When I was a girl, I fell in love with two photographs of Virginia Woolf, who was the daughter, I found out much later, of the niece of and favorite model for Julia Margaret Cameron. These photographs illustrated Virginia Woolf in a way that allowed her physical likeness to live up to the legend that was her gift. It wasn't until a few years ago that I started to wonder about the photographers who made these photos that immortalized her.
Virginia Woolf, photograph by George Charles Beresford, 1902.
This got me to thinking about what an unsung endeavor photographing writers seems to be. The task is a difficult one... to make the portrait of an ordinary looking person (probably one who doesn't want to be in front of the camera lens) and make that person big enough for his or her book jacket. One photographer who has photographed writers and who has photographed them well is Marion Ettlinger. Here are a few of her flawless, well spoken portraits.
I haven't been shooting much lately. The few shots that I have taken still reside undeveloped on film in various cameras. My smallest child wanted to shoot. He said, "Mama, I use Hasselblad with the black thing around my neck. I won't drop it. I won't break it." The black thing would be the light meter. That conversation ended with my making a photo of him with the much desired Hasselblad, but again... still in camera. Since I don't have anything new of my own to share, I'll share some treasures I've found online.
Don' t forget to check out the Uber Photography Group, "a community for those passionate about photography and the art of seeing." Three are some interesting topics being shared and discussed there!
I really love the photos of Hiroshi Watanabe. Here's something from A Brick Factory in Udaipur series. I admire photographers who, rather than focusing on the subject, can approach the photo by making a unified and harmonious use of the whole frame. It not something I can do or have ever tried to do, really, but this photographer can, as illustrated here.
Lim Chun Sil, Pyongyang Schoolchildren's Palace, North Korea... also by Hiroshi Watanabe. He can make good use of a subject, too. :-)
Painter, Moranbong Park, North Korea
Students and Their Teacher, Mangyongdae, North Korea
Now for something, well, alternative. Here is an example from the Alternative processes Flickr set by Bosse Blomqvist... Most of his works were protected so that I couldn't link back to them. Here's a carbon print on watercolor paper from glass plate.
Recently my daughter and I made a trip to Underwater World in the Mall of America. The Mall of America is the last place you'd ever find me... except for yesterday when I found myself tagging along with Chris, who was shooting on a travel day. No problem... I had a variety of cameras with me and was in good company!
While the light was flat and dull in what can only be described as the catacombs of the Underwater World, there were some opportunities for me to use my "Artistic" Time-Zero. (Time-Zero my ass. Once again, thanks, Polaroid.) I wanted to test the film by shooting at lit water, because I thought it might pick up the blues and cyans that seem lacking in this film. Under ordinary circumstances, this film (that is in no way worthy of the name Time-Zero) seems dull with flat greens and oranges. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I was confined to handheld shots with a rather slow film. A number of them were abstracts meant for manipulating. The lighting I sought did do what I imagined it would... with some farily eerie results.
First, though, here's a document (a Polaroid cropped of its border) of the afternoon with Chris, who was busy making his own photographs.
And then there were blues and greens... and foreigners in a strange land.
Nebulous... humans mistaken for sea creatures.
Strange angel...
And finally the bends...
I have 35mm film and Diana camera shots still in camera. Will post them soonish.
Have a great rest of the week! We've made it more than half way through. :-) Elinor
i love the innate power, force, and imagination of girls who have not yet lost their spirit! these film shots are from the evening before our neighbor girls moved away. they are coming tomorrow for a play date!
b e a u t y
just hanging around...
learning new tricks
p r i n c e s s
from decades past... i love the way the middle child has an absence to her smile. the postures and the gazes remind me of an old family photograph from when my own mother was a baby. here, the focus is on princess, who is making her piggy face. the middle girl seems to be coaching and egging her on with her own face.
i n t r u d e r
hope everyone is enjoying a restful saturday! elinor
I'm on call beginning Monday, but I'm going to continue to pretend till the bitter end that I will not be entering a brutal workweek...
Anyway...
Look at this bright-eyed boy. When I can catch him in a rare moment of pause, I find his eyes to be the most photographable things there are.
But he is also photographable when he is sleeping. I'm focusing on his hands here to show the difference between the outside and inside of his arms. Apparently, he has sad too much sun this summer!
And then... a scan of a similar negative to one I already posted. This one seems to be a little more detailed.
Here's something a little like bone...
As much as I'd like to ignore the fact that I have to get up early for work, I had better say...
My Zeiss Distagon T* CF 50mm f4.0 lens did the trick for me. My 150mm lens was making it difficult to shoot the way I tend to shoot. Even when I'm not photographing human subjects, I tend to shoot as though I were making a portrait. I know that makes sense to at least one other person with whom I've shared this notion. Anyway, the lens has been everything I had hoped it would be and then some. Also, I've learned that with enough patience, you can shoot moving targets (such as children at play) with a Hasselblad. Granted, it isn't easy, but it can be done.
Photos
Fledglings... The object in the sky is a gull (not a kite), but my children look as though they are watching a kite dance in the atmosphere. I love the clarity of their figures and the glistening shoulder blades of my son. Like little place holders for angel wings... I don't know how I was lucky enough to catch the waves and gull where they were, just when my little guy had his arms up in the air!
Benediction...
Scrubs... I know this photo is focused on her attire and and collar bone rather than her eyes. It is meant to be that way, as I like the way textures of her my sister's surgical scrubs play against her skin and bone structure. The eyes being ever so slightly out of clear focus gives her that Julia Margaret Cameron dreaminess I like. She enlists her brother to play medical clinic every day, and he has become quite adept at stating that he is not feeling well and inventing illnesses. Will have to watch him when he is school age. ;-) Last night she "buddy taped" his toes together.
Rescan of a shot from the 150mm lens... I really do like this one, so perhaps I might keep the lens to get odd shots such as this. I could probably take better advantage of this lens were I to get the brighter focusing screen.
Well, it's a Thursday in the original sense of the word. Stormy weather. :-) Elinor
Charles Baudelaire thought that literature and the arts had objectives independent of morality. That idea intrigues me because often I make ethical choices based on aesthetics rather than morality. Perhaps I will reread Baudelaire... a lofty goal. I don't know why that comes to mind as I sit mindlessly cleaning up clutter from Linux directories.
I have a few more photos to share today. I haven't had much energy for curating and scanning, so my choices are somewhat random. I have a few Hasselblad shots, but I also have some Diana camera photographs. I'm really in love with one of my Diana cameras. It has the best distortion with minimal light leakage... a wonderful little treasure.
Goddess of Plastic Cameras: Diana camera Kodak T-Max 400
The dream song... I really love what the Diana camera did here. It's the quintessential catcher of dreams and the perfect camera for depicting the poetry of the dunes.
The unwilling... Even when my daughter is a less than willing participant, she can't help but be good in front of the lens.
I had only a little bit of energy to scan some negatives over the last couple of days. I've been really busy at work again. These are all from my recent trip up north to Lake Superior...
Here are a few more shots from an expired lot of the good stuff, Time-Zero! I love, love, love shooting TZ. I wish my supply would last forever.
The door of a mausoleum at Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, MN... This decaying door of a mausoleum is the perfect subject for Time-Zero film, and, by the way, a murder took place at the Glensheen Mansion, which is rumored to be haunted.
Death and its detail...
Here is one of my personal favorites from the pack. My daughter is such a lyrical little girl. She did not pose for this picture. I discovered her playing on the beach and asked her simply not to move! I think the composition has a Julia Margaret Cameron feel.
Well, then, my vacation is coming to an end. I go back to work on Monday. Boo! I had better make the most of Sunday. Hope you have a restful Sunday, too. Elinor
