"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust



Saturday, July 17, 2010

Spring Trees

    I shot these images last spring.  It was on one of those rolls of film that I forgot to bring into the lab.  I have mixed emotions about posting it.  These images were not of the kind that you can't wait to get back from the lab. I wasn't expectant.  And maybe I don't always need to be expectant.  It seems like I often get caught up in my mind telling me that "every image has to be a winner!" 
    And this starts me thinking about the role of showing and sharing my work.  A large part of me is dying for acceptance and it seems like there are many times when I am courting approval of my images.  I really want people to say "wow!" or "nice job" or whatever.  I really want to have my images accepted into shows.  And the scary thing here is that in courting approval I am putting a large amount of power in the hands of an audience.
     I need to realize that right now my images are not about the subject matter.  My images are not being made with showing in mind or receiving accolades.  Right now my images are about a journey I'm on.  My images are about process.  The process is about being in the present moment and noticing what I am noticing and then photographing what I am noticing.  It is a simple journey that really at this point has no place for an audience.  I think that may be a different journey altogether.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Pegasus 1

   This is from the first roll shot with my Diana.  I had some problems with getting the film wound on the spool tight enough.  This roll came out fat but the light leaks were not as bad as I anticipated.  I didn't realize that the image area on the negative was smaller than on a Holga so the light leaks didn't invade as much negative area as I thought it would.  I also only shot 12 images not realizing I could get 16 images on a roll.  I am happy with the exposure, etc.  I used Kodak Portra VC 160.