Below the Firmament and the Heavens

What is meant by that?  Basically, the "firmament" is the sky with its weather, and the "heavens" is the space above the earth - or "outer space."  Thus, this latest photography book about Floyd County is beneath the sky and space, but the old biblical "Firmament and Heavens" sure sounds more prosaic.  Given the number of churches in Floyd County, the title is definitely appropriate.

Brethren Church, July 2024. Nikon F3, Ilford HP-5

This latest issue of Monochrome Mania is the result of my collaboration with Russell Young, a long-time photographer, teacher, and polymath who resides in Floyd County, Virginia.  I first met Russ in person in 2024, after having seen an online presence in 2023 of the Appalachian Center of Photography, located in Floyd.  After our first meeting, we both felt like we should have known each other for years.  Russ has been all over the world, held many different jobs, has taught photography, and is an expert in a multitude of subjects.  He received a PhD from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland late in life (2008), with his thesis title being on The Soft-Focus Lens and Anglo-American Pictorialism. His photography often includes the use of soft-focus lenses, and because of that I would call a lot of his work "Neopictorialism."  Russ has lived on his 75-acre farm in Floyd for about 15 years.  

Holga Panoramic 35, July 2024

I've visited Russ several times per year to go out and photograph along the back roads of Floyd County, which has more gravel roads than any other county in Virginia.  The rolling foothills of the Appalachians in Floyd County have been wonderful places to explore with abandoned farms and derelict buildings set in a lovely bucolic landscape.  Another turn on a different road, and you might see a million-dollar home or a horse farm owned by wealthy "outsiders."    Beef cattle and timber are the major agricultural endeavors in the area.  

Russ owns many different cameras.  You never know which one will be on the dash.

Riding around the back roads with Russ has been a great experience - we have become good friends, and being able to stay in the guest cottage at his farm has been a great convenience.  No streetlights, just the wonderful night sky and the sounds of nature. Last year, I thought that we should collaborate on a book of photos from Floyd County, and thankfully, Russ agreed.  He already had a large repertoire of Floyd photos taken in the previous 15 years, and unlike me, was able to photograph in the winter months, and of course, whenever he pleased.  I felt like an interloper, but to me, these were all new sights, and as is often the case, I was inspired by what I saw.  My last photo trip there was in March of this year, and I felt that there was finally enough material to finish the book.

Overalls are the camo that Russ uses to blend in with the locals.

Choosing my images for the book was a lengthy process of "yes" or "no" or "maybe" as I went through my scans from my negatives.  It would have been easy to make this an even larger body of work. However, picking images from the photographs by Russ was much easier.  His luscious images are much different from mine.

So, here we have it: Below the Firmament and the Heavens - An Exploration of Floyd County, Virginia, by Mark O'Brien and Russ Young.  It's 72 pages of black and white photographs of scenes in Floyd Co., Virginia.  The first half of the book are photos from Russ, and the second half are photos by me.  It's the 16th issue of Monochrome Mania, and it's no longer a "zine." but a book.   Because of its size, it's going to cost more than the typical 36-page zine.  I'm pricing it at $17.50, which is fairly inexpensive as photography books go.

May, 2025. Minolta XG-M, Eastman 5222.

It's perfect-bound, 8.5 x 11 inches, in landscape format.  I believe that you will be entranced by the photographs contained within the covers.  You can purchase it from my Etsy store while supplies last. 

Some sample pages:

As I write this, Russ is moving from his farm to a house in Roanoke, Virginia.  It too, has a guest cottage, and I look forward to some new photo adventures with my friend.

Book Review: Between Gravity and What Cheer, Iowa Photographs.

I have long been a fan of traveling around and photographing small towns, and I recently received a new book to review from the University of Iowa Press - Between Gravity and What Cheer. Iowa Photographs by Barry Phipps.  If the title sounds a bit odd, it's because those are the names of small towns in Iowa.   The author relocated to Iowa City from Chicago in 2012, and it's safe to say that the places are quite different.  However, the author began taking day trips across his new state, and in the process, documented the places he visited, in all of the 99 counties of Iowa.  This isn't a travelogue, nor is it an attempt to put the best face on the places he visited.  Barry Phipps' keen eye and choice of using color photographs (for the most part) has resulted in a beautiful and delightful collection of photographs that bring some aspect of each place into our view.  At times, I see echoes of Walker Evans, William Christenberry, Stephen Shore, and William Eggleston. This of course, is unavoidable, and is a compliment to the photographer. Barry Phipps doesn't present the often declining towns in a condescending way, but finds the beauty, the humor, or the strength of the places he visited. Along the way, he also photographed some of the people he met, and the portraits definitely add another dimension to the the richness of the images.  The compositions are excellent and colors are vibrant.  My only quibble is the use of monochrome images on pages 72 and 99 in an otherwise all-color presentation. 

In preparing a book such as this, one obviously has to make the decision "what photo do I use?" If one were simply photographing post offices, town halls, or such, it would be easier.  However, to pick an image (and to make an image!) to represent some facet of a town or county without it becoming repetitive or cliché takes a good eye, serendipity, and the ability to see beyond the obvious.  Small towns in the mid-west are generally not what they were 100 or even 50 years ago.  As large factory farms have replaced the family farm, passenger trains eliminated, local business decimated, and small manufacturing companies lost, many small towns have had a hard time.  It would be unfair to always show the worst, when every place has some interesting aspect, and I think the photographer has done an excellent job in balancing such aspects in his travels.  A photograph may well make you ask questions or make you want to visit.  As a photographer of small-town post offices, I really enjoyed the image of the Gravity post office.  Anyone that has visited a lot of small towns will find resonance with this book, and perhaps it will inspire you to explore your own state or county, and to find something that makes each place memorable.

The author states "The rivers and lines that form the boundary of this state are arbitrary. Nothing changes much in terms of culture or scenery as these lines are crossed, at least not at first. I try to find what is unique to each place. Iowa has all of the things that are in these photographs and not in these photographs, in these moments, these conditions."  I think that is a great statement, and Barry Phipps has provided us with colorful and engaging vignettes of Iowa. Definitely a recommended photography book, and it's all the more appreciated that he shot it on film.

The book Between Gravity and What Cheer. Iowa Photographs is 112 pages, 9x9 inches, and is in soft cover at $29.95.  ISBN 978-1-60938-579-8. Published May 1, 2018 by the University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, IA.

Wassaic, NY

Earlier this month, Adrienne and I went out East to visit family as well as my visit to Yale for a conference. It was a bit warmer there than in Ann Arbor, so I was eager to go out and do some exploration and shooting. We drove over to the "hamlet of Wassaic", which is about 5 miles from the farm house where Adrienne's mother still lives.  I forget how beautiful and wonderful it is to have mountains and valleys, having lived in Michigan for 33 years.  Dutchess County, NY  is filled with small communities and is quite rural over much of the county.  However, its only a couple of hours by train from New York, and Wassaic is the N terminus for the commuter line that goes into the big city.  Located in a valley surrounded by mountains, it is said that the community has the least amount of sunlight as the mountains flank it on the East and West.    Despite its small size, it once housed the first evaporated milk plant, built by Borden in 1861.  That building still stands, and is owned by the Pawling Corporation, which has a visitor's center there.  Wassaic has a vibrant arts scene, as evidenced by the former Maxon Mill, which has been concerted to an amazing artists' space with galleries and studios.  The Wassaic Project looks to be a pretty cool thing, and if I lived nearby, I would certainly look into it.
It was a thawing March day, which was a relief from Michigan's weather.  We drove around and Adrienne also enjoyed seeing things she overlooked while growing up so close by.  It is true that we take so many things for granted when we are young, and going back to a place much later is like seeing it for the first time. I shot with my Nikon F100 mostly using my 24-120 Nikkor AF zoom with Tri-X and Arista Ultra 100 (perhaps Fomapan?).  The film was developed in D76 and scanned.   I am pretty happy with what I got there in such a short time.  It would be nice to go back when things are green and see more.

Gridley Chapel

The Mill

The Mill

yes, a train runs through it.

Outside the old lime kilns

the Mill

Inside the lime kiln

this place just wants to be photographed

inside the lime kiln.

outside the lime kiln

the old Borden evaporated milk plant.  

Projects

About 9 years ago, I started photographing Richard Alexander's farm. He's a retired UM professor, and has a small farm out near Manchester, MI. It's been something that I have worked on in bits and pieces, with the idea that someday, something good would result. Dick will be 80 years old this November, and I realized that I need to go back to his farm and do more photography...

He has a workshop in a small outbuilding (well, actually a big outbuilding, or a small barn, take your choice). I have been meaning to photograph it for years, but put it aside. Now, I have gotten all excited about shooting it -- just so much "stuff" that is fun to explore with a variety of techniques and cameras.


Next, I want to photograph Dick while he's working on some projects in his shop -- he makes some fantastic canes, so maybe that would be a good activity to capture him at. Maybe this weekend.



I think I'm a much better photographer now than I was in 2001, so I'll have to go back through those older sheets of negatives and slides and see if there are things I could do again and improve on. As a documentary project, I'm not sure where I want to go with it, but maybe I'll ask Dick if he'd like to write up some text for some of the images.