A Tale of Three Westons

Despite this being a photography blog, this post is NOT about any member of the Weston family of photographers. No Edward, Cole, or Brett.  It does however, deal with three towns named Weston in three states.  I suppose that I could go and look for towns named Adams, Evans, Mann, Miller, Stieglitz, or Steichen.  But, hey, I like Weston, okay? According to the USGS Geographic Names Server, there are 31 populated places in the US with the name Weston!  I guess that means I have 28 more states to visit.

Weston, MICHIGAN.  Located just across from Ohio in Lenawee County, Weston Michigan has a population of less than 200. Fairfield Township was founded in 1844, and Weston is an unincorporated community with the township that was originally called Oakford. I could not out why is was named Weston.  The area is largely agricultural, and back in 2014, took this photo of the Weston Post Office.  It's not much of a town, and there are a lot of small towns like this in Michigan and Ohio.

Konica FS-1

Konica FS-1

If your town has a bar and a post office, that's at least something!

Weston, OHIO.  Located within Wood County, Weston has a population around 1,500.  It was founded in 1853, and was originally called Taylortown. Another early variant name was New Westfield. The present name is from Weston Township. A post office called New Westfield was established in 1856, and the name was changed to Weston in 1863. The village was incorporated in 1873.  It sits in an agricultural area about 10 miles W of Bowling Green. It has a large Public Library which serves several other communities with that part of Wood Co.  That part of Ohio is absolutely the flattest place I have been.

Lomo LCA 120, cropped. Kodak Tri-X

I decided to visit Weston while in Bowling Green for a meetup with fellow Film Photography Project menbers on the podcast.  Like I said, I like the name, and headed over there in the morning of Nov. 14.  The main street isn't very long, and most of the businesses and municipal resources are located there.  Surprisingly, the Post Office did not have the name of the town on the front, but it did have the Zip Code.

Leica M2, Fomapan 400 for all of these

Railroads tie many of these small agricultural towns together.  Grain elevators are a common sight.

Weston, WEST VIRGINIA.  The seat of Lewis County, Weston was incorporated in 1846.  In 1818, it was founded as Preston, which was then changed to Fleshersville (ugh!) and changed to Weston in 1819.  The current population is about 4,000.  It's probably most famous for being the site of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, which closed in 1994. It is the largest hand-cut stone building in North America.  Weston is also home to the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia.  

Nikon F75, Fuji color 200

I stopped in Weston in 2024 while driving back home from Pittsburgh. It lies right off US 19, and in my brief stop there, I photographed a few buildings, including the lovely 1930s-built Post Office.  The heyday of Weston was from about 1930 to 1970.  Like many small towns, it has lost population, and is less than half of what it was at its peak. This is not a one-light town. It has beautiful masonry buildings in the main part of the town, and the county courthouse is a brick Italianate design of very modest size.  

Nikon F75, Fuji color 200 

Nikon F75, Fuji color 200 

Nikon F75, Fuji color 200 

There is obviously a lot more to Weston, WV than what I show here.  I think the Lunatic Asylum has tours, which ought to be interesting.

I suppose that if I were about 50, I'd visit every place named Weston and come up with a book. Alas, like so many things, one cannot do everything.  

What Weston have you been to?  I'd love to know.

Photographic Echoes

Did you ever visit a place, take some photos, and then only later realize the significance of that place in regards to another photographer’s body of work?  It’s not like going to, say, Yosemite, fully aware of Ansel Adams’ photographic legacy.  Nor is it like going to New York City, that has been the subject of many photographers.  How about a “small town”?  

First, a little back story.  I have been slowly working on a project about US-23, aka “The Dixie Highway” that stretches from the tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan, through Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and ends in Jacksonville, FL.  I’ve done a fair amount of photography along the way, especially in Michigan and Ohio.  I’ve yet to finish the route from NC to FL. Yet, US-23 runs not far past my house in NC, where it shares the road with I-26 and US-19, so I’m always aware of that unfinished journey.

Hopefully, a project that I'll finish

This past April, I was traveling from a photo gathering in Cleveland back to my home in Weaverville, so I took US-23south, and stopped in Portsmouth, Ohio, which I had been through before.  This time, I stopped to walk around and do some photography - with some examples, as seen below.  It’s obvious that Portsmouth was once a more robust place that had fallen on hard times, but is rebounding now, typical of a lot of previous industrial towns along the Ohio River and in the so-called rust belt.  I’ve been through a few of them, and while some will probably not escape more decline, others will persevere and improve.  Portsmouth seems to be in the “improving” stage, and is also positioned in a place where hiking, boating, and other outdoor activities will attract people.  

As I walked around with my camera, it was obvious that towns like Portsmouth have a lot of history, and my feeble attempt with a camera for a few hours was not going to be enough to reveal much of it.  If anything, the flood wall with the murals on the city side was ample evidence of a storied past.  Just as the flood wall is also evidence of the existential threat of the mighty Ohio, it’s also a reminder that people have overcome many obstacles to create a community.

Something nagged at me though, as if I had read something about Portsmouth or a town along the Ohio River before.  Last week, I realized what that was.  Mary Ellen Mark’s photographs in Life Magazine in September, 1989. “Growing Up at 215 Washington Street, Portsmouth, Ohio.”  I had taken photos of that article with my cell phone when I was visiting my wife’s family in Amenia, NY in 2016.  The text, written by Peter Meyer, is direct, unflinching, and a damning indictment of a country that was ruined by Reaganomics during the 1980s.   It’s always the kids that suffer.   The fact that it was someplace in the middle of the country, and a white family possibly made it connect more to the readers.  Had it been a Black family, would there have been anything other than the usual put-downs by the readers?  This excerpt encapsulates the point of the story:

“The children of 215 Washington Street—Chuck, Mike, Jenifer and Tiffany; Carrie, Mike, Jeff and Jamie—are not alone. At last count 13 million American children were growing up poor—one in every five. Since 1969 child poverty rates have risen from 14 to 20 percent, adding three million more youngsters—enough to populate a city the size of Chicago. From the children at 215, we can get an idea of what it is like to grow up poor in America in 1989. Like most American poor children, they are white, they do not live in a metropolitan area, their parents don't own a house, and their family's income is less than what the federal government says is necessary to survive.”

The 1989 article in Life

1989 Life article

The old tenement 215 Washington Street is now gone, and that series of lots, once nothing but grass, is now seeing rebuilding going on.  I checked through Google maps for previous years, and I suspect that the crappy old apartment building was torn down in the 1990s.  I found this really good article from Ohio Humanities dated 2022, that has some good commentary about that 1989 Life article.  Amanda Page offers up her recollection, and it’s a very important follow up.

2022 Google Maps View of 215 Washington St

2019 View of 215 Washington St

Mary Ellen Mark was an astute photographer, and she exposed the plights of the poor and disenfranchised, especially women.  Her photographs for this article are echoes of Walker Evans’ images of the sharecroppers and their families in Hale Co., Alabama.  So, I guess this story has several echoes, not just one.

After reading that story again, I have to wonder how those kids turned out.   1989 wasn’t that long ago.  Just 34 years.   

Point and Shoot Review: Nikon One Touch Zoom 90s QD

During the transition from film to digital, many different manufacturers produced some very full-featured small point and shoot 35mm cameras.  Nikon's line of One Touch cameras, begun in the early 1980s, continued  with the One Touch Zoom 90s in 2002.  This compact P&S features:

• 38-90 zoom range (f/4.8 - 10.5)
• uses 1 CR2 3v battery
• macro mode (as close as 12 inches) 
• different flash modes (auto flash, anytime flash, flash cancel, slow sync and red-eye reduction)
• self-timer
• QD- quartz date for time/date stamping images
• Set infinity focus with no flash

The plastic-bodied camera in the same sort of champagne-aluminum finish as the Nikon N60 and some other consumer models, is lightweight, attractive, and has enough features for the snapshot shooter.  From Nikon's press release in 2002:

"Not only does it feature a new slightly thinner, lighter look -- the One•Touch Zoom 90s gives basic zoom picture-taking an extra touch of creativity and flexibility, Nikon style. The 2.4x zoom lens lets users frame subjects with ease within a 38-90mm range. Versatile flash accommodates most shooting conditions. Macro mode allows shooting as close as 30cm (12 in.) from the subject. Fully automatic operation makes it especially easy not to miss a photo opportunity, so everyone can enjoy taking pictures more."

That pretty much summarizes the camera's features and market.    From the Nikon site, here are the specifications:

• Lens:  38-90mm f/4.8-10.5,  5 elements in 5 groups
• Shutter speed:  2.6 to 1/250 sec.
• Viewfinder information Image size frame marks (with parallax compensation marks); Autofocus spot; Green LED indicators -- Lights up: Ready to shoot, Blinks: Flash being charged.
• Focusing Activated by lightly pressing shutter release button
• The shutter cannot be released when the subject is closer than 0.7m (2.3 ft.), 0.3 to 0.7m (1.0 to 2.3 ft.) in Macro mode (Macro button blinks);
• Infinity Focus mode available
• Flash fires automatically if the available light is low; Daylight Sync Flash can be activated
• Film speed setting ISO100, 200, 400 and 800 film automatically set.  ISO100 is automatically selected for non-DX-coded films
• Date imprint function (90s QD only) Printed date include Year, Month, Day, Hour, (24-hour cycle with no AM/PM) and Minute;  Leap year adjustment until 2049; Incremental correction of date;
• Power source: One 3V CR2025 lithium battery
• Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 117 x 64.5 x 49mm (4.6 x 2.5 x 2.0 in.)
• Approx. 117 x 64.5 x 53mm (4.6 x 2.5 x 2.1 in.) (90s QD)
• Weight (without battery) Approx. 215g (7.6 oz.);
• Approx. 225g (7.9 oz.) (90s QD)

So, the obvious question is, how well does this camera perform?  It does fit comfortably in a jacket pocket, and I found it easiest to set it at the widest setting of 38mm and lock the infinity setting, which makes it more usable as a sort of street camera.  I did not try the macro setting, but when the macro button is depressed, it blinks to let you know, and the flash goes off every time you shoot.

I loaded a roll of Agfa Vista 200 (made by Fuji) and took the camera with me to the Toledo Museum of Art last weekend.  I developed the film in a Unicolor 3-step C-41 kit.  Overall I think the images are pretty good. Not as sharp as I would like, but I have no idea what aperture the camera uses, since it's all auto.

Overall, I could not find too much to find fault with.  It's a medium-range camera that will give good results, and obviously, the more experienced photographer will find ways to make the best use of the various modes.  The downside is the limited ISO range of 100-800, as well as the top shutter speed of 1/250 sec.  However, considering that I paid 50 cents for it, it was money well-spent. Now, imagine if that was a digicam from 2002 - it would have been about 2.1 MP -- and you would be kicking yourself for not using film at the time. 

The 2014 FPP Findlay Walking Workshop

Last year, I went to Findlay, OH for the Film Photography Project's Walking Workshop.  This year, the FPP WWII is going to be even better, with more attendees, more events, and hopefully, better weather!
There will be a few folks from the Ann Arbor Crappy Camera Club in attendance, too.  The FPP WWII is a great opportunity to get together with other film-shooters, and it doesn't matter if you are a complete novice coming from the digital world, a long-time film shooter, or one of those hybrid types that will use any sort of camera depending on the situation.  Findlay (called America's Flag City) is situated in NW Central Ohio, and while not a large city, it offers a lot of photographic opportunities within walking distance of downtown.  Additionally, the University of Findlay and other nearby colleges have photographic programs which have made the area a local hotbed of film-based photography.  While the FPP head honchos are from New Jersey, it seems appropriate the the FPP WW is taking place in Findlay, where  60 people with film cameras will stand out much more than the urban East Coast.

I keep wondering what cameras I'll take to such events, and it seems that i always pack more than I use.  This time, I am bringing my Mamiya C330, a couple of Nikon bodies and lenses, and a couple of toy cameras...and a Polaroid or two.  That should do it. Oh, and a Nikon 1 digital for snapshots.

Some folks probably wonder what they will get out of a meetup such as this.  Undoubtedly, the best thing is meeting other folks sharing similar interests, and it is a pretty darn nice group of people at the FPP.  I always learn something new, and I may not come away with a lot of great images, but that's not the point.  It's a social and educational event that may well get your creative juices flowing again.

 and now for a chuckle.

Onward To Findlay via US 127.

A week ago, my good friend Abby and I drove down to Findlay, Ohio to attend the Film Photography Project's (FPP) 2013 Photo walking workshop. We decided to go down via US 127 and hit some small towns along the way in NW Ohio.  This post is about the sights along the way, and a bit about FPP. I have yet to finish developing and scanning my film from the trip, so what you'll see here are some digi shots and Polaroids.
US 127 ends (or starts, depending on your point of view) just N of Higgins Lake in Michigan, where it merges with I-75, and terminates in Tennessee somewhere.  We took 127 S from US-12, and were able to visit Hudson, MI, which seems to have transformed itself.  I remember driving through there about 10 years ago, and the main street was filled with dilapidated old buildings with boarded up storefronts. This time, I saw that all of those places had been repainted, updated, and most had businesses of some sort in them.  That is a good thing to see.  With the prevalence of the internet, small towns can be attractive to artists and entrepreneurs, and those upstairs lofts can be used as apartments or art spaces, etc.  Anyhow, one thing in Hudson that captured my attention was the stone arch railroad bridge that crosses Bean Creek E of downtown.  That type of bridge is a rarity in Michigan, and it was used by the now long-defunct Lakeshore and Michigan Southern RR.  The tracks are long gone, but the stone arch remains. Built in 1871, it is a reminder of the amazing workmanship that built the rail infrastructure in this country.

After crossing into Ohio, our first stop  was the city of Bryan.  I am greatly impressed at how many of these small towns that are county seats feature beautiful late 1800s county courthouse, usually in a town square of some sort.  There is a very attractive downtown movie theater (the Bryan) that is still running, which I found pleasing. We didn't walk about a whole lot in Bryan, but the Four Seasons Diner caught our eyes, and we could not resist shooting their sign.  After a little discussion, we both realized we were ready for lunch, and the diner was calling to us.  The diner used to be called Lester's and it has a very photogenic sign with a coffee cup pouring coffee...with lights.  Unfortunately is was daylight, so it wasn't lit up.  That will have to wait for another trip in the dark, I suppose.  Lunch was more than I could eat, but it was very good.  I'm not calling out this particular restaurant, but it is a common theme -- portions are way too big.  I'd pay the same for half the amount of food.  

 

Quite satiated with lunch (I didn't even bother eating dinner that night), we drove S, and found the small town of Paulding.  There is a decaying old movie theater there, but no name could be seen.  Paulding had a nice mural on the side of an old building, which seems to be a common thing in Ohio.  It's certainly one way to add some color. The main street wasn't too bad, but there was some grunge to be seen (and photographed) on the side streets.

Brumback Library

Our next stop was in Van Wert, which has a beautiful Romanesque-style public library, the Brumback Library.  The interior is as wonderful as the exterior, and I could see how spending a few hours reading the paper and and so forth in there would be a nice weekly activity if I lived there.  The downtown has a lot of nice old buildings, we saw an excellent old coffee shop sign.  A classy old hotel downtown was also quite attractive. The weather was getting colder and nasty, so we continued onward to Celina, OH.  Apparently named after Salina, NY, Celina OH is another county seat, with a lovely courthouse with large columns -- unlike the other courthouses I have seen.

A Van Wert institution

Celina seems to have a strange conglomeration of architectural styles on the same block -- perhaps it was someone's idea to recreate an old-world look in a small amount of space?  Anyhow, they also have an extant movie theater (the Celina) which is a good sign.  The town also has a fire house with a rather phallic tower out front.  I didn't look inside to see if it has 3-story fire-pole to go with it.
By the time we were done in Celina, it was time to head to Findlay, so we got onto the highway and drove up I-75 to join our fellow photographers at the Film Photography Podcast workshop.  That will be the next post, so stay tuned.  I have many more shots of the towns, and of the FPP goings-on in my Flickr account, so take a peek there.

one of the many odd Celina buidings.