VIDEO: "The Train Is Coming" Portraits From Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand-Opening Night

Well here it is, my newly released "The Train Is Coming" opening night show video. The show was difficult and expensive to produce but in the end a very satisfying experience, it was a great way to have my first solo exhibition. To show at an important facility like the Northern Jubilee Auditorium was a wonderful privilege, most first time artist solo shows are at "Bobs Bakeshop" or" Carl's Coffee House", it took me 35 years to get the darn thing but when I finally got it, it was a nice first class event.


The exhibition over its 2 1/2 hour opening had between 60-70 folks show up. I was quite pleased with the turnout, at one point I counted over 40 people in the room at one time. I was disappointed that several long time friends did not bother to attend but I guess we all live our own lives and everyone has their own priorities. One thing that I anticipated being difficult turned out to be even harder to do than I thought which was to make both videos at the opening and also host the thing. Every time I raised my camera someone walked up to me for a chat so I was only able to get limited footage when the show was at its busiest.

Overall the opening was a wonderful success, it will be something I will think back to with fondness for years to come. Even thou I was happy with the whole event I will hold off on making submissions to galleries, I want to concentrate my money on making pictures not framing, matting and shipping photographs.  I need to use the small amount of money I have wisely. With my limited income I have to put the priority on the creation of new work, if that work is good enough it will eventually be shown and recognized. I will spend the next 10 years working hard at creating new work and less time and money doing the show thing.

I will be having 2 international shows in the coming year, one in New Orleans and one in Bangkok but after that I am going to limit where and how often I submit and try to show. My inability to get grant money limits my options,  I will be much better off spending my security guard money on film, darkroom supplies and travel-living expenses, making new pictures has to be my number one priority and concern.

The video is a bit longer than I wanted 6 minutes and 30 seconds but it does a good job I think of presenting much of the experience that went into it. I have still photos, Klong Toey slum video, darkroom video and video from the opening all mixed together into a nice presentation along with Schubert's "Ava Maria".




Here is a link to the opening night video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lY37snMO4I

Leica Repair And Film Buy

I OKed the repair/servicing estimate today for some of my Leica equipment. I am getting a M6 body repaired and checked, along with a 21mm f2.8 and my older 50mm f1.4. The total cost of these repairs and maintenance will be over $800 CAD. Got to love Leica for their quality and sharp lens but gosh repairing/maintaining these things cost a fortune. I should get this gear back well before I leave for Thailand, I want to use the 21mm this coming trip. I still have one newer 50mm in need of repairs, I dropped the lens a few years ago, I will send that in later when I have more money saved.

I also sent out my first payment for 1/2 the 37 rolls of bulk Tri-x I am buying. This film was outdated back in 2012 and is selling for $50 a box but I expect to use 10 or 11 this coming trip so it should go pretty fast, probably within 3 years. I am eager to get this film into my freezer here in Edmonton, hopefully it does not take long to be shipped. 

Photo people spend money on all kinds of useless things, but when you buy film there is something pure and beautiful about it. The possibilities of what the film can become, the importance it can have overrides almost all other photo related spending. I recently had a discussion with a friend where he thought that money spent on photo social events was more important than buying film. For me it always comes down to buying film and making photographs, if you spend your money on film your always on the right track, other concerns like socializing, shows, gear, financial/time distractions that take you away from photography etc. are of secondary importance. Lets buy film, and lets make pictures, not excuses!

Editing "The Train Is Coming" Show Video

Decided to dive into editing my "Train Is Coming" show video last night. I wanted to stay awake so that I could do the switch over to my security night shifts and needed something to keep me alert so pushed myself to do the show film editing.

After working on the short film all night I got a nice rough cut completed. This video is much more complex than the last two as I incorporated more edits, 3 different video camera feeds, converting video to b/w and other video manipulation (from the Klong Toey slum and darkroom). still images and slow motion. I think it should be a nice little package in the end, but it will take me a few more days to complete it before I put it on YouTube. I will post a link when everything is up and running. This work was a lot of fun to do, I hope to do more video shooting and editing in the coming years.

35mm Dump Photos Part 13

More 35mm dump photos, maybe the last blog entry for this series until the next trip.

Here is a problematic high contrast neg complete with fly on the lens, a harsh photo.

Secondary Trip Series, The Gym?

I might just shoot the boxing gym again as my second series photography project next trip, along with some general Klong Toey slum imagery. I found these boxer photos in my scans today (quite like his intensity), I think these are part of the pushed to 800 ASA stand development films. Recommitting myself to the boxers and the slum areas has lots of possibilities for strong photographs that tell important stories, especially with the new 35mm F1.4 and 60mm 2.8 lens to my gear kit.

Experimental HP5 Stand Development

I have been unhappy with the grain and contrast of my first HP5 35mm pics so I decided to try something radical. I exposed the HP5 below at 200 ASA but  then decided to give it stand development, hoping the long development with minimal agitation would push they high tones up giving more contrast. I also developed in Rodinal this time to try and push the grain somewhat larger.

The negs below were given stand development for 1 hour, with a 1-100 Rodinal dilution at 20C, the agitation was inverting the tank for the first 30 seconds, followed by swirls (like swirling a wine in a glass) for 15 seconds every 10 minutes. The bottom shot had some contrast added with photoshop the top image is as scanned.

35mm Dump Photos Part 12

Another 10 dump photographs, not sure how many I have left to post but should have enough for this blog and at least a partial part 13.

The neg below is a bit of a nightmare, not sure I could print it in the darkroom, but it would be fun to try!

25 Year Old Bulk Tri-x? No Problem!

I have several rolls of frozen 100 foot bulk Tri-x that dates back 25 years. Not sure why I never shot the film but there came a time thru the years where I thought the film was to old, fogged and useless, in fact I almost threw it out! I loaded one of these rolls last week into the bulk film loader and today shot a cassette for fun. Guess what! The film even after being frozen for 25 years looks fine, there might be a tiny bit of fogging but I cannot see it in the negs that are now in the wash. Got to love Tri-x it never dies! Now I feel much more confident with the recently purchased 37 rolls outdated in 2012 I will have coming in soon from the USA, which will go straight into my freezer. Heck I could buy frozen Tri-x outdated back in the 60s that would probably be OK.

I have to find something special to shoot with this long frozen film, maybe a series of close up high contrast images like the shots done today. I am not used to seeing or photographing the world close up, it might be fun to try that, its always exciting to look at things in new ways.

Below are some scans  (the first flower pics on the blog!) from the old old Tri-x test film, they were shot with the R6 and 60mm macro lens (hand held). The scans were manipulated to give them the high contrast, heavily burned look:

35mm Dump Photos Part 11

This might be the last set of 35mm work from the dump, hopefully after the next trip I can do 20 of these 10 photo blogs.

The first picture I initially rejected, in the past I was hesitant to print or look much at negs that contained motion and or blur. The more I study the work of photographers I love the more I see blurred photos with movement in them, these photos I quite often love, it creates a bit of a disoriented feel. I am including the blurred image below to allow me to look at and think about the blur feeling more, in the future I might try to do more and more of this.

Working Simple

I think I have settled in my mind that I need to work simple next trip. I will miss shooting the 4x5 but I want to see what happens if I stay focused and light with only 35mm gear. I got my new (used) small Domke F-3X bag today which holds all my Leica gear quite nicely. My current thinking is to go with 3-35mm cameras not 4,  and 4 lens, here is my latest smaller gear list:

2 Leica M6 Bodies
1 Leica R Body
21mm F2.8
28mm F2
35mm F1.4
60mm F2.8
Small Leica Flash
200 Rolls Tri-x

For my daily shoots I will be able to carry all the camera gear in one small Domke bag along with 10 or 15 rolls of film. Here are some pics of the gear and bag:

Traveling lighter should be a joy, I can concentrate on seeing, experiencing and creating. Because I am taking less cameras/lens/film, I will not need to have any check in baggage on the flight, I will carry on everything I need in this small camera bag and a small knapsack (film, clothes). I have never gone to Thailand without check in luggage, this will be a first! Traveling with 2 small bags will also make the Thai bus rides that much easier to manage. It will be very cool shooting light and fast and not being burdened with tons of heavy bags and equipment, this should be fun! Hopefully the work will be simpler, stronger and more fluid.

Visit To The Alberta Gallery Of Art (AGA)

I renewed my membership and had a nice visit at the AGA today. The highlight of this trip was a exhibition of 19th century British photography, complete with albumen, carbon, salt, gelatin silver and daguerreotypes. The handed painted stereoscope Daguerreotypes were a real highlight along with the various salt, carbon and platinum prints.

Every time I see a platinum print it makes me want to try that process, maybe at some point when my shooting days are behind me and I am printing my large format work I can spend time printing platinum print portfolios. I also want to try salt prints, they have a very basic brown tone look to them that I like, not sure I will love this look but want to give it a try. One type of new (at least for me) photographic print I loved in this show are the carbon prints, a process I know nothing about but will research now.

I will probably go 2 or 3 times more to revisit these prints in the coming months, the AGA is a really wonderful place to spend time in. I wish they would put more compelling work (rather that the boring crap they usually show) into the RBC new works gallery (Alberta artists only) but other than that, what a  grand place to visit.

Quote: Vincent Van Gogh

"Stars are the souls of dead poets but to become a star you have to die."

The Big Fat List of Documentaries About Photography

A big list of documentaries about photography, many of these films are online for free. Check them out here:

http://erikagentry.com/2013/07/10/the-big-fat-list-of-documentaries-about-photography/

Quote: Yosuf Karsh

"...the heart and mind are the true lens of the camera"

Quote: Aristotle

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit".

"Tomoko Uemura In Her Bath" Ethics

Found this story challenging, the ethics of the picture and its importance as a work of art versus how it effected the Uemura family.

http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0007/hughes.htm

Tomoko Uemura In Her Bath, 1971 W. Eugene Smith

Working In Low Light

With the new 35mm F1.4 I have more confidence working in low light, the pic below is of my friend Larry it was shot at 1.4 with available daylight and a fairly short shutter speed, possibly 1/30th.

With this new f1.4 lens and the ability to push Tri-x to 800 comfortably and 1600 uncomfortably I have the ability now to shoot pics in extremely low light. The one thing I want to work on in the coming months before my next trip to Asia is using bounce flash with the Leicas. Two of my all time favourite Eugene Smith photographs, "Tomoko In Her Bath" and "Albert Schweitzer At His Desk" were shot on 35mm with bounce flash (off a ceiling and a dirty floor). If I can incorporate bounce flash techniques into my arsenal of shooting methods, then I am really sitting pretty.

1600 ASA Tri-x

Here is some Tri-x pushed 2+ stops to 1600 ASA, I usually shoot my Tri-x at 200 but its rated 400. The pics are from the Klong Toey slum boxing gym and were stand developed in Rodinal 1/50 for 2 hours at 20C. I normally do stand development 1/100 for 2 hours with my 800 ASA pushed Tri-x.