Don't Take Pictures ...

What an exciting Spring it has been!  It seems as though the first half of the year, I was knee deep into making images, processing, and minor post work ... with lots of what folks don't see ... all the "behind the scenes" type of work.  Organizing, ordering, chemical prep and mixing, storage, searching for opportunities, applying for various grants, volunteering with professional organizations, making connections ... and all the other tasks that can get in line BEFORE making more creative images!  All that work definitely pays off ... 

I am pleased to announce that my pinhole image "Slow Tide" was juried into the online gallery at Kat Kiernan's,  Don't Take Pictures!  Thrilled to be included along side many great pinholers ... Take a look:

Excerpt from the Pinhole Gallery at Don't Take Pictures:

A pinhole camera is a beautifully simple machine capable of rendering complex images. Photographers who choose to work with pinhole cameras are patient, often waiting minutes or hours or days for their images to be rendered through the pinprick in the front of their camera. More time still is spent processing the image, and due to the uncertainty of the camera and its many variables, the photograph may never appear at all. When it does, the reward is tremendous. Few pinhole cameras are the same. Each one’s unique qualities may distort or vignette the photograph in unexpected ways. Pinhole photographers embrace these challenges for the simplicity of the tools and the unexpected beauty of the photographs they produce.

Don’t Take Pictures strives to present photographers who are actively involved in the creative process of making photographs. Many photographers in this exhibition have made their own pinhole cameras. Those who use digital cameras with modified pinhole lenses are challenging the conventional qualities of tack-sharp digital images. Photographers from all over the globe submitted work for this exhibition, and we are pleased to showcase this diverse collection of the genre.      

This gallery will be on view through August 21.

http://www.donttakepictures.com/gallery-pinhole/

Please visit the online gallery at Don't Take Pictures to view the images juried into the exhibit.

Charmed by Charmed Magazine ...

Interview excerpt:

What do you think defines an image or an artistic vision, and how can one gain a personal voice in photography?

I enjoy finding something small, a secret, or the byline of the overall story … and that is what intrigues me.  Using a traditional process helps me keep things simple and personally invested, from loading, seeing, and processing … hands-on.  

Developing your personal aesthetic and how it combines with your internal story is important, but some times you just don’t know what that is until you go out and look … and shoot … and do that over and over.  Eventually you will see something emerge.  But I’m also glad to be looking for something too.  To not find the destination.  If we reach the destination, then why keep looking?

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You can find the interview in Charmed Magazine in the ARTS section at http://www.charmed-mag.com/#!arts/ctzx

Direct link to the interview can be found at 

http://media.wix.com/ugd/b276a9_14f9a32d1477435197473d464b3e14e5.pdf

Procrastination ...

natural vs manmade scars

throw-away society

pulling up roots

planning. procrastinating. penciling-in. procrastinating. printing. placating. pausing ... panicking. ... processing ... predicating propositions ... procrastinating ... perhaps pinholing.

Even while procrastinating, I cannot stop looking.  Never stop looking ...  

Spring in Full Swing ...

Darkroom prints on RC paper.  Amy Rockett-Todd. 2014

I am so thankful for how busy this Spring has been already!  In the past few weeks, I have been processing 120 negatives from my pinhole project (Baker's Dozen; a pinhole dialog with Antonia Small of Port Clyde, Maine) ... and have managed to get at least 10 rolls processed, scanned, and even a few test prints made (above image).  In addition to the pinhole work, I am pleased to announce that several of my wet plate images will be featured in April 2014.  

One of my wet plate images will be included in April's exhibition, The Art of Handmade & Alternative Photography, at the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro, VT.  The show will run April 4th through April 27th.

You can view the online gallery here:  http://vcphoto.org/the-art-of-handmade-alternative-photography/

Also, I will have work included in the #4 issue of The Hand Magazine.  My images in The Hand are peripherally based on the happenings during a 1000 mile road trip.  You can snatch your own copy of The Hand Magazine here:  http://thehandmagazine.wordpress.com

As Spring has only just begun, I am looking forward to what lies ahead .... Stay tuned.

Reflecting ...

Under the bridge in Rockport, Maine - Maine Media Workshops - Wet Plate Collodion with Jill Enfield, Summer 2013

I've been shooting wet plate collodion images on tin and glass for 8 months, since my workshop at Maine Media Workshops ... and thought it would be a nice balance to do a bit of film processing since being so wrapped up in the collodion process.  I am about 10 rolls into processing (roughly 20 total, so far) and noticed a few pinhole frames I shot during my time at the workshop.  We were on-location under the bridge at the Rockport, Maine marina.  It was only our second on-location shoot and were testing what it is like to be away from the darkroom ... relying only on an ice fishing tent and/or a portable wooden darkbox as our darkroom for the day.  

The gem that is RUBY ...

I had the pleasure of photographing my father recently and was excited to use the ruby glass I had come across on my last visit to the stained glass shop.  I am always learning something new with this process and this shoot was no different.  My fix was running a bit slow as I had used it for two days of multiple portrait sittings and this ruby plate was one of the last plates for the day ... so I was unsure if the shot would even turn out.  Much to my surprise, it cleared just fine and I could not be happier with the outcome!  On top of things, I scanned the plate backed with both a white tin and a black tin.  Here are the scanned results ... 

Pinholing ...

Interested by the movement of a gallery crowd, I sat my pinhole camera on the only surface I could find at the front of the space ... the DJ table.  Unsure whether the music vibrations would affect the outcome, I exposed these shots from 6 minutes up to 8 minutes as the late evening sunlight coming into the space was failing.  These pinhole images were taken at IAO Gallery, OKC, Oklahoma, at the opening reception for the 24 Works On Paper exhibit during the Summer of 2013.  One of my monoprints is currently in this statewide traveling exhibit, which will continue to travel to eleven galleries in Oklahoma through January 2015.

To find more info on the 24 Works On Paper exhibit, please visit OVAC's website at www.ovac-ok.org .........

Hooked on sight ...

Silver & Light video by Ian Ruhter 

This is one of the initial videos I ever watched on the wet plate collodion process.  I was hooked on sight alone.