# 6057-59 / triptych•civilized ku ~ black and white and red all over

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“It is curious that I always want to group things, a series of sonnets, a series of photographs; whatever rationalizations appear, they originate in urges that are rarely satisfied with single images.” ~ Minor White

BACK IN MY POLAROID (SX-70 / TIME ZERO FILM) SALAD DAYS I made quite a number of triptychs. There was just something about the connected but disjointed look that tickled my visual fancy.

I found the finished grouping visually interesting and somewhat intriguing as well as making more pronounced the idea that making pictures is an act of selection. Plus, it was a fun thing to make.

# 5880-82 / landscape (new topographics) ~ staying true to my vision one picture at a time

Adirondacks / Blue Mt. Lake, NY ~ (embiggenable) • Nikon F3 / color negative film

Finger Lakes Region, NY ~(embiggenable) • view camera / color negative film

Rochester, NY ~ (embiggenable) • view camera / color negative film

INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH VERY FEW “SERIOUS” PICTURES MAKERS, Adirondack residents wise, (if any) make pictures which make visible the hand of humankind in the Adirondacks. Picture wise, I mean pictures made for display in galleries, et al. Even Adirondack Life Magazine, in its annual Adk Life calendar, selects reader images which, surprise, surprise, evidence only pictures made in the god’s-own-garden genre.

That written, I was honored to have a multi-page-one picture per page-feature spread in Adirondack Magazine. The feature was not an assignment, rather it was of pictures selected from my picture library. I am happy to write that there was not a single god’s-own-garden picture to be seen therein. On a side note, the art director had the courage to use my dead deer in a pickup bed picture. And, lo and behold, the feature was awarded an Award of Merit at the International Regional Magazines Award Event.

You can read about it and see the spreads here.

first spread ~ (embiggenable)

5787-5792 / flora•people•civilized ku ~ what did you do this past weekend?

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OVER 46 HOURS THIS WEEKEND PAST THE WIFE and I drove 700 miles (round trip) to Rochester, NY to go the Lilac Festival in Highland Park* and to catch up with a few friends and family.

At the Lilac Festival I made a picture of the wife at spot where there was sign which stated that it was a perfect spot take a picture. I also enjoyed a refreshing $8.00 lemonade drink while the wife had a $6.00 Creamsicle smoothie.

FYI, I grew up immediately adjacent-about a 3 minute walk-to Highland Park, a beautiful setting, covering 150 acres (61 ha), of hills and valleys created from glacial deposits. Spent a lot of time in the park, skateboarding down the paved walkways, ice skating in winter, disappearing into the woods (overlooking the city) with my girl friend to watch the submarine races and variety of other activities.

On Sunday, during our return-to-home trip, we had a delightful late morning breakfast at the "famous" Keyes' Pancake House-a long time favorite of mine-in Old Forge in the south central region of the Adirondacks. We both had pancakes. Arriving home at 3PM, we spent a relaxing afternoon on the porch with the cat while imbibing a few drams liquid refreshment.

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Kinda felt like old times, aka: pre-Covid, thanks to the vacines and a (majority) pandemic mandate abiding population in our state.

*Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to seem like a natural occurrence of trees, shrubs and flowers, Highland Park, a city park, is actually a completely planned—and planted—arboretum or “tree garden.” In addition to over 1200 lilac shrubs, the park boasts a Japanese Maple collection, 35 varieties of sweet-smelling magnolias, a barberry collection, a rock garden with dwarf evergreens, 700 varieties of rhododendron, azaleas, mountain laurel and andromeda, horse chestnuts, spring bulbs and wildflowers and a large number of trees. The park’s pansy bed features 10,000 plants, designed into an oval floral “carpet” with a new pattern each year.

# 5497-5500 / BW oldies ~ long ago / far away

near where I lived ~ Naha, Okinawa / Japan • c.1967

on stage with James Brown ~ Naha, Okinawa / Japan • c.1967

WHILE ROOTING AROUND LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE, I came across a few BW oldies. Oldie enough to have been made within the first year of my picking up a camera and starting to make pictures.

FYI, I was lucky enough to be on stage with James Brown cuz I had media credentials to do so. Just one of many experiences / oportunities throughout the years given to me as a result of my picture making capabilities.

To paraphrase Garrett Morris-as Chico Escuela on SNL-"Baseball Photography been berry, berry good to me."

civilized ku # 5350-53 / ku # 1414-17 ~ a body in motion tends to stay in motion

All pictures embiggenable

rainy Adirondack Spring day ~ µ4/3

back when all was right with the world ~ iPhone

this morning / reflected light ~ iPhone

This Tuesday past was the start of the better part of a month of travel. It seems that, while I am traveling, I make a lot of pictures and that propensity has held true over the past few days.

Tuesday and Wednesday were local-ish travel days. Tuesday was a 180 mile round trip to Blue Mountain Lake where I meet with Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts gallery director to discuss the details of my upcoming exhibition. Picture wise, the result of that venture was the landscape pictures above. All of those pictures were made in the rain.

Yesterday, it was another 180 mile round trip to Glens Falls (just outside of the southeast corner of the Adirondack PARK) to transport my grandson Hugo to an endodontist appointment. After that we drove by the Hyde Collection Museum to check out what was on exhibit and, as chance would have it, the featured exhibit was of Kodak Colorama pictures. I had seen a similar exhibit at the Geoge Eastman House, aka: Eastman Museum, but at the Hyde there were quite number of Colorama pictures I had not seen prior.

I must admit that, at this aged perspective point in my life, I found the pictures to be somewhat humorist-as in,if you don't laugh, you might cry-and full on depictions of innocence-lost naivete. They brought to mind the lines from the song Kodachrome:

They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day

In fact, there were quite a few pictures of sunny days but, figuratively writing, all of the pictures implied that every day, indoor or out, was a "sunny" day. Ahhhh, the grand and glorious American '50s when all was right with the world.

Travel wise, next up-this Sunday-Wednesday-is a 4 day visit to Quebec City with Hugo for our annual Grandpa / Grandson Spring Break Trip. The following Sunday, the wife and I depart from NYC on our train-around-part-of-America trip - the Southern Crescent train to New Orleans (30 hours w sleeping compartment and dining car) for 4 days to include the Jazz Festival. Then The City of New Orleans train to Chicago (20 hours w sleeping compartment and dining car) for 4 days to include lots of blues music, "legendary" Chicago steaks and a 2 day car trip to Racine, Wis. to tour the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Johnson Wax complex. After which, it's back on a train, The Lake Shore Limited (20 hours w sleeping compartment and dining car), for the return to NYC.

There will be pictures.

The New Snapshot # 197 / triptych # 6 ~ the (formerly) Steel City

Southside flats ~ Pittsburgh, PA (embiggenable) • iPhone

outdoor display / Strip District ~ Pittsburgh, PA (embiggenable) • iPhone

Pittsburgh's South Side (Flats) is a 30 block long (right across the river from center city) historic district - one of the longest Victorian main streets in the US.

People live, eat and drink there. With approximately 70 bars and taverns, the neighborhood is patroled by Pittsburgh Police public urination patrols. Amongst the many shops and and stores you can find fine dining, get a tattoo, buy Versace clothing or idle away some time at one of the many coffee shops - all locally owned and operated.

The South Side is a very diverse and rather funky place.

civilized ku # 5128-32 / triptych # /the newsnapshot 180-81 ~ thanksgiving + weekend ramblings

raindrops ~ Ottawa, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

hotel room / Hugo ~ Ottawa, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

window ~ Ottawa, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

rink exit ~ Navan, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

breakfast scraps~ in the Adirondack PARK. (embiggenable) • iPhone

refuse bins ~ Petawawa, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

hotel comforter landscape~ Ottawa, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

raindrops # 2 ~ Ottawa, ON. (embiggenable) • iPhone

Spent Thanksgiving at home with family > Friday-Saturday, 600 miles / 2 hockey games > Sunday, 260 miles / 1 hocky game > today, 300 miles / 1 hockey game.

Just to add to all this fun, late Friday evening Hugo accidentally dropped my car key fob down the Ottawa elevator shaft. Since the was no hope of recovery until Monday, the wife + son (aka: the Cinemascapist) teamed upto form a relay team to get the spare key fob to the Ottawa hotel, arriving at 3:30 Am Saturday.

civilized ku # 5103 / the new snapshot # 140-42 (triptych) ~ serious intentions

direct light / reflected light ~ Rist Camp • Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) µ4/3

late day porch light ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK (embiggenable) iPhone 7s camera module

Last evening, as I was sitting on the porch, it occurred to me that, in yesterday's entry, my response (re: John Linn's comment) might be misconstrued as a criticism of John's comment. Especially so considering that I put the word genuine in quotes.

To be perfectly clear, John's comment was much appreciated inasmuch as it addressed an issue about which I have been thinking - the seeming contradition between my "serious" picture making and that of my the new snapshot picture making.

As most would know, I have been a long time advocate of / for straight picture making. What most don't know about is the soft spot in my picture making heart for crappy camera-Holga, Diana, Lomograpghy, et al-picture making. Now, it could be written that making pictures with crappy cameras is, in fact, straight photography inasmuch as the resulting pictures are straight out of the camera without any subsequent manipulation. And, more to my point, early simple snapshot cameras were, by today's standards, crappy cameras.

In an ideal picture making world, I would be making my the new snapshot pictures with a crappy snapshot camera-Kodak Instamatic and/or the like-but 2 considerations make that rather impractical. 1)The availablity of film and processing (or lack thereof) and 2) the cost of film and processing which, at the rate of my the new snapshot picture making-500+ pictures in the last 4 months-would be astronomical. So, for my money, that leaves me with the iPhone camera module as a somewhat ideal alternative to a crappy film camera.

Of course, the iPhone camera module is a fer piece down the road from a crappy camera. Consequently, I indulge in some "creative" post picture making processing in order to emulate the snapshot look, in essence, taking them out of the straight picture making genre and into the genre of manipulated pictures. But, here's the thing...

After much rumination I have come the realization that my the new sanpshot picture making is as "serious" as my "serious" picture making. With the exception of consciously focusing on making more people pictures, my picture making eye and sensibilities / vision / propensities haven't changed at all. And, truth be told, I have "serious' intentions, re: my the new snapshot picture making (much more on that in my next entry).