Archive | silver darkroom

Session end approaches, etc…

By John on November 24, 2013 in autumn, beauty, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, Paros Portraits, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized

I have a lot on my mind these days and it feels difficult to try to sort it all out. Thoughts meander…

My most recent post was in the form of notes. I think I will keep it that way for today as well.

–The session here at the Aegean Center is almost finished. This week is the final full week of work. It is also American Thanksgiving and Chanukkah. Lots to do (food, work, art) and I imagine emotions are running high for those younger students who have never been away from home on these holidays. We will have a big pot-luck feast on Friday evening, since Thursday is a work day. We supply the side dishes. JP supplies the turkeys and gravy. I am making roasted butternut squash.

–The students who are working in the darkroom are making some interesting work.

–I have been able to noodle about with my own work, but nothing really substantial. I have tried some portrait work with minor success. Siga-siga. If one were to ask how I think I am doing these days, the answer would have to be divided into three parts: personal, artistic and academic. Personally I am doing alright. I am building solid social bridges to people in the community who have little to do with the school or the arts. I am biking a lot and feeling good about that that. Artistically I am, as I said, noodling around. I am letting the students have the lion’s share of the darkroom time. The third aspect is etsy-ketsy. I do what I can.

–Am I an artist-in-residence or faculty? I have no idea anymore. I have worked to define these boundaries within the small community in which I labor. I can only guess that I receive unknown support and back-up from those I respect.

–I am opening a Flickr site and will post photos there, images that never made it here and other things. Mostly travel stuff. I’ll add a tab to the website next time I post. Until then I have added an autumnal image: olive oil fresh from the press. Yes, it really is that green.

Happy Thanksgiving!

–JDCM

Fresh olive oil from the olive press at Kamari.

Windy Monday…

By John on September 9, 2013 in autumn, beauty, black and white portraiture, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, Paros Portraits, portraiture, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, working

The sun was brilliant today and the Meltemi had a decidedly autumnal feel. It has howled all day, and continues the howl through the tangle of electrical lines crisscrossing the small section of Paroikia I call home. The cypress trees whip back and forth and Bougainvillea blossoms, free from their thorny moorings, sail their over-saturated colors into my small apartment.

It is Monday, September 9, 2013 and I have taken down my exhibit. I have enjoyed the three-week long event. I think of my images differently than when I hung them. What was once ‘Giorgos and Giorgos‘ I refer to as ‘Don Quixote and Sancho Panza‘; ‘Erin‘ is now ‘The Vermeer Photograph’; ‘Angelika‘ I think of as ‘The Abstract Realist.’ Things change, the Earth tilts and wobbles, the days shorten, the air cools and we slide into bright autumn. I can almost smell the rain, but I know that is just an illusion.

Now I am filled with melancholia, ennui, a sense of emptiness. As I write this at Mikro Kafe I realize that in an hour there will be no need for me to open up the Aegean Center, turn on the lights and arrange the easeled sign outside on the marble steps. All of that is past. My portraits are safely in their crate, currently a large piece of furniture in my flat. The sign, too, is there, tucked behind a bookcase.

I have little choice but to get back to work. That is the best way to shake off these ghosts.

JDCM

Amorgos, part 2…

By John on June 12, 2013 in beauty, Cyclades stone walls, Greece, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

It has been a wonderful day here on the rugged and wild island of Amorgos, on the southeastern edge of the Kyklades. I picked up a book yesterday which detailed the history of the place and it filled in many gaps. One interesting tidbit is that geologically Amorgos has more in common with the island of Samos than the other Kyklades. It is as if it split from the Dodecanese millenia ago and drifted west.

I spent the day exploring the remote western end of the island and I was grateful I rented a car. It seems that the Dimos (town council) has cancelled all bus services to that area due to lack of funding. They have suspended service in the high season of July/August as well. This was good for me, in a way, since there was no one around and I had the place all to myself. I suppose it will be good for the car rental agencies too. In any case, I was able to hike, find some nice little coves to swim in and photograph some more walls. I sat in the Kykladic structure of Markiani, photographed the mouldering stones outlining the ancient settlement and mused on the idea that people have lived here since the 3rd millenium B.C. Even then it was good place to be. Below me, after a near-vertical drop of 1700 meters, the sea crashed against the rugged cliffs, endlessly grinding stone into sand.

I have managed to shoot two full rolls of film since I have been here and I ran out this afternoon just after the above mentioned archeological site. So that makes it three. I will return tomorrow for more hiking, more photography and lunch at a nice little taverna recommended by a friend. I have added some photos. One is a detail of a 4th century B.C. tower in the small town of Vroutsi: free admission, no tourists and no rope lines. The young man at the gate even gave me a free booklet with information. Perfect.

JDCM

Classical era stone tower Near Vroutsi, Amorgos.

Detail of the 4th c. B.C. stone tower Near Vroutsi, Amorgos.

Stone walls, juniper and thyme.

Teaching and craft…

By John on May 26, 2013 in beauty, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

There is less than a week until our student exhibit at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts here on Paros. It has been a busy three months for most. Like all previous sessions there is always one or two students who fall away. This spring has been no different. One student left and returned home a few weeks ago. Another has stayed here but has followed a different path from those found on our artistic maps. So be it. There is nothing I can do about either case. I will say, in my own defense, that I was there for both of them in a professional capacity when they needed me and, in the beginning, helped to guide them through some of our philosophies. Their individual decisions to take different routes has no bearing on the Center, the teachers or my own labors.

This spring I was given the honor of filling in as Silver Darkroom instructor. This is not a post I assume to be permanent. All teachers learn that their own skills, craft and knowledge increase when they pass on what they know to others. This has been my experience as well. I have learned more about the art and craft of photography in three months than I thought possible. It was knowledge that I had already accrued so to give it away freely only strengthened my own foundations. It was not review or regurgitation. I found myself solving problems and asking questions of myself from a new point of view. One important lesson is to be able to say “I don’t know. Let’s find the answer together.” What freedom to not suppose, to not be a fake!

There is an ethos to teaching. It is not enough to greet the student, spend a few hours or days, and then set them free. That would be tantamount to showing them a map and telling them to drive to California from New York without first discussing the possible roads west. As the more experienced traveler it is important to guide these eager minds along the way. Yes, let them take a wrong turn, experience a sudden detour or two and even run out of fuel, but do not abandon them in the badlands of inexperience. Let them know that you are there, waiting up ahead at the next marker or traveling alongside. I have practiced this and it has paid off. I have gained a level of patience and understanding by remaining available. I have set up appointments and answered their questions to the best of my abilities, abilities which have grown over the course of three months. To some this may seem a sacrifice of my own personal time, my own independence. It is quite the opposite. I have never felt so free, so happy and, at times, so completely baffled. At that point I turn to someone more knowledgable than myself. Such is the nature of education, or it should be.

There is a quote from George Bernhard Shaw: “Those who can, do…those who can’t, teach.” I must admit that I have found this to be very untrue and can only believe that GBS had his head (beard and all) deeply imbedded in his anus when he thought it up. The quote should be “Those who can, teach.” Learning is a cycle: Practice>Teach>Learn>Practice>Teach>Learn>Practice>Teach>Learn…

Ralph Waldo Emerson had a better idea:

“Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee.”

JDCM

Spring unfolds at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts…

By John on March 4, 2013 in autumn, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

The spring session has begun here on Paros at the Aegean Center. The students have mostly all arrived, riding in on the winds and waves. It poured rain all day yesterday and the streets turned into small rivers. By last night the clouds had rolled away and today is sunny and bright. I have many thoughts running through my head, so many raindrops, really, and in many cases just as discarnate. Add them up, however, and they are a flood, a river of their own. I found it comforting to stop thinking. I loaded up some Plus-X, grabbed my tripod and headed down the now undimmed streets of Paroikia. Action, not thinking, always improves my day.

I will be painting again this session. I will also apply the finishing touches on a large format photography project that I began last year, a series of portraits of people I know here on Paros. They are students, ex-pats, local Parians…My Greek barber, Nikos, for instance, as well as the English owner of a local cafe. A motley crew to be sure. I will finish the principle photography and printing in the next three months, bring all the final proofs to Athens and have them matted and framed. I hope to accomplish this before the end of June when I head back to America for a month. When I return in August I will hang the show and open the exhibit. It will be the culmination of my work here at the Center, my Masters Thesis in Photography, if you will. I have no idea where the show will be. I’ll stick my neck out again. So far that hasn’t been the most successful venture here on Paros. I have lost my head more times than not (certainly gaining wisdom) but what choice do I have? “Action and more action…”, as they say…What follows my exhibition is anyone’s guess. I suddenly feel lost at sea with the prospect of September.

I will be assisting again in the darkroom with the students, as I did last fall, so my energies will be focused on their work more than my own. Like the weather moving in circles, alternating rain, sun wind and calm, the Aegean Center is part of the cycle of change. I cannot do much except sit back and trust the process, let the story write itself and accept the results. Once again, to assume anything would be foolish, self-serving and arrogant. As of this morning I am excited to work with five or six (maybe seven) students, some who have never handled silver emulsion and some with more knowledge. We shall see how the session evolves. I remember having many preconceived notions of photography when I arrived here on Paros three years ago. They were soon dashed in favor of a new and vibrant dynamic. As a lotus blossom, spring unfolds…

JDCM

Parian viewpoint…

By John on January 29, 2013 in craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

I returned to Greece last Friday and after a long and uneventful journey I found myself at the “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport, the gateway to Greece. It was quiet at 16:40 hours on a Saturday. Aside from my Aegean Air flight, there was only one other craft that seemed to be in use, a KLM A320 parked at the terminal. This speaks to both the slower winter season and the decision for other airline companies to curtail their schedules into this country, a nation hit hard by both the global economic crisis and a media-fed-fear of governmental instability. While the economics are true, the other claim holds no water. This is a land of change and transition and so many people are preferring to sit on the sidelines and watch the drama unfold.

It was raining and the skies were lead-grey. I hailed a taxi and as we headed towards the city I was struck by how green everything had become since my departure in December. The traditional music coming out of the small radio made my heart melt and run like the rain. As we sped along the motorway, the driver handed me an orange. “From my garden–this morning”, he said.

Change is a difficult stage of life for any organism, whether it is a country or an individual. The best course of action is to change the dynamic. When an old path isn’t working, one does not stay on the same road and travel with more verve. One takes a turn at the next crossing, thus expanding the journey. If one has a philosophy that is dear, it is important to keep this philosophy as a compass and at the same time open up prospects for new and exciting ways to implement the fundamentals. 12 years ago I grew weary of the career in which I had been laboring. Instead of finding a new niche within that limited community I shifted gears and turned off the main road and connected with a new highway. Now I am in Greece, practicing my skills and craft in photography. The remnants of the old ways are gone, leaving only memories and an ability to create this marvelous dish. I can only offer advice based on my own experiences. When something isn’t working, get out of the way and take a new road. After all, change is the only true constant in the Universe. Photography is the same. There are so many variables within the craft, especially with the added tools of the digital medium. It would be foolish and arrogant to discount them in an attempt to hold onto some mythological idea.

Speaking of that, I had a change of heart recently regarding the noted photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. When he said, “In order to give meaning to the world, one has to feel oneself involved in what he frames. This attitude requires concentration, a discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry” I have to applaud. I agree wholeheartedly but it was disappointing to watch the documentary, ‘The Impassioned Eye’ . This film revealed that he cared little for, and avoided at all costs, the developing of his film and printing of his images, a part of the journey that I feel is so important to the photographic life. I believe that he was little more than a guy with a camera in the right place at the right time. A small bubble has burst, but a bubble nonetheless. Now I am a little more free than I was. Change is good and necessary. Change is essential.

A view of Agios Phokas, Paros.

More New Year’s ramblings…

By John on January 3, 2013 in beauty, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

Leica M8, Voigtlander 75mm lens, f/3.4, 1/125 sec, ISO 320

It is bitter cold outside. This morning the thermometer read -6F. The sun is out and the snow is all but blinding as I look out the kitchen window at the frozen pond and the string of suet cages hanging in the still morning air. The usual suspects are pecking away, probably using as much energy to fly back and forth from their nests as they are in the eating.

I depart America in about 3 weeks. It has been a good visit so far and I have been reminded by its truncated duration of the decision I made a few months ago: to leave this place. I am only a visitor now. Yes, I have an office where I am typing this post, a bedroom where I sleep, a makeshift darkroom where I can develop film and even make prints if need be. I even have a car. While sitting at the table this morning, watching the birds and drinking my coffee, the thought went through my head that I had better get packing. It is time to go. Time to go home. Time to go back to Paros and the home I am making for myself. Everything is as it should be here, whether I like it or not. I have a few tasks to take care of and my conscience will be clear. Yet I am still in limbo.

And what is next…? I really haven’t a clue. I have some ideas, some concepts of the possibilities, but there is nothing firm, nothing definite in any of them. Photography, painting, hiking…these aspects are in the mix. Teaching? I have no idea nor would I assume. The Camino del Santiago in the autumn? Moving to Athens, enrolling in language school…? Once again, nothing to hang my hat on. The only thing for sure is that that I have some airline tickets booked on certain dates and I have to be there to board the plane or I miss the flight. Whatever happens in between is a crapshoot.

The 17th century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal wrote, “We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end.” I’ll write some more about uncertainty and not knowing later. Hmmm…I just thought of something, something I have been bitter about for a while. Last summer I walked in a conversation and the subject was how sad it was that ‘he’ had not achieved self-actualization by the time ‘he’ was 35…I am just paranoid enough to think that those folks were talking about me. If this is true I can only respond that I find it terribly boring that one would be “actualized” by the time they were 35. What purpose then further growth? I think this ‘actualized’ idea is just another post-modern trap perpetrated to help with the easy pigeon-holing of the human spirit. Kind of like “finding your voice.”

JDCM

With a little help from my friends….

By John on December 22, 2012 in beauty, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, Uncategorized, working

Ancramdale, New York December 22, 2012 07:45hrs

I have found through trial (many trials) and error (many errors) that I can accomplish very little in life without the assistance of those around me. Whether it is the gentle and loving care for my mother, my continuing work at the Aegean Center or any spiritual journey I may undertake, I cannot do it alone, nor do I really want to anymore. Yes, there are times when we all need a little solitude for reflection and meditation, but overall I long to embrace the company of my fellows, whomever they may be.

I return to Greece in just over a month. Christmas will come and go and the New Year will ring its bells and I will, I hope, have some work to show for the time I have spent here. I am opening up my darkroom and am about shooting film (both 35mm and MF) as well as recording some digital images. Besides my Leica M8 I have resuscitated my old Canon Digital Rebel, the first decent digital SLR I used. It needed a new battery so I picked one up from Adorama. I hope to use it as a point-and-shoot while I am here, reserving the Leica for more contemplative images. The MF film work is up in the air. Maybe I’ll work on some more short depth-of-field images and bring the negatives back to Paros. The 35mm film is being used in a really old Canon AE-1 with a 50mm lens. In both cases I am shooting Kodak Tri-X 400. If I am industrious I hope to begin developing by the end of this week and printing by 2013. 2013! Imagine that…A lot of water has flowed under the bridge, over the dam and out to sea since I started this blog. It seems like a lifetime ago that I switched gears and turned onto this road, a journey that fills me with endless gratitude and wonder.

It snowed early this morning before I awoke. The weather outside is grey and leaden, a wintry wind is reminding me that all things must pass and, as they do, new opportunities for knowledge and growth appear on the horizon. In some cases it is better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all and I have to believe that there is something better for me down the road. As a friend and I were remarking this morning…one door closes, another door opens. Life is a series of hallways and corridors. Take a risk and turn the knob.

My never-ending thanks to Kit Latham for all of his wonderful support in the much needed update of this blog space. You will notice that the old images of the Bosnian Roma are gone, replaced with more current and relevant images from my portfolios. To have them off the site is a great relief to me. They represent a time of my life that has passed. I have also cleaned out much of my gallery site, letting go of a tired and used vision for something a little more current. In a few days there will be an even larger shift. Siga-siga, as we say on Paros.

JDCM

Post time…Vienna…

By John on December 14, 2012 in autumn, beauty, Greece, nude studies, Paros, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, Uncategorized, working

I haven’t posted in quite a while. I’ll give the short-story to catch up and then expound a bit…

The student exhibition for the Fall 2012 Aegean Center was lovely. The students worked hard, expressed their individual talents and it showed. That’s all I have to say really, except well done to all! I am looking forward to the spring session and all that it may hold. Challenges, rewards, hard work, hikes, frustrations and solutions. It all makes up the rich pageant that is the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts.

I traveled to Athens and stayed there for two days. While I was there I was able to see an exhibit from the photographer Helmut Newton. I was surprised. I have seen much of his work over the years, in books mostly, so to see full-sized prints was stunning. There was also a movie, made by his wife of almost 50 years, June Newton. It portrayed a man severely maligned by the press and the photo-world as being a pervert and a weirdo. The truth was eye-opening. He worked hard, used incredible skill with no trickery and produced some of the more iconic images in fashion I have ever seen. His CV reads like a who’s-who of the fashion world: Vogue, Elle, Yves St. Laurent…the list goes on. His commentary was clear and the filmed interactions with his models proved beyond a doubt the level of respect for their professionalism and grace. At one point he said that his goal was to make a fashion shoot not look like a fashion shoot, but rather something from a movie. He also talked about the gear he uses, i.e. not much: a Hasselblad 500 and a Polaroid for the light tests. He switched to a basic canon EOS digital later on his career for the lighting tests. Very few exterior lights and almost no studios that looked like studios. His eye captured the realities behind the shoot as well as the focus. I left the show feeling like it was a good two hours spent in the afternoon. The next day I flew to Vienna and was greeted by the lights of a city in Christmas season and the weather to match. It’s cold here, folks. Last night it went down to 18*F. Today was cloudy and chilly and snow is predicted for tomorrow night.

I visited the Albertina Museum today to see the Albrecht Durer show. It was a huge event focusing on his work during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I. Many of the works mentioned in the Wiki article were on display for the first time in decades. I have to leave descriptions of those for the next post since I will include many links.

Tonight I dine on tafelspitz and then walk down to the Burg Kino Theater and watch ‘The Third man’.

JDCM

Darkroom work and questions…

By John on November 18, 2012 in 4×5 photography, beauty, craft, Cyclades stone walls, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft, Uncategorized, working

In the past few weeks I have begun printing some of the images I made last summer during my island hopping following the spring 2012 session here at the Aegean Center. For the most part, they are photographs of the stone walls that criss-cross the Kyklades landscapes like so many topographical scratches: property lines, terrace farming, some ancient, some new. The proofs are working out fine, but I have begun to grow uneasy. I am still coming to terms with the idea of ‘art’ and my photography. True, I can compose within the format, be it square or rectangular, but am I an artist or am I simply a skilled documentarian? The same applies to the portrait pieces I am photographing with my 4×5 and then using the scanner to render them into a digital format. This is not my discussion alone, but one that has been on the table since photography began. Is a photograph art?

I was told tonight by someone at a cafe that if a photograph ‘moves him’, creates an emotional response, then it is art. I’ll buy that. So what kind of emotional response is my ‘wall photography’ generating? Nostalgia, loneliness, sadness…The scenes are desolate, full of ruins and, in some cases, the detritus of man. Overturned ore carts, rotting and rusting in the harsh Aegean climate; volcanic chunks of stone piled two meters high to create the snake-like patterns running over hills one sees from the aft deck of the Blue Star ferry as they sail from Pireaus south. There are no people in these images. There are only the bones of ghosts.

The portrait work, on the other hand, is completely different. I am trying to capture the essence of the person, or people, in their own environment. Some are in studios, others at home. In each case I have been able to catch a glimpse of something that reaffirms the great possibility of life. The terrace farms may collapse due to misuse over the centuries, but these people will live on through the images I am creating. I am creating. I can create. Perhaps that is as close a definition for ‘art’ as I will ever get. Art is creation, a recognition of beauty and grace despite the ravages of time. I can be a creator of something. I can document with a deft hand, be mindful of the alchemical processes and thus reveal something to the world that I find beautiful. There is a lazy part of me that wants this feeling to go away. The realist in me understands that questioning is essential. Without doubt and self-examination, how can I possibly progress?

JDCM

Serifos, 2012

Andiparos, 2012

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