Two Buildings

Torrington, Connecticut

Walls, Downspouts, Vents, and Weeds

Waterbury, Connecticut

Psychic Readings, and Weeds

Hudson, New York

Rip Van Winkle Bridge, Two Views

Hudson, New York

Kingston, New York

Kinda Pretty, Actually

Woodbury, Connecticut

Not that much accumulation yet at one PM.

Markings, with Revisions

Ansonia, Connecticut

Waterbury, Connecticut

Markings, with Red Onion

Watertown, Connecticut

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Doorways

Hudson, New York

Drive-in Theater Project

Graham, Texas

After being pushed to the back burner for a while to deal with a lot of other things, my American Drive-in Theater book project is back on the front burner. This week I've been listening to my recordings of conversations with theater owners and managers, made during my 17,000 mile road trip in 2012. Dave Scott, current owner of the Graham Drive-in, arranged for Cloys Trout to stop by the theater he owned and operated for about twenty five years, to talk with me. Dave is trying to keep everything exactly as it was in the concession stand to hold on to the nostalgic atmosphere. The theater opened in 1948. My favorite story Cloys had for me was this one:

“I had one old boy come around the back, he paid his way in, and then walked back there [the projection booth] and said, I need to talk to you. And I said what do you want, and he said I used to sneak in this place and one time, I stole some speakers and I want to know how much that speaker was so I can pay you for it. I said when was this? Oh, about fifteen years ago. I said, well, you just paid for that speaker.”

2 INCH HF COMP SHOES

North Canaan, Connecticut

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

TOWING ENFORCED

New Haven, Connecticut

Leaning to the Right

Waterbury, Connecticut

Shelton, Connecticut

Storage

Watertown, Connecticut

Things just seem to accumulate and there's never enough space to put them.

ONE GIANT LEAP

New York, New York

LOVE DOING NOTHING

New York, New York

Admiral Farragut has been here in Madison Square Park for quite a while, but now he seems to stare intently at the recent sculptures seen in the 11/13-14 posts here.

Weeds!

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Benches

Athens, New York

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Autumn Leaves

Woodbury, Connecticut

Hudson, New York

Morning in the City

New York, New York

At 7:15 on a November Sunday morning, Madison Avenue between 29th and 30th is nearly deserted, chilly, and dark.

Print Offers, Printing, and More

Iron Gate, Virginia

I've had this file on the desktop of a succession of computers. It's the African American Baptist Church in Iron Gate, Virginia, with a simple step tablet appended. You can use it to see how well your monitor is calibrated to deal with the brain dead colorspace of sRBG over the web. It's an almost perfect test image. Plus, it's one of my favorite pictures, that just happens to serve the test example role well.

The TOP print offer isn't unique or sui-generis, but it's an unusual mechanism. For my stuff, the offer is a super low price for my pictures printed by me in Pt/Pd. There's a five-day window to order, then it's over. A marketing gimmick. There could be a little bit more to it, though.

Near the end of his life, the writer Robert Heinlein released a huge compendium book with a fraction of his work. It began with an introduction, where he discussed his very long career, and why he kept at it, right up into his late eighties. I needed the money, is what he said.

So, of course, I do the print offer to pay the bills. But then there is this:

Hi Carl,

your print arrived save and sound. I'm so happy. It's a real special treat. The church looks like an artifact from outer space, somewhat transparent and almost levitating. Even the perspective seems a little out of joint. 

Thanks a lot, I will provide a distinct space on one of our dwellings wall.

Dear Carl,

The print arrived safely.

It is much more impressive in real life. Beautiful tonality & much sharper than I expected. Of course the Palladium prints I did were from 35mm. equivalent digital files.

The simplicity of the composition has given it a sense of serenity that is appropriate for the subject of the print.

Both of these messages are about the Church picture, but others have written about the Steep Rock one. Getting 120 Pt/Pd prints out into the world for people to have, show to their friends, to enjoy, is quite a kick. But, back to Bob Heinlein's point, the new steam boiler cost $13K.

However, the boiler now supports the darkroom/platinum-lab with ease. So my facility will be open all year-round for workshops. Also, since last weekend's digital/platinum workshop went so well, I'm going to decide how to go about offering platinum/palladium printing service to a, well, selective group of people who'd like to work with me, and whose work I'm interested in printing. Let's talk.

Midtown Shop Windows

New York, New York

More Art in the Park

New York, New York

Something a little Star Wars-y about these sculptures. I didn't look for an artist's statement in the park, but of course it's easy enough to find online.

MEMORIES

New York, New York

Art in the park.

Say "Cheese!"

New York, New York (Madison Square Park)

Flower Stand, Sunday Morning

New York, New York

GAULOISES

New York, New York

Workshop Snaps

New York, New York

The digital/platinum workshop went well, everyone seemed to have a great time and lots of good prints were produced. "First prints" from newly worked-up digital negatives were remarkably consistent, all the more so because the six participants brought files with a broad range of subjects and styles. Crisp, hard-edged studio still life shots done with a Phase back, dreamy soft-focus studies of swirling surf, and lots of stuff in between.