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.
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!
