Gabriel Biderman

Photo of the Week (Jun 3-9)

Posted on June 4, 2007December 28, 2007 by Gabriel Biderman — 1 Comment

I spent Memorial Day weekend with the Bartlett Family in Grafton, West Virginia and this was the last shot I took as we were departing town. This image was shot with black and white film and the slight colorization was a pleasant mistake in photoshop. It was an amazingly nostalgic weekend as Nancy’s dad, Brooks, took us on a tour of his old haunts. I listened carefully to Brooks’ stories since many of the landmarks and buildings are long gone. Grafton is a town that has fallen under much economical hardship since it’s major industries like the B&O Railroad, Carr China, and the Hazel Atlas Company either declined or closed down altogether. There is the beautiful Tygart Lake and Valley State Park to attract visitors, but Grafton is most well known as the birthplace of Mother’s Day in 1908. There is a good chance you’ll see more shots from Grafton soon since it was really difficult to pick one shot from this series. Many thanks to the Bartlett Family for hosting us and sharing their stories… and their moonshine!

Oh yeah, the Drive-In was playing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End later that night.

A Body for a Body

Posted on June 2, 2007December 30, 2007 by Gabriel Biderman — 12 Comments

So, I’m on a diet.

Last Friday a few of my friends came to me and told me that it was time, I had to lose some weight. I think that takes some guts and respect to say that to a friend, whatever the issue is… so I thank you.

Later that day Nancy and I started our 8 hour drive down to Grafton, West Virginia for a Memorial Day family reunion. We devised a gabeplan for food and exercise and Nancy asked “What if we gave you a goal or prize to work towards?” We all know how difficult it can be to stay committed to these sort of things, especially if you don’t see any immediate results. When Nancy said, “What about a Leica camera?” I knew there was a reason I married her, but had she known that the inevitable hankering for a leica had bit me? Earlier that week I had been on Leica’s a-la-carte-website where you can customize your very own leica and had printed out a couple dreams…

So the bike is tuned up and I’m riding 15 miles round trip to work, up and over the Brooklyn Bridge, a totally top of the world feeling.

Don’t worry I’m still eating, but just not as much and a lot of carrott sticks!

Since I started a week ago, I’ve lost 12lbs so you might be seeing a smaller version of me with a leica camera sooner than you think!

Photo of the Week (May 27-Jun 2)

Posted on May 30, 2007December 28, 2007 by Gabriel Biderman — 3 Comments

Tom is my upstairs neighbor. He has lived in his apartment for 80 of his 87 years, the other 7 took place about 3 blocks away.. This is Tom’s spot outside where he reads his mail or the newspaper and tells me tales of Brooklyn days gone by. To live in one place your whole life and watch it change or not change over and over again, that’s pretty amazing.

I am the total opposite. I have lived in about 30 different houses 5 different cities over my meager 37 years.

I’ve always loved history but Tom’s has imparted in me a sense of Brooklyn history that you can not read in a book. I can visualize him playing sandlot baseball with Dizzy Dean or working at the various warehouses along Red Hook. When I sit with Tom on the steps of our building I can see the history of Carroll Gardens speed past me like a flip book.

Photo of the Week (May 13-19)

Posted on May 24, 2007December 28, 2007 by Gabriel Biderman — 4 Comments

Phew! Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I went on a film binge and am just catching up on the developing process! Yes, my point and shoot Digital Ricoh GRD is in the shop for the 2nd time in it’s 1 1/2 year lifespan and I am giving the Nikon D2x a breather. The pinhole picture a day assignment that I gave myself in April got me back into film again, big time. Also, the recent acquisition of the legendary Oscar Cazobonnet Mamiya 7 medium format rangefinder camera has been inspiration in getting back to the basic of photography. In fact I am working on a modern classic review of that camera – stay tuned!

The photo of the week last week was a , eh, portrait of a Mr. Jonny Lane doing his best Tom Waits impression. About 17 years ago some mutual friends of ours told us that we would be the best of friends… it took us a year to finally meet and I haven’t been able to shake him since!

Jonny and I instituted “film nights” every week in college where we would get together and make artsy (read: now silly) little films. Jonny is also responsible for teaching me photography, especially the darkroom skills. After college we lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment (4-5 people lived there) in Lower Haight Street, San Francisco. We put a darkroom in the closet and that was it for me. Jonny hiked and I stayed in the closet! In 2006 we both got married a month apart to beautiful women who truly complement who we are. I was in Seattle last week on business and purposely stayed an extra day so that I could get my Jonny and Maria time in. It turns out that after spending the last 6-8 months caretaking Goldmeyer Hot Springs (about 1 1/2 hours north of Seattle via a 18 mile dirt road that takes at least an hour to drive in 4wd!) they have come out of the woods and moved to Bellingham, Washington. It is here in Bellingham that Jonny and Maria have formed their own business, Dandelion Organic Delivery. Right now they’re just delivering organic food to Bellingham folks but rumors are spreading about adding San Francisco. Way before they became “Dandelions” Jonny and Maria hiked the Pacific Crest Trail with a group called the Menacing Vegetables and their amazing 2000-mile journey from the border of California/Mexico to Washington can be found here: pct2000

Keep on with the good, creative times.

Photo of the Week (Apr 29-May 5)

Posted on May 7, 2007December 28, 2007 by Gabriel Biderman — 3 Comments

So with all the film I have been shooting I have fallen a little behind. However this picture is not film..it is a daguerreotype. I took a Daguerreotype Workshop with the only living Canadian Daguerreotypist, Mike Robinson. A daguerreotype is a latent image on a silver plate that takes about 1 1/2 hours to prepare: buff, polish, and sensitize. It is also one of the earliest forms of photography and launched the Portrait Photography Industry. Before that you were paying a good $10-$50 dollars to have your portrait painted. Louis Daguerre invented the process in 1839 and gave it’s patent to the French Government who then in turn “Gave the gift of Photography Free to the World” except for England, whom they made purchase the patents. Ouch! It is a wonder how that tunnel between England and France was ever built! The daguerreotype’s heyday was from 1839-1860 but, as the industrial revolution hit high gear, was replaced with the faster process of tintypes and glass plates. Sound like that digital vs film debate!

The workshop took place in Pittsburgh at the Daguerreian Society Headquarters, which also had an amazing exhibit of the history of Daguerreotypes, as well as some modern masters works. My wonderful inlaws (the Bartlett Pair) also showed me their great great Grandparents civil war daguerreotype portraits from 1861. I’m curious to know if any of you readers still have any family daguerreotypes? Not only are “dags” beautiful but they can last forever.

One final note, the picture above is of me with my Zero Image 6×12 Pinhole Camera and I am taking a picture of Mike as he is shooting me!