be using. The room blinds need to be restored as well. Anyway it is slowly coming together.

Second hand, chair-leg stool used leather like $80, wood amp $20, table $80. Cushion something my mom or maybe my grand mom made years ago.Second hand, chair-leg stool used leather like $80, wood amp $20, table $80. Cushion something my mom or maybe my grand mom made years ago.

One furry attention seeking mammal. Leng Mao (pretty cat) always loves to climb on you, whenever you sit down for a few minutes.

Old dry mount press to flatten prints, some discount paper cutters a light and and a timer. All placed on a old table my father had in the garage.

Large outdoor picnic table, will try it with the mat cutter, see how it works.

Spotting, Matting, Mounting, Framing And Reading Room

from facebook...
The little glass house (attachment on a balcony to main house) that dad-mom built years ago is mostly cleaned out. Will do the rest of the clean up today. I put in some recently bought second hand furniture in the room last night. The plan is to set up 2 or 3 tables in the space to do my print spotting, mat cutting, mounting and framing on. The chair and sofa are for reading and relaxing. lt has 4 sliding doors have screens and there is wonderful air flow and light in the room. It should be a great reading and work space in the spring-summer and fall but will be too cold to use in the winter.

Work and reading room

Polite "Photo Life" Magazine Rejection

After some false hope and prolonged effort, today I received the expected polite rejection email from Canada's number 1 photo magazine "Photo Life". I have been rejected by Photo Life probably 5 or 6 times through the years, it has become an annual disapointing event. That is OK thou, they are good people, sometimes things just do not mix well. The only bad part is that I feel like I let the families down yet again, the photography was not good enough. Need to better next time.

Here is there polite rejection email, with my reply.

Dear Gerry,

Thank you for your interest in Photo Life; we appreciate you taking the time to provide us additional information and writing samples. We plan our issues long in advance, and we have most of the next several issues already lined up. If we are interested in discussing your proposal further for a later issue, we will contact you.

Best,

-------- --------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok ------,

Thanks for considering the story. I realized it was a bit of a long shot. I will be returning to the dump in 2020, 2021, 2022 etc. So both the humanitarian and photo work will continue. If I can get the work into a majorish gallery/museum will send you and invite:) Trying for that now.  Trying for WAG and the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie and some other places as well.

This last photo I am sending you is of a young sister carrying her brother through the garbage at night, made in around February 2018. This is a common sight in the dump. I photographed one brother carrying a sister combo now for several years, he loves her and protects her so much. They usually carry their younger siblings as their parents work the garbage.

I want to thank you for taking the time to write me personally. Many times I send out my begging emails and get no response at all :)

Best Wishes....Gerry

Brother and sister in the dump at night, "Families of the Dump" Mae Sot, Thailand, 2018

Gear For 2020 Trip?

Thinking of the gear I will take next trip to Thai in 2020.

- Hasselblad X1D digital camera with 45mm lens (New Buy)
- Canon 5D Mark 3 digital camera with 11-24mm lens (maybe the 24mm to 105mm)( 11-24mm Lens aNew Buy)
- Rolleiflex with close up filter
- Lecia M6 with 35mm F1.4 lens
- Leica R6 with 16mm lens (my current fav lens)

So that is 5 cameras not bad! If I do the cross Thai photo project I might take the huge 16x20 Chamonix as well.

New 11-24mm F4 Canon Lens Self Portrait

from Facebook....

Saturday, September 7, 2019

First Photo With New 11-24mm F4 Canon Lens

Just playing around with the new lens tonight at work. Did up a self portrait. This is shot at 10000. 1/400 at F7.1 Did some sharpening for fun (original image sharp) which lead to the more noise/grain look.

The chances to make some top notch photos with this new lens seem good. Am eager to see what the 11mm focal length will yield. Here's hoping it becomes the #1 lens in my digital shooting inventory.

Self Portrait, September, 2019

Bought A Pelican 1690NF Case For My 16x20 Chamonix Canera

I will start shooting my 16x20 Chamonix camera so needed a good quality case. Bought one recommended to me by the Chamonix sales agent Howie, the Pelican 1690NF. Total cost with free shipping as $246.65 USD from B&H photo in New York. Might be using this in Thailand next trip.

Update* Damn!! ordered the 1620 NF case by mistake, which is too small for the 16x20. Will use it for the 11x14 or maybe the 14x17 instead, or an 8x10 outfit with holders.  Am still trying to track down the 1690NF case which is not available from B&H in New York (free shipping to Canada).

My Hyper 16x20 Chamonix Camera Box Opening

Pelican 1690NF, I bought the top "Desert Tan" coloured type

2 Submissions Made

from Facebook...

Well I just submitted to 2 new galleries now, the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Here is hoping something pans out and the photo stories can be told to larger audiences. Will be doing 4 or 5 more submissions over the next while. For those interested here is the very open and friendly WAG submission process. Good luck to you, if you try.

https://www.wag.ca/home/contact/artist-submissions 

Quote: Renia Spiegel (Writer And Holocaust Victim)

From a recently published diary written by a young jewish woman executed by the Nazis.

The CNN article about this amazing and tragic life story.

"June 7, 1942

Wherever I look, there is bloodshed. Such terrible pogroms. There is killing, murdering. God Almighty, for the umpteenth time I humble myself in front of you, help us, save us! Lord God, let us live, I beg You, I want to live! I've experienced so little of life. I don't want to die. I'm scared of death. It's all so stupid, so petty, so unimportant, so small. Today I'm worried about being ugly; tomorrow I might stop thinking forever.

Think, tomorrow we might not be

A cold, steel knife

Will slide between us, you see

But today there is still time for life

Tomorrow sun might eclipse

Gun bullets might crack and rip

And howl -- pavements awash

With blood, with dirty, stinking slag

Pigwash

Today you are alive 

There is still time to survive

Let's blend our blood 

When the song still moves ahead

The song of the wild and furious flood 

Brought by the living dead 

Listen, my every muscle trembles

My body fumbles for your closeness 

It's supposed to be a choking game, this is 

Not enough eternity for all the kisses 

July 15, 1942

Remember this day; remember it well. You will tell generations to come. Since 8 o'clock today we have been shut away in the ghetto. I live here now. The world is separated from me and I'm separated from the world."

Quote: Robert Frank

"If you have some brain and some feeling for people, your going to be a good photographer."

Quote: Fred Herzog (Photographer)

“If you don’t trust your instincts, if you don’t trust your first vision, then you lose it,”

New Submissions Coming

from Facebook...

Doing up submissions. About time to have another exhibition. Trying for mid level galleries in Regina, Ottawa, Grande Prairie, Dawson City, Winnipeg and Nanaimo. All paying galleries. All have paid art talks (I think). Hopefully something will come of it. Money earned goes back to the people in the photos. The perfect circle of artistic life, photograph people in need, tell their stories-show the photos, raise money, use the money to help those same people in the photographs.
Also meeting a nice fellow (a former pro photojournalist) who works at one of the galleries tomorrow for breakfast. He wants to talk photos and see some photography so put some on my laptop for him, also going to show him some small digi prints. Here is a sample....

Young Child, Families of the Dump, Mae Sot Thailand, 2018. Young boy in the dump with an older sister watching over her. It is very common to see one young child looking after another in the garbage.

Young sister taking care of brother, Families of the Dump, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2018. This is another version of the earlier photo of the two.

Group working the garbage, Families of the Dump, Mae Sot Thailand, 2018. A group of women talking as they work the garbage. The common language amongst all the ethnic groups at the dump is Burmese. Some folks also speak a bit of Thai. The young girl in the pink hat, had a conversation in Thai with me about boots, you can see it below. She is such a intelligent young lady. The children at the dump COULD DO ANYTHING!! They just need the opportunities and chance to succeed. http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2017/10/video-test-video-girl-asking-for-boots.htmltag

From the 2007, 2009, 2012 Sex Worker On White photos. The pics were shot in studio with a 8x10 camera. https://slate.com/culture/2014/01/gerry-yaum-photographs-sex-workers-in-pattaya-thailand-in-his-exhibition-body-sellers-the-sex-workers-of-thailand-at-photonola.html

Win family boy with toy panda puppet, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thailand, 2015. This photo comes with a story. I was photographing 100 feet away when I saw the boy find the puppet and start to play with it. Because of my keen photo instincts and blazing, amazing, stunning talent, I sensed a photo opportunity!!! Can't miss this one!! Run Gerry Run!! So I quickly jumped into action racing across the field of garbage. About 5 steps in, I STEPPED ON A NAIL!!. I felt a sharp pain and looked down to see a 2x4 board stuck to my rubber boot. Kicking off the board I went to get the shot. At that point why not, the nail damage was done, I must get the photo!! Now especially! So I went in got the shot and then retreated to check out my foot. I took off my boot and sock to see blood on my right little toe. The nail had luckily missed the main part of my foot and had just grazed the side near the toe. I washed the blood off with my precious supply of drinking water and then photographed the rest of the day. At night when the light was gone I went to the hospital and got a shot. http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2015/11/hospital-time.html

Kodoku #1, Kyoto Japan, 2017. Part of the "Solitude" series made in Japan. There almost always seems to be such a hard working, exhausted, solemnity to the Japanese people I meet in Japan.

Burmese man, Families of the Dump, Mae Sot, 2013. This man did not trust me at first, later we became friends of a sort.

Two boys and a man, Families of the Dump, Mae Sot Thailand 2013. I photographed the father in the photo for 5 years, he was back in Burma last trip as his wife had gotten sick. A nice man. The boy in front of him is his son.

tagTag PhotopinAdd LocationpencilEdit

Book sample page...top photo from families of the dump, bottom from the Klong Toey slum series (Bangkok).

Boy eating oranges found in the garbage, Families of the Dump, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2018. This is the young Win boy who I have photographed for years eating oranges he found in the garbage. Here is a photo from 2015 of the same boy, he had just found a Panda Puppet. I accidentally stepped on a nail before making this picture. https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vum-smMYvOU/VnF4BsHR-2I/AAAAAAAAVrg/EKeECrjDx5Q/s1600/103071a_edited-2.jpg

Ying laughing, The People Who Live Under The Freeway, Bangkok, Thailand, 2013

Kodoku #2, Tokyo Japan, 2017.

"My Fathers Last Day" print in the darkroom.

Dad, "My Fathers Last Days". Edmonton, Canada, 2014. A photo series I did on my father the last year of his life. He passed away from Pancreatic Cancer on February 22, 2015. Miss you dad.

From the 2007, 2009, 2012 Sex Worker On White photos. The pics were shot in studio with a 8x10 camera. https://slate.com/culture/2014/01/gerry-yaum-photographs-sex-workers-in-pattaya-thailand-in-his-exhibition-body-sellers-the-sex-workers-of-thailand-at-photonola.html