Quotes: Yogi Berra

The great Yogi Berra passed away last night at 90 years old. He was famous for his yogi-isms:

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

"It ain't over 'til it's over."

"You can observe a lot by just watching."

"It's like deja vu all over again."

"Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical."

"Always go to people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours."

"You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you."

"Slump? I ain't in no slump...I just ain't hitting."

"It gets late early out here."

"Pair up in threes."

"He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious."

"It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much."

"I don't know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads."

"It ain't the heat, it's the humility."

"Take it with a grin of salt."

"The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase."

"I never said most of the things I said.

Swedish Money? Other Money For Donations?

I have not heard back again from my Swedish TV contact about the film rights deal, so that might be a dead end. Too bad I was also hoping to make some small money from that. Then I could have made a larger donation to the local dump school etc. I guess I will do what I can do on my own. Small individual donations of rice to the families and a separate smaller donation to the school.

I still have that money saved by doing the artist statement show cards on my own (back from February), so I can hand out that money. Forget how much it was, have to check my records. $40 or $50 extra in rice for the families, I think.

Update* I guess it is $40. When I return to Mae Sot, I will have an extra $40 for buying rice. It will be much smarter to spend the money on rice, than artist statement cards. I ended up making those cards on my own and using them in 2 shows, Exposure 2015 and Rosebud. You can see the final version of the card in the recently posted, show walk through video.

Here is the original blog link to that making my own statement cards, savings/donation idea:
http://gerryyaum.blogspot.ca/2015/01/acceptable-looking-artist-statement.html

Grant Application Sent

Well my grant application is done, just need to make sure everything is correct with a EAC grant persons help (thanks Justina). I am applying for a $750 Travel Grant from the Edmonton Arts Council EAC. Hopefully I can get the grant which would cover the final part of my air ticket to Asia. Working security I have limited funding so every little bit helps me. Help with the air ticket would also make it easier to make a larger donation at the dump. I will be working on both the "Families of the Dump" and "Forgotten Laughter" photographic series.

I am counting on this travel grant big time. I love the fact that Canada supports its artists through various programs and grants. In the past some of the nastier folks on the right wing of Alberta (my province) society have not supported spending for the arts. I feel it is essential. Art and the creation of art is what makes life worth living.

From an earlier blog:

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Quote: John Keating (Dead Poets Society)

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer: that you are here; that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

Update* The  grant submission has been submitted, "Good luck and god speed John Glenn!"

Video: Akokiniskway Gallery "Families of the Dump" And "My Fathers Last Days" Walk Through

Here is a quick walk through low quality vid of the current exhibit at the Akokiniskway Gallery in Rosebud Alberta.

Here is a link to the high quality version on my YouTube Channel:

The Rollei's Are Back!!!

While I was in Rosebud my two repaired Rolleiflex F cameras returned home. Harry Fleenor repaired the cameras and get them back to me right on time on September 16th (an 8 weeks repair time).

I will also be testing the cameras with the close up lens attachments Rolleinar 1 and 2. These cameras cost me a fortune to buy and then repair but now they will be making pictures for years and years to come.

Here are the 2 cameras. I am going to work with the model in slightly better condition first, I put a green cloth strap on it. If the negs look good I will take that camera to Asia, if there is any doubt I will move onto camera #2.

The chossen #1 Rolleiflex F 2.8

The 2 Rolleiflex's side by side

"Families of the Dump" And "My Fathers Last Days" Opening At The Akokiniskway Gallery

Here are some photos from the opening on Saturday at the Akokiniskway Gallery in Rosebud, Alberta. I am having 12 photos from the "Families of the Dump" series, and 8 photos from the "My Fathers Last Days" series shown. The exhibition runs until October 24th. On my photo talk day at the gallery I had probably over 70 people walk through. In the shows run I hope 500 to 1000 might make it to the images. Every time there is a performance of the play, new people are in town to see it, many times they visit the gallery before or after. 1000 folks might be a bit of a stretch but 500 vistors is definitely possible over the 5 week run of the exhibition.

Akokiniskway Gallery (a remodelled church), Rosebud Alberta

Advertisement poster for the shows

Sign in, cards, show pamphlets and contact sheet photograph

"Families of the Dump" section of the exhibition

"My Fathers Last Days" section of the exhibition, first 4

"My Fathers Last Days" section of the exhibition, second 4

Dump video playing on laptop

Posters were placed all over Rosebud. This one at the plays opening night gala.

Pamphlets at the door to the Mercantile building

You know your a star when your posters end up in the toilet! : )

The Best Part

September 20
The best part of my time in Rosebud was not showing the work but instead the conversations I had with so many interesting and dynamic people. I enjoyed showing the photos (especially of dad) and telling the stories behind them but what I really loved most about this past week was the people I met and spoke to. Some of those conversations will  stay with me for many years, influencing and moulding my thinking. 

It is always great to be around creative people, they tend to think outside of the box, in unique and unusual ways. They do not follow the pack like many of my friends in Edmonton do. The average person lives a more simple life, it usually goes something like this....School-> Ordinary Job-> Marriage-> Children-> Old Age-> Grand Children-> A Couple Of Trips To Vegas->Death. Many of he people I met this trip try and live in uniquely creative ways, they search and reach within themselves for that special elegance.

Show Day

September 19
Today was one of the best days of my life. I got to talk about dad and the people of the dump all day. I did 2 shifts one from around 1030am till around 200pm the next was from around 315 to about 815pm. I would guess that over 70 people came through, maybe as many as 100. I tried to talk to everyone but missed some. It was a truly great day. I got to meet some amazing people and had some rather deep and very personal conversations with at least 5 of them, maybe more. I told the stories about dad and his life, about our relationship and spoke about his illness. In some ways it was like my father did not die, that he was still alive through the work and my memories of him. I got to share the stories of the families of the dump. Told the story of the bride, the first meeting with Doo-Aye over and over again. I talked and talked till I could not talk any more, then I talked some more! 

Lots of compliments, lots of shared experiences, especially about the loss of a loved one to cancer. A truly amazing day, too much to put into a single blog entry. I need to let things percolate for a while and see where they lead. My head is filled with too many thoughts from too many people, it is hard to organize it all or imagine what effect it will on my future work and me as a peson. 

Tomorrow its off to Calgary for a few hours before heading back to Edmonton and my security nightshift. A truly amazing week this has been, filled with great people, great conversations, great food and art. Loved every minute of it! To anyone thinking of visiting Rosebud, I highly recommend it. I hope when you visit your time here will be as powerful, personal and important to you as mine has been to me.

Thank you Rosebud.

Lots Of Feedback, Lots Of Talk, Lots of Buzz!

September 18
Gosh I was getting lots of feedback on the work tonight. People here have been reacting very positively to the photography. And even if they are a bit put off by it they are still reacting. The worst thing that you can create as an artist is indifference. They see your stuff and think “Who Cares?” it draws no reaction!

There are posters for the show all around town (even in the washrooms), there were place cards in front of the gallery and in front of the Rosebud Opera house. I heard servers at the buffet promoting the photos (“There are some amazing photographs at the gallery”). I heard people at the intermission talking amongst themselves (“Did you see the photos at the gallery? Amazing, so depressing, hard to believe that world exists.”) I heard from one of the actors in the show (“I have been hearing good things about the photographs”). There were a number of stunned surprised moments when people found out I was the one who made the pictures, followed by lots and lots of questions. 

Tomorrow is my day of talking non stop about dad and the families of the dump but today I did plenty of that also. I spoke to five people extensively about my father, about his last days and also about the dump. This is turning into a great experience. I might have been joking about Rosebud at times in the past, saying it was not New York or London etc but in some ways this place is so much better. The people here are so friendly, the quality of everything is first rate. This place is a real creative diamond in the wheat fields of Southern Alberta. Amazing people here are doing amazing things, I am honoured and proud to be part of it even in my little way.

Rosebud is GREAT!

Tonight was a wonderful time, great food, great entertainment, that made you think. Tomorrow I will spend 8 or so hours at the gallery telling stories and showing off some gear and video. Lots more to come, stay tuned!

Update* I heard later from one of the volunteers than in the 18+ years they had been working in the gallery, they had never had a show like mine. I guess it is a good thing to be different sometime, at least people take notice. Sometimes a gallery moving in a new direction is a good thing also.

I got a lot of the never seen that here talk from the many different folks I met over the week. Lots of "Wow this is, strong, different, new, powerful, moving, challenging, emotional etc" comments. I think some people were turned off but most really liked the challenge and change the exhibition presented.

Thanks Valerie, Heather and the people of Rosebud for being brave enough to exhibit my photographs.

Mass Appeal Opening Night

September 18
Went to the opening night for the dinner theatre play “Mass Appeal” this is an evening I will remember for a very long time. The buffet meal was great, I even ate lamb (dad could never eat lamb). I ended up having 3 plates of food as well as desert. Lamb, chicken, fish, lasagna, great potatoes, snow crab, mussels and great salads. There was lots of great food to choose from. The only thing I had to pay for was a refillable ice tea ($2), as the meal and play were complimentary (my artist fee).

I really enjoyed the play, it was 2 hours long but held my attention the whole time. It was a story of how to men, one an idealistic up and coming priest (deacon) and one a veteran priest worn down by the compromises he has made. They both find redemption because of there relationship, learning and growing from each other. Both performances were strong especially the one given by the actor playing the older priest John I.

At the end of the evening I had a chance at the post opening night gala (more free food) to meet the director, and the 2 leads. I had long talk with the director Paul 333, and another good conversation with the lead actor John I. I also spoke briefly to younger lead actor, a 4th year Rosebud school of the arts student Cabeot J.

Overall it was very memorable night that I will keep with me for years to come. To be surrounded by artistic people is always joyful and a great learning opportunity. One of the conversations tonight was how art makes things BIGGER than they actually are, and how by doing that you can communicate messages in exciting and important ways. You can make something larger than life (what I hope to do with the work on dad and in the dump), and how it can have meaning that pushes it beyond what it started out to be. Through art, artists can make everything so much BIGGER and give it more power and importance.

I Need To Humanize My Subjects

September 18
To have any effect as a social documentary photographer I need to humanize my subjects as much as possible. I need to follow the example of the great Lewis Hine and his subject of child labor in the USA. In Mr. Hines photograph of a young underage worker not only does he show the photograph but he humanizes his subject by adding a name, age, location. In my work I need to do that as much as I can. If the viewer can identify with the subject that much more, by name, by age (maybe there daughter-son is that age), by location and job. The work will have extra power to cause positive change.

Sadie-Pfefer, a cotton mill spinner, Lancaster, South Carolina 1908 by Lewis Hine

Thinking About Dad

September 18
It is Friday morning, the morning before my artist day-talk in Rosebud. It is now 719am, I am in the van, cannot sleep, woke up and been thinking about my father. It is so wrong that he is gone so fast. My uncles are still striving at his age or older but dad is 7 months in the grave. He was a man who worked so hard for so much of his life he deserved to have many years of laying about enjoying life, he earned that right but never received payment.

I miss him so much now, so many things I want to tell him, to show him and to share with him. He will never know of the details of this current show, he will never know of the adventures of Thailand. He and my mother will never be able to speak about friends and family, go to weddings and dances. Dad and mom were great dancers. I made a video of them dancing through the years for his funeral called “The final dance.” They were so graceful together, like one person they moved to the music, smiling and together. 57 years of marriage, almost 58, what must it be like for mom? I talk a lot on this blog about how much I miss my father but how much more difficult must it be for my mother?

Tomorrow I get to tell the strangers who visit the opening talk in Rosebud gallery what a great father my dad was. I get to share his memory with them. I am happy to be able to do that, but it is not enough, I wish I could just look my father in his eyes again, tell him what a great dad he was, how much I love him and give him a kiss. I wish I could see him play his drums once again while watching me, hear him telling me stories of growing up on his farm or watch him cooking in his kitchen making bread, deserts, pyrogies and cabbage rolls.

It has been almost 7 months since we lost dad and yet I seem to miss him more each and everyday.

Shooting The 5x7 In The Field

September 17
First thought about shooting the 5x7 in the field? Heavy, heavy, oh so heavy! Not much I can do about that except carry less holders or only 1 lens, not sure I want to go that way. Today in the field I carried 14 holders, 2 lens, 3 filters, one reflector, one spot meter. All of that gear plus the backpack weighs 20 lbs. Then you have the Linhof metal body 5x7 and the Gitzo carbon fibre tripod with Manfrotto geared head, that is all another 40lbs. I guess I could purchase a lighter 5x7 but I love the projection and the closed metal case of the Linhof body. When I am riding in dusty open areas like in the back of trucks or on motorbikes the closed sealed body should help ward off dust and rain etc. The other thing I love about the Linhof is the movements, some geared some not. The rise and fall has a wonderful clicking geared adjustability in the rise/fall. There is no front tilt but the rear tilt works very well and is easy to use. I think the Linhof will be great for making portraits in the field so I need to deal with the weight. I might be able to cut down to 10 holders if the weight becomes to much for me and to 1 lens. I can make that call in Asia when I am working in the dump, photographing the families on a daily basis. I might also be able to drive my rented motorbike (assuming I can get a rented motorbike) closer to the action to limit the amount of steps I have to carry with the gear on my 51 year old back.

Once I got the camera gear to the location making the photos today was joyous. Nothing I love better in life than making pictures, nothing. I practiced photographing a young tree, pretending it was a standing figure : )), used the 120mm. I wanted to get a feel of how I would attach-remove the lens, the holders etc. I need to be able to handle things efficiently, while in compact areas. 

In the dump I will be placing my camera bag down in garbage so need to plan for that. On my return to Canada not sure the camera backpack will be in good enough shape to reuse. I am getting new rubber boots this time round because my old ones from May/November 2013 have such a sickly garbagie smell to them. A nauseating type of oder. I expect something similar to happen to my camera backpack. I wonder if I can rig up a throw away plastic bag bottom of some kind (a bag condom), that would prevent my backpack from sucking up the sickly juices of the dump. It is something to consider, I could replace the bag daily.

Anyway today’s shooting all went pretty well. I think everything should work out on the coming portrait trip. Of course when your photographing a tree you do not have to speak Burmese or Thai to them to get them to cooperate : )) People are always a thousand times more difficult to work with. I have the camera technique-practical stuff pretty much organized in mind. I should then be free to try to create portraits that have important and lasting meaning. How do you say, “Just one more, PLEASE!!” in Burmese again??

Second Day Johnston Campground

September 17
Woke up after a long sleep, a long sweet sleep in the cool mountain air. Today will spend the day lounging around relaxing, finally relaxing with no time table to get something done or to get somewhere at a certain time. It is so glorious to just be relaxing with the squirrels running about the campsite, at peace in my little environment. 

I will go out today around 5 or 6pm with the later light and shoot an area behind my campsite. Just trees and maybe a mountain shot but it is still rewarding to do that kind of trite photograph. Finding compositions, creating with the camera, and being in such a wonderful place doing it.

Had a thought about the coming artist talk day at the gallery in Rosebud. I will be spending something like 7 hours in the gallery greeting guests, telling stories about dad and the dump, generally sharing the experiences of making the pictures. Sharing the lives of the people I photographed. I will be bring dad back to life a bit. I will be be sharing the stories of the families in the dump. Maybe someone will make a donation to help them. It is all good good stuff. My idea as to set up my 5x7 view camera in the gallery. I could show people the machine used to make the last 2 dad photos in the show. The camera will also be my main tool for the coming trip to do the “Forgotten Laughter” photographs. It might be fun for the guests to see the camera, learn to focus it with dark cloth and focusing loupe.

Tomorrow I might head out early so I can catch the morning light and photograph a burnt our area of trees on the highway about 30 minutes South. I could stop along the road, make some photos for an hour or so, shooting the remainder of my 5x7 film before heading to Banff for some food and shopping. Tomorrow evening its the artist fee stuff, the free dinner and play in Rosebud.

This is turning into a wonderful little vacation before the trials and tribulations of photographing in Thailand. Thou I have a feeling that will be wonderful in its own way. Being around people and making social documentary photographs I feel is the real reason I was born. I feel at one in those worlds, feel like I have purpose in life when I there, doing that.

Van in Johnston Canyon Campground Near Banff Alberta

Johnston Canyon Campground

September 16
After a day of driving after visiting the Tyrel Dinasor museum in Drumheller am at Johnston Canyon campground. Am booked in for 2 nights her, after which will head back to Rosebud for a play/dinner and then official show duties. The campground is quite beautiful and peaceful, even my cat Leng Mao is enjoying it. Thou there is a warning not to leave pets outside at night as they are a attraction for local carnivores (bears, cougars, wolves and coyotes). So she could end up desert for the local Jurassic park killers if I forget her outside.

Imagery Too Strong?

September 15 
There is some question about some of the dad photos being too strong, too traumatic for people to view, especially the children. There was concern expressed by a couple non curatorial people. Not sure what will happen there. I told them to let me know what worried them and I could remove those prints and put up SAFER images. It will dilute the show, dilute dads experience, dilute the overall power of everything. Still it their gallery with their people so I have to allow for that, I cannot be too dogmatic, too full of my artistic arty farty rights and meanings. I already self pulled one image they thought was too explicit (the dad pain photograph), they said it might give the children nightmares. Will see what happens, their is one other photo that I like a lot and I think is important the photo of dad two days before he died, hopefully that image will not be pulled as well. Have felt in that photo dad is looking at his life beyond this one.

Update: There were no images pulled, the gallery went ahead with all the photos I chose to show. I self pulled the pain photograph, that was my choice.

Rosebud Week

Rosebud week was from September 15 to September 20

Well am laying back in my camper van after a very long day. Getting up early was actually rather late 9am. After about 3 or more hours of packing and the like in Edmonton was behind the van and I was speeding down highway 21 to Rosebud Alberta. After a nice drive through the Alberta countryside I arrived in Rosebud around 330pm. 

Valerie the curator of the Akokiniskway Gallery was waiting at the door. We hung the show in about 2 hours. There are 8 photos from “My Fathers Last Days” on one long wall and 13 photos from “Families of the Dump” on the other side of the gallery. A total of 20 prints plus the two artist statements (the same ones I used at the Exposure film festival). I am quite happy with the way the show looks. 

The gallery and Rosebud are both smaller venues but boy does this place have heart. It has a striving art community that the residents are rightfully proud of. Rosebud is a beautiful little community in the heart of Alberta farming. I was told that in the past farming was number 1 in the area but now most of the towns income comes as a result of the dinner theatre and shows produced there. The gallery I am showing at arranges its exhibitions alongside newly opened theatre shows at the Rosebud Opera house. I was very impressed how beautiful Rosebud was on my first drive into town, down the highway into the valley, next to the Mercantile shop along the Rosebud river, and there was the Gallery .

Here are some photos of the van outside the gallery. I will post pictures of the actual exhibition layout later on. Tomorrow I am off to Banff, then into the Banff National park for 2 nights. On Friday it’s back for a complimentary show and dinner (artist fee) followed by a day in the gallery talking to visitors on Saturday. Sunday I will spend some time in Calgary before returning to Edmonton on Sunday night, and working my regular security shift Monday.

Am Back From Rosebud, Plus AGA Rejection

Back in Edmonton after a wonderful week in Rosebud. Updates to follow.

Got a rejection letter as expected from the AGA Biennial people, same same rhetoric in the letter, been there read that many times. They have not returned my USB stick as promised, hopefully that will happen soon. If it not returned as promised I will send them a note asking why.

I will swing again next year at the Bienial. Hopefully in thie 2017 accepted Biennial artists there will be some photography, preferably documentary or portrait work. More photography would be a a good thing. The AGA has low attendance probably because of there promotion of abstract conceptional type arty farty crap exhibitions. Lets see less artists(?) exhibiting stuff like cleaning products on tables, or toilet paper being unrolled while walking backwards in a green forest (work that I have seen at the AGA in the past year). Put some stuff into the gallery that will actually draw some attendance, put work in that people might actually want to see.

Canham 12x20

This is the camera I am strongly thinking of buying in the future. It is a Canham 12x20 (around $8800 USD). The really cool thing about the 12x20 is that it can be converted into a 8x20 (a more panoramic look) with a reducer back and a 11x14 with conversion kit. So there is the potential of 3 widely different ULF formats with 1 camera. I could use the 12x20 (maybe the 8x20) for environmental landscapes. The 11x14 could be a studio portrait camera, or even a portrait camera in the field. Kenro Izu uses his 14x17 to do portraits, so it is possible to do portraits with longer lens and ULF cameras in available light.

I would also need to get a Ries tripod and head and holders, film plus lens. The modern lens I could immediately use with the camera include the Nikon 450mm, the Schneider 210mm XL, 600C Fuji. I would also be able to use my existing Nikon 360mm and Fugitive 250mm with the 11x14 version of the camera. Film can be ordered ($13000 USD combined with others order) in bulk with some effort through Keith Canham. The Kodak films that he can order include Tri-X, T-Max 100, T-Max 400, Portra 160, Portra 400 and Ektar 100 (in all sizes). I believe you can also get special order Ilford's HP5 once a year. I would be most interested in Tri-x and HP5, thou I could also use the T-Max 100 and 400. To haul of this around I would need to build some kind of cart system.

This would be a major investment of probably more than $20 000 CAD so lots and lots of thought needed. It is fun to dream thou. I would love to use the camera to photograph in the difficult places, like in the slums of Asia, the garbage dumps, and in general the city environments of the poor and forgotten. Then I could contact print up the negs (Platinum?) and slam that imagery into the faces of the Western viewer at exhibitions-books. Make everyone, see every thing up close and very personal, really drive home the living conditions of the poor in Asia. Show the smug protected Westerner how really difficult and different the lives of those living in the slums of Asia are.
K-B-Canham-Cameras-Inc-Facebook Page
K-B-Canham-Cameras-Inc-Webpage

Keith with the Canham 12x20 he built for a customer

Link: Milwaukee Art Museum, Submission

Gosh what a super cool looking museum, looks like a giant prehistoric bird, or a mythological schooner of some kind. Seems like a down to earth place, they are not all stuffy and full of themselves, welcoming submissions via both a webpage and jpegs. Got to love curators who are open to all artists every where!

I plan on making periodic submissions here. It would be a huge jump up in class for me, but heck! You got to try boy, you got to try! I will probably make up a webpage including a CV with the most recent work and then periodically send them the link. As new work is made I can update the page and send the URL. Simple, easy and effective. Who knows it might even work!
Milwaukee Art Museum, Submissions

Milwaukee Art Museum

Interior

Link: My Future?

This video is lots of fun. You got to love the dedication of these 2 French gentleman.
Photos à la chambre 20x24 et 12x20

Links: 7x17 Canham Camera

This would be a dream camera. Wish I could find one of these used somewhere. If I ever did decide to go 7x17, this might be my #1 camera option.
Canham 7x17

The new camera (without lens, film or holders) sells for a fairly reasonable price of $6550 USD at the View Camera Store. I saw a 11x14 Canham going for $8000 some where, so $6550 seems not so bad.
View Camera Store, 7x17 Canham For Sale

Update* Badger Graphic sells the same camera new for $6495 USD. They also sell the very necessary ground glass protector for $74 USD.

Update** 2 other intriguing Canham options are the 12x20 ($8000 USD) and the 14x17 ($8770 USD) cameras. Kenro Izu shoots a 14x17 Deardorff which he then contact prints on platinum.

I would like to choose one ULF camera and shoot it the rest of my life. Which one would be best? Another obvious advantage to buying a ULF camera would be that I could use it for wet plate work as well.

ULF cameras, wet plate, platinum printing, boy am I getting ahead of myself!

Canham 7x17

Going Very Big Format?

Now that the 11x14 Korona deal has gone belly up I am wondering what size film format should I go for next? 11x14 is a nice size but it is not super large. Maybe I should consider skipping 11x14 and moving up to a very large format like 7x17. 7x17 is basically a landscape format but maybe I could use it in non traditional ways. Instead of doing traditional mountain and tree shots like everyone else in the free world, what about using ULF cameras to shoot stuff hard edge documentary in nature. I could do shots in the Klong Toey slum, the canal and housing, poor living conditions etc. I could shoot things like the dump huts in Mae Sot surrounded with flies and garbage. I could shoot in the slums of India, Nepal, Cambodia etc. Instead of doing what everyone else does in Asia, Buddhas and the like, I could do hardcore documentary social photography of where people live. Shoot their environments!! This idea could lead to some be very powerful work.

Everything would have to be contact printed, but 7x17 is large so that is not a problem. Film would be very expensive as well as the holders. I know that Ilford does yearly ULF format film runs, 7x17 has become a standard. I am not sure about Kodak films.

7x17 seems like such a beautiful format, especially for doing environmental landscapes. Keith Canham turned me onto the wonderful photographer Lois Conner. I guess she has been shooting the 7x17 for 30 years, often on a bicycle. I guess she traveled around China by bicycle shooting with the 7x17, an amazing story. Here is her site:
The Photographs Of Lois Conner

Maybe the crashing and burning of the Korona deal will turn into a good thing for me.

First Person Video?

Last night I came up with an idea to do better more interesting videos. I want to try mounting my small digital photo-video camera to my film cameras. I bought two variations of these hot shoe tripod mount devices from China. They should allow me to mount the digi-video camera to my Linfhof-Rolleiflex and even Leica cameras.

The idea is mostly for my 5x7 work, I can mount the video camera directly to the top of my Linhof and run it while I am shooting my portraits. Later on I can make up some videos of the creative process. A first person in your face perspective. I would not do this all the time but now and again to have the video might work out well. I could post the videos on my YouTube and Vimeo channels and also use the footage in my exhibitions.

My last show video from "Families of the Dump" was a huge hit at the Exposure photography festival, I also expect it to be popular in Rosebud. Why not make more of these things? Why not make an effort to involve the viewer not only with the still imagery but with video footage. Heck even weird shit comes out of having moving footage like the Swedish TV show film rights request that I am currently working on. Having extra video has got to be a good thingy.
"Families of the Dump" Exhibition Video

Making good quality in your face videos seems like a winner to me. I will make more of these short films this coming trip and on my future trips. If the still work eventually gains some importance, there might also be an historical-documentary importance to having the video. I wish I had shot video for my sex worker on white photos, but I did not. I do not want to make the same mistake again.

Note* Hopefully 1 of the 2 camera attachment gizmos I ordered arrive from China in time for my trip!

Hot shoe camera attachment gizmo, version #2

Packing Up The Van

Well tomorrow it is time to pack up the van and head to the Rosebud exhibition. I am going to take extra prints just in case there is room to exhibit them. Will also take this laptop which will allow me to show the Mae Sot Garbage Dump video during my Saturday talk. During the talk day there is a morning session and an afternoon session for a total of around 7 hours. I will need to be in the gallery for that entire 7 hours, welcoming guests, offering them refreshments and telling them about my subjects lives. I am not sure how busy it is going to be, it might be just me myself and I in the gallery space : )) I might spend the day talking to myself : ))

After hanging the work on Tuesday I will spend a few days camping in Banff National Park, that should be a nice relaxing change of pace. It will  be nice to be camping in Canada's beautiful nature for a few days. I can relax and lay back before the difficulties in Asia that lay ahead.

For this trip I am taking my 5x7 gear, a couple of R6 Leica 35s and the Rolleiflex Automat. Am just gaining some experience with these tools before the real shooting starts up next month. Not much of a landscape dude but going out early in the morning to catch that light and shooting trees and rocks should be a fun, soothing, distraction.

I will post a few of those photos for you to see later on.

Bye Bye Korona 11x14!

Unfortunately my 11x14 Korona purchase on eBay fell through. I immediately paid for the item via paypal but then the seller said he did not want to pay the paypal fees. Perhaps 2 dozen emails later eBay closed the auction after the seller refunded my paypal payment. He wanted me to make a direct deposit to his bank account which I was uncomfortable doing, not sure I would have eBay/paypal buyer protection if I did that. The auction cost was over $3000 CAD, that's a lot of loot. Eventually after the paypal payment was refunded eBay closed the auction, adding to the overall confusion. There was also a language communication issue as English was the sellers second or third language. The emails sent back and forth were not understood on his end or on mine.

Tough luck, I really wanted that camera. I found a online source to get 11x14 Tri-x (Keith Canham) plus I could shoot HP5 11x14. Things were looking good but the seller started to play games. Not sure if he was legit guy or some kind of con artist. Too much money to play around with.

Oh well sometimes these things are not meant to be. I will continue to look online for 11x14 gear and use the money saved from this auction to pay for my van repairs. I think I would like to buy an older model 11x14 Deardorff. If you see one, let me know. : )) Keith Canham also makes a wonderful and light weight 11x14. I will keep watching eBay and see what happens.

Applying For A Travel Grant From the Edmonton Arts Council

Working on my travel grant submission. Here is the project description I am submitting. The bold sentences are questions the EAC wants answered. If I can get the grant which is $750 I can travel to Thailand for free (combined with the earlier photography money I earned).

Project Description

Why are you traveling?

I want to continue my documentary photography in the Mae Sot garbage dump in Thailand. Previously I photographed in the dump in May and November of 2013 with 35mm cameras. This time I want to do more formal style portraits with a large format 5x7 film camera. 

What is your purpose?

I am working on my large format photography series “Forgotten Laughter”. This project is a portrait project dealing with children living in poverty in South East Asia. I will make photographs that will highlight the children’s humanity, show them with dignity and strength despite their difficult lives.

Where are you travelling? 

I am traveling to Mae Sot, Thailand.

Are you travelling alone or as part of a group? 

I am traveling alone. This will be my 14th trip traveling alone to Thailand to make photographs.

How are you travelling? (Airplane, bus, car etc) 

3 airplanes to Thailand along with a bus to Mae Sot, a bus and 3 airplanes back to Edmonton.

In what ways will this project benefit Edmonton’s art community and audiences? 

An exhibition of the work. In 2011 I had a a show of work in the Kaasa Gallery (Northern Jubilee Auditorium) shot in the Klong Toey slum of Bangkok, partly funded by a EAC travel grant. I have also shown work numerous times in other Edmonton galleries.

How will you use what you have learned when you return? 

I will produce work that will be exhibited in the city as well as my photography blog. I will also develop a blurb book with the hopes of eventually finding a publisher.

What do you hope to achieve from this project? 

Educate, inform, teach the people of Edmonton about important often forgotten lives of children living in poverty in Asia. I also want to dedicate the book part of the project to my father who passed away in February 2015. Dad always loved and worried about children, I want to dedicate this book about the lives of children in need to his memory.

How will this affect your future career?

An ongoing never ending development as an artist. Every time I travel to do my social documentary photography I grow as an artist and as human being. This latest trip is a continuation of that journey.

The Power Of Photography, AIDS

These photographs are largely credited with changing the way the world looked at AIDS (at least in the West). The compassion, love, loss, acceptance and understanding of the father for his sick and dying son changed the way people thought of the disease back in November 1990. This story shows the power, the true power of social documentary photography at its best.

Here is a time magazine story about these powerful, postive change causing photographs:
Time magazine story, behind the picture

Life magazine November 1990, by Therese Frare

David Kirby on this deathbed, Ohio 1990 by Therese Frare

Up To 8

Made it up to 8 chin-ups for the first time last night. It is strange how some days your stronger than others. As soon as I started I thought , this is the night I do 8! I think my all time high 15 years or so ago when I was doing chin-ups was also 8. I would like to reach 10, that is a nice number, not bad for a 51 year old.

Update* A strange thing happened, the day after I did 8 I skipped a day then when I started up again I was able to do 9, tonight also did 9. Not sure why, usually it would take me several weeks or a month or longer to move from one number to another, this happened almost immediately. Maybe I am all charged up by the coming trip and it's giving me super powers : ). The magic number 10, the number of chin-ips I have long aspired to do is ever so close now.

Chin-ups are fine and dandy, but what I want is to build up my core strength. If I have a better core, stronger back, stomach muscles etc, I should be able to carry heavy camera bags longer. I should also be able to carry large format and ULF camera gears a bit better. Who knows if I stay in decent shape I might be able to carry heavier gear until I am 60 even 65.

Number 10 your next!!

Planned Cameras For The Coming Trip

To bad the Rollei Fs are arriving way on Wednesday I would have really liked to take one on this weeks nature trip. The Rolleiflex F will be one of my 6 cameras (4 main cameras) this coming trip, I need more shooting time with it.

I plan on taking the:

-  Lihof 5x7 (main camera for the "Forgotten Laughter" portrait project)
-  Leica M6 (documentary work)
-  Leica R6 (documentary work)
-  Rolleiflex F (headshot portraits)
-  Canon EE 1/2 Frame (for fun, love the 1/2 frame format, small and light)
-  Digi point and shoot ( to make gift photos and identity photos, small and light)

Rolleiflex's On The Way

My 2 Rollie F cameras have been repaired by Harry Fleenor in California. The cameras were shipped out today and should arrive in Edmonton this Wednesday. Unfortunately I will be leaving for Rosebud on Monday night or early on Tuesday morning!! I will miss the cameras by about 1 day, DAMN!! I will take the Rolleiflex Automat 75mm f3.5 to use on the trip instead. 

Link: "Examples: The Making Of 40 Photographs"

Brought Ansel Adams book "Examples" to work tonight for a bit of inspiration. I not a big fan of zone system landscape work as it tends to all sort of look the same after a while. Everyone and their sister does who is an amateur photographer does zone b/w landscape, if you do a search on google you end up with like a million different photogs. I think many people are afraid to confront or be involved with real folk especially strangers so photographing a tree is personally easier, less stressful for them to do.

Even thou I find most landscape phtography boring being out in nature is beautiful and it is a good place to practise your craft. I can work with my large format 5x7 camera and 2 lens in peace and serenity without the pressures and difficulties of photographing people in extremely harsh environments like the Mae Sot garbage dump or Klong Toey slum in Bangkok. Being in nature is relaxing and fun which helps compensates for the rather trite, boring photographs that are produced. It simply feels good to be outside next to a mountain or a stream making pictures, the creative results are secondary and of little importance.

Adams book "Examples" (see link) is a great how to work on pre-visualization, placing zones etc. You get the feeling and understanding of why he did what did and what he was trying to say. It is a must have read for anyone joining the group of millions of zone b/w photogs.

I am looking forward to just being out in nature again with my 5x7, testing my lens, my holders and working on becoming more fluid in use of the camera and its movements. Now is the time to make mistakes not later when I am in the dump or elsewhere making important, meaningful, hopefully unique portraits.
"Examples:The Making of 40 Photographs"

Kicked In The Balls

Got kicked in the balls today, the repair cost for the van is $6100 CAD. The big problem is a new transmission which costs $3000. I knew the transmission was a problem and it is one of the reasons I stopped driving the vehicle and parked it in a garage for the last 5 years. I was afraid of that bill back then and now it has finally come due. New tires cost $850 also about $1700 for a bunch of other things that needed to be done. I was able to eliminate some of the less necessary stuff and got the bill down to $5500.

I was faced with a very difficult choice, dump the van for almost nothing, or pay the bill? I could not dump it, even thou it is quite old now I kept it in reasonably good shape overall. I think I might be able to get up to 10 more years out of it. I love the time I spend camping with the van, love being in the mountains etc. Over the last 5 years I have really missed not camping. I decided after lots of thought to pay the bill. To get this puppy on the road by Monday and to use it to spend a week in Rosebud and in the mountains.

A tough day, the van itself is probably not worth the $5500, hope this is not a bad mistake. The best I can do is use it lots over the next few years. Get out into nature, breath that mountain air, work on some landscape photography, enjoy life. If I use the van plenty of times then I think in the end paying this big price will be worth it.

The Last Dad Exhibition Photograph

Here is the last exhibition photograph (I managed to just finish off this last one) for the  coming Rosebud "My Fathers Last Days" exhibition. I have 12 "My Fathers Last Day" photographs ready for the show including 5 new images that were not shown at the Exposure photography festival exhibition in February. I also have 14 "Families of the Dump" photos ready and waiting to be loaded into the camper van.

I doubt I will enough room to hang 26 photographs in Rosebuds Akokiniskway Gallery but I will take them all down South with me and fit in what I can fit in. I will also take along some variations of individual prints that I can change out depending on the galleries lighting.

Here it the final "My Father" print, I spotted, cut the over mat and framed it during tonight's security night shift. I am quite happy with the print outside of a little colour shift in the shoulder area that was caused in the toning. I will have to try toning the Iford cooltone for less time next printing session from 2 minutes to 1 minutes or mix a more dilute concentrate maybe 1/40 versus 1/20. The Durst 138S condenser enlarger is a beautiful machine that did a nice job with this 5x7 neg combined with a #5 Agfa filter. I feel I did effective burning and dodging on the print, the bleaching also helps focus attention on my fathers face. Overall its a pretty strong print and photograph, one of the better ones I did of dad during his last year. I wish I could show the photo to him, he would be a bit shocked I think and sad to see himself like that but he would also accept the photo as a fair representation/interpretation of the reality he faced. I think he would appreciate the fact that he is being remembered (even in this difficult state).

I am trying to figure out some way to get mom to Rosebud to see all of dads photos hanging in the gallery. Maybe I can get her there on the October 24th before the work is taken down.

Note* Someday I would like to do a major exhibition of the photographs made this last year with dad. I would like to do a large show at an established important gallery, maybe 40-50 or so big 20x24+ size works, I think I have the quality and quantity of negs to pull that off.

Dad the last week of his life, February 2015

Email: Swedish TV Show Clip Usage Update

Well I got a 2nd email from the Swedish company Eyeworks TV about the usage of some footage I shot for my dump exhibition show video. After getting the original message I sent out emails for help to various friends and professional photographers I know. I asked for advice, suggestions etc. I have no experience at all with this sort of thing. To a man they all told me I should ask for some money for the clips use. My friends also advised me to ask a number of questions, which I did. Here is today's reply email minus the EYEWORKS TV representatives name.
---------------------
Hi,

Sorry, I have been very busy. We would like to use just a few seconds (About 4 seconds) of your clip. The series is A drama-comedy series, and the context your clip will be shown is in a comedy-bit where they are critical against the current government. 

This clip is in one of the episodes which will air on a online platform this spring. 

Hope i answered all of you questions now. Please send me how much you would like us to pay for this. 

best regards!
---------------------

In the email I am asked what I would like them to pay? Any idea? I have none! So I wrote back that I would trust them to pay me the market value for the 4 seconds of video, whatever they thought was fair. I also told them I plan to donate some of the money back to the families who live and work in the dump.

The timing of this thing is working out great. I am flying back to Thailand, I will be with the families again very soon and I am going to get a check that I can use for donations. Who said documentary photographs do not work? Who says photography has no power? Those that told me so were simply wrong! Vent over !!! : ))

Here is a link to the Swedish TV company:

EYEWORKS TV

Here is a link to the video they want 4 seconds from  (still unsure what exact part they want):

"Living in the Margins" Show Video

Video: New Vimeo Video

I combined the two vids from today on bleaching and toning into one longer higher quality video and added it to my Vimeo channel. The video is not that instructional, no voice over, but was fast and easy to make. You can learn some of the process of bleaching and toning simply by watching this short (boring?) video.

Here is the link:
Bleaching & Toning On My Vimeo Channel

Video: Toning The "Dad Stare - Hand" Print

Here is another very short and rather boring vid of me toning the 16x20 "Dad Stare-Hand" print. I toned around 9 16x20 prints in a 1/20 Selenium to water mixture. Before the toning, I bleached the print, gave it a 2nd fixer bath followed by hypo clear bath and wash in an archival washer for 1-2 hours. After toning the prints are given a final rinse in a washing tray.

The Ultrafine Silver Eagle paper starts turning a weird orange/red at about the 1 minute toning mark so I cut back to 45 seconds. I gave the Ilford Cooltone FB prints a full 2 minutes of toning with vigorous agitation. The Ilford paper has much deeper blacks that are magnified in the toning process. Silver Eagle paper has more of a bluish black tonality which I do not really like as much. It is a different look so I guess it is sometimes useful to have that in your darkroom arsenal.

In this video I am working on one of the Ilford Cooltone prints. My darkroom exhaust fan located above the wash area is on full speed to suck out the selenium vapors and suck in clean air from outside. Selenium is carcinogenic so it is important to handle it carefully, wear gloves, work outside or in a well ventilated area and clean up well afterwards.

Video: Bleaching The "Dad Stare - Hand" Print

Here is a quick little video of my bleaching work today. I am working on the not so nice Ultrafine Silver Eagle versions of the "Dad Stare - Hand" 5x7 neg 16x20 print. The video angle is not the best as you cannot see the brush work, but you can get an idea of the process. I am using a bleach brush, a bleach squirt bottle (my own invention I think) and a fixer squirt bottle. The bleach bottle allows me to cover larger evenly and effectively, the fix bottle helps activate the bleach. I control where the bleach goes and for how long it stays on the print using the water hose.

Have not done a video for a while, miss that process. I expect to be uploading lots of vids from Thai next trip as I will be taking my laptop with me for the first time. Might do up daily vid logs or partial logs of that is happening. Maybe I can do some practise vids during next weeks Rosebud exhibition trip.

The Coming Trip

Early next Tuesday I expect to be on the road to the Rosebud Exhibition. On Tuesday the prints will be hung in the gallery. Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday I have free time, on Friday I return to Rosebud for the opening night of the dinner theatre play "Mass Appeal". My artist fee for this photography exhibition are a 2 free tickets to a show with meals (value around $77.70 per ticket). You get a show and then some food, it should be a nice night out.

On Saturday I will have a artist talk at the gallery for visitors. Am not sure how long that will last, if it is an all day thing or 1 hour. On Sunday I return back to Edmonton and Monday night back to work.

I will take my 5x7 camera setup to work with me this trip and probably my Leica R6 camera with 24mm R lens. Both of these cameras I plan on using extensively in Asia soon so I wanted to get some more camera time with them.

It should be a great trip. The best part is I get to show dads photographs again and tell his story plus I get to tell the stories of the "Families of the Dump" a second time as well.

I will also get a non Edmonton exhibition credit on my CV, this will be my second outside of the city. 3rd if you count the coming digital photo projection presentation happening in Bangkok on October 10.

Will make my normal show video of my exhibition event and post it here and on YouTube.

Link: Organic RATS, Yum Yum

I have seen rats sold on the road for food in Northern Thailand before but have heard of this level of factory like commitment to the meat. Love the part where the rat hunter says his country rats are healthier than city rats because they have less fur falling out. These rats are caught in Cambodia for the rat meat market in Vietnam. The rats are also eaten in Cambodia because of their reported ORGANIC, chemical free appeal.

Hmm, I wonder how organic rat meat would sell at my local all organic Canadian grocery store, or the outdoor organic farmers market? I could promote them as a healthy chemical free meat, all natural.

Here is the link from the Phnom Penh post newspaper with video!
Organic Rat Meat, Phnom Penh Post

A quote from the rat meat customer in the video "It tastes as good as chicken. Some people like rat, and some people like chicken."

Yum Yum, you got to love stories like this. Pass the fried rice with rat please, I'm so hungry!

Another Sad Dad Dream

Just woke up, eyes still blurry and my thoughts foggy. I had another dream-nightmare about dad during a short nap I just took. He was sick and weak but was still walking and talking to mom and me. At one point he decided to try to mix some cake batter in a bowl with a wooden spoon (in real life before he got sick dad was a great cook). He stirred it a bit before something terrible happened to his arm. His arm sort of bent backwards at the elbow and snapped broken.

In the dream I fell to pieces again, crying and telling dad that if I could I would give him my arm. I go over to him kissing and cradling his head saying the same thing over and over "I would give you my arm if I could dad", several times. He does not even seem to be in pain in the dream, just vulnerable, damaged and helpless.

No doubt the darkroom work of the last few days is responsible for this. Dad has been constantly in my thoughts. After I finish up this last print, I need to put off the dad photos for a while. Working and thinking of my father constantly is affecting me when I sleep.

I need to work on other negs, other photographs. After this next trip I will have tons of new Asian work to do, I can certainly use the distraction. I need to escape into new photographic work.

Vignetted Negative Corners With 138S Enlarger And 5x7 Negs

The 138S requires you to change out the condensers depending on your film format. With 5x7 they recommend 2 - #240 sized condensers. When I placed those condensers into the enlarger slots I was not getting a big enough evenly lit image circle. The corners of my negative that was projected onto the baseboard was vignetted.

I played around with the light source position, that did not work, then I tried a variety of condensers, still no luck. It then occurred to me that I could try flipping the 240s. I flipped the top 240 so it was upside down and left the second 240 in the normal upright position, and it worked! My light circle became a bit bigger and there was no corner vignetting of the negative. Not sure why it worked but it did work, that's all I need to know about that.

For those of you out there in the internet world facing the same problem, give the flipped #240 condenser a try.

Great To Have Options

I was not getting the contrast I wanted with the Durst 8x10 diffusion 184 enlarger, so I changed off to to another enlarger option for 5x7,  my sweet Durst 138S condenser. I have never made a serious print with the Durst 138S (just got it last year free from Jack) but I think it will become a very important tool in my future, especially for all my 5x7 work. The coming "Forgotten Laughter" project should yield dozens of important 5x7 negs, I can print them with the 138S. I have grown to really love the condenser enlarger look, there is a sharpness and contrast to the grain I enjoy. The condensers give me the look I want.

My Durst 138S 5x7 condenser enlarger with 210mm lens and my 2nd 20x24 Saunders 4 blade paper easel.

The first test strips of the dad negative I have run through the Durst 138S are giving me much more contrast. I am using filter number 5 with this rather flat negative and I am finally getting the kick I wanted out of the prints. Having lots of options in your darkroom is certainly the way to go. I have 7 enlargers in my space, most do different things well. Because I have the Durst condenser 5x7 138S (thanks Jack) I can make a print the way I want to make it.

Options, options, options baby, always a good thingy. I hope all these beautiful tools will help me along the long long road to becoming a world class, master printer.

Update* I think this print has more life to it than the scanned photoshop version from the "Haunted" blog entry of yesterday. The latest version of the photograph contains 2 dodges and 7 burns.
Scanned Photoshop Version

Here is the latest attempt, the red dot is a safelight reflected in the water.

Detail of latest Durst 183S enlarger print (3rd attempt), photograph is in my darkroom tray print washer.

On To Cool Tone Ilford Fibre

I was not terribly happy with the dried look of the Ultrafine Silver Eagle prints from yesterday (to muddy and dark). I like Ultrafine for my darkroom workshops as it is a cheaper paper both in RC and FB. I can make a bit more profit working with a cheaper paper. For student use using Ultrafine paper in workshops is acceptable. I doubt I will be ordering any more 16x20 Silver Eagle paper for personal printing as I prefer the look of other papers like the Ilford, Bergger and Oriental Seagull. I will continue ordering Ultrafine papers in both RC and FB in the 8x10 and 11x14 sizes for my workshop students.

I understand the dad staring-hand negative pretty well now so will change over to the Ilford cool tone paper (found my box) for todays printing session. I need to do some tests to figure out the exposures but the burning/dodging styles should be very similar. I should have some acceptable results in a few hours of work. It will be interesting to see the differences between the 2 papers. I especially want to see how different the high contrast 130 magenta filter looks on Ilford cool tone fibre.

Getting The Van Out Of Mothballs

I have decided to get my old camper van out of storage. It has been sitting in my dads garage for the last 5 years. I want to use it to travel down to Rosebud for the coming exhibition. The van has been stored in my fathers garage all her life so she has not had to undergo the harsh Edmonton winters outside.

Today I paid to get the registration up to date ($72 CAD) a while back I did the insurance as well. I got a new battery for the engine and am getting a new battery for the camping section of the unit (water pump, fridge, lights). Yesterday I got some help from the AMA to get it started, today after installing a new battery ($102.99 CAD) I got it started on my own. I then took it for a wash, the poor girl was covered in dust and even have had loads of spiderwebs around the front right wheel (sort of like an old horror movie when a spooky carriage is found in the barn).

Surprisingly when I got the van on the road to get the wash she ran well. There is a sluggishness in the gears when changing, that might be transmission related but overall the engine sounded good and worked well. I am taking it to be be looked at by a local garage on Tuesday. I want them to change out all the fluids and look for other issues and problems with the vehicle. Sitting for 5 years is NOT a good thing so I expect a rather hefty bill. I would have to pay over $600 in hotel bills for the coming 5-6 nights on the road to Rosebud to deliver-hang the prints plus the opening night and Saturday talk. I would much rather spend that money on van repairs, than on hotel costs. I can live in the van much cheaper than 5-6 nights in hotels.

If I can get my camper van running near 100% again I can also use it extensively next year and the year after that. Not sure how much longer I can run it, as it is 1989 unit, getting older fast. There are not a ton of miles on her but still 1989 was 26 years ago. Another 5 decent years of use another 5 years of fun and camping would make me very happy. I love being out in nature making pictures, even thou I generally find those type of photographs, redundant, trite and rather boring to look at.

The other possibility of course would be to have the van for transport-camping to future exhibitions outside of Edmonton. That is assuming of course someone, somewhere might be interested in showing future work. It would be great to have shows in other parts of Canada or the Northern States and be able to use the van to transport the work down there camping along the way to save money on hotels.

Update* The van is all washed up, the waste water tank cleaned out, 2 new batteries have been installed and it is at the shop getting its engine looked over. I hope to have my camper vehicle back by next Monday so that it can get loaded up with food-water-clothes-pictures and be on the road by Tuesday for the Rosebud exhibition. Everything seems on schedule, hopefully the mechanical bill will not be too scary.

My 26 year old camper van, she is still beautiful.