Sally Mann visits Ann Arbor

Sally Mann lectured in Ann Arbor this afternoon, as part of the Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by the UM School of Art & Design. This was a much anticipated event for me and a bunch of my fellow photographers. Sally Mann, an accomplished photographer that is probably most famous for her long series of portraits of her kids growing up on their Virginia farm -- spoke to a huge, packed house at the Michigan Theater this afternoon. If you are not familiar with her body of work, visit her web site for more information. I really didn't know what to expect. Photographers that present lectures are often content to let the images speak, and usually have some sort of backstory to tell about the images, the process, or the thought that went into making them. Sally's lecture was journey into her past, growing up in Virginia, and her relationship with the black woman that worked for her family as a maid and caregiver. It was a thoughtful essay on how she basically grow up in a culture that was totally incurious about the blacks in day to day affairs, how slavery and segregation has formed the South (and of course, the North as well)and how she has worked in her own way, to repay the debt to her nanny/family maid. There was a lot to think about from her lecture, and the images she did show us were primarily of her family's maid, and then the wet-plate images she has been making of black men at her studio. She was quite eloquent about her feelings of doing portraits, and how hard it is to come away with images that she is really proud of.

I know that good artists work on their craft every day -- that's how they become great. We don't get to see the poor results from artists -- just the finished works that they are happy to finally show. Since Sally is working with collodion, it's a much more pain-staking process, with many variables to consider. Sally's description of her feelings about working on her portrait work made me mull that around in my head long after her lecture.

This was a very memorable lecture - thought provoking, introspective, and educational. I think that if some us came out feeling a little humbled, then that is a good thing.

A Visit to The Mecca in Findlay, OH

On Friday, August 31, Abby and Mike accompanied me on another photo safari into Ohio. Our stops were: Bowling Green, North Baltimore, Findlay, Ottawa, Defiance, Napoleon, and Wauseon. Mostly I shot film on the trip, so I will do a followup post on the photography of the places we stopped after I develop my film. A year ago, Abby and I ventured S to Findlay and some other towns which I blogged about. At that time, we first met Leslie Hunsberger at her shop Imagine That! on E. Sandusky in Findlay. In the past year, I have seen a lot of activity take place in Ohio thanks to Leslie, Matt Marrash and the Film Photography Project folks. It was time for another field trip to Findlay to visit Leslie, so the three of us left Friday morning (if you stick to the 4-lane highways, Findlay is a little over 90 minutes from Ann Arbor).

Leslie has two shops -- Imagine That!, which sells photography-related products and services, and The Mecca -- which is her studio and camera collection as well as store. This is what I love about Findlay -- it's very arts-oriented, with lots of loft and retail space available, allowing specialty places like these to exist. There are many small art galleries, too. Rent in a place like Ann Arbor really stifles that kind of use.

The Mecca is the "film Mecca" where you not only see lots of cameras on display, but they are also being used. Leslie posts here what current models are loaded with film to be used.

We met up with Leslie and Lauren Bagley at Imagine That!, and had a blast at The Mecca talking about photography, film, and what has been going on lately in Ohio. Back at the end of June, there was an event called "Analog Pulse" in Cleveland which was well-attended, and we got to hear about the young people that are using film cameras, and are enchanted by Polaroids. Leslie's film fridge is bulging with Polaroid film, and it would definitely cause legions of 'roid fans to drool...

Needless to say, I was impressed by that film fridge, and I finally bought a package of the Impossible Project b&w Silvershade film for my SX-70. We had a lot of fun looking at the objects in the studio, and here are few more shots from inside The Mecca.

Used Polaroid cameras have had a resurgence in sales, now that the IP film is available AND the Fuji pack film has been getting more attention. Young people are excited to see that image come from the camera. While it's a niche product, it is proof that it still has relevance in photography. It is too bad the morons that bought Polaroid sucked the money out of the company only to kill it and the product line. Leslie showed us the Polaroid 8x10 processor that she bought from Cynthia Davis (of Ann Arbor, manipulated Polaroid fame), and now that the IP folks are once again making the 8x10 film, she is able to use it! Note in the last photo, the cameras that are for sale. Apparently, the Debonair plastic camera is selling quite well, and is a favorite of teenage girls!

Based on what I saw at Findlay, it is possible to make significant sales of film and paper and related supplies if one is willing to try and work with the local colleges, and tap into the "analog camera" segment of today's market. I'm not talking about becoming just another stop on the Lomography bandwagon. It takes some savvy and dedication to sell these things in today's market. If one is able to really make the film world accessible to new users (and recapture old users), by networking on the Internet, working with local groups, and "branding" appropriately, I think it could work in our local area. If brick and mortar stores continue to operate the way they have been used to all these years, then film becomes less relevant and the local clientele suffers, and the store often ends up ignoring film altogether. Making that extra bit of effort to make film stand apart from the digital world could pay off.

We had an enjoyable lunch with Leslie and Lauren at Logan's Irish Pub, and after doing a bit more shooting around Findlay, we said our goodbyes and headed off to our other stops for more photographic adventures. Thanks again to Leslie for being such a gracious host and also for the goody bags! If you are heading to Findlay, you can find The Mecca at 111 E. Sandusky St.

Film Swap Night

On August 6th the Ann Arbor Area Crappy Camera Club (A3C3) did another Dexter Film Swap. The idea is that everyone brings a roll of 35mm or 120 film (or both) - it gets placed into a bag, and people reach in to grab a different roll of film than the one that was brought in. We then split up, and usually have about 90 minutes to shoot the film and then meet at the pub afterwards. The point is to have fun, and use something that we might not have ever tried before. Of course, some of us try to do our best to bring something wacky. Expired C-41 film is usually the norm, but slide film and b&w also get in there. I ended up getting a 35mm roll of the Revolog Tesla 2 film and a 120 roll of Fuji 400 color film. The Revolog films are unique. I think the guys selling the film are exposing the film stock to various static devices, etc., to produce strange and random effects on the film. Thankfully, there are only 12 or so frames on each roll. The Tesla 2 film has lightning bolts! (Thanks, Scott!).

Dexter is a different place to shoot for many of the A3C3 folks, though I confess to photographing there quite a bit. Train tracks go past the Dexter Mill, and if one waits for the Amtrak train at 7:30 pm, one can get a fun shot...though I didn't expect a scene from "Back to the Future" when I took this!

You can see the randomness sometimes coincides quite well with the subject, as in the train. Serendipity Plus!

The roll of 120 was a more traditional ISO 400 Fuji print film, which I shot in my Great Wall camera. I thought I got some decent shots with it. The Great Wall medium-format SLR definitely fits the "crappy camera" category, as mine has some vignetting at the top of the back, and it appears to have a small light leak or flare on the inside. Maybe I will have to make sure all the surfaces are painted flat black.

Considering the challenge of the setting sun, I think I did okay.

The Great Wall is a fun, but quirky camera. The film swap is a great way to do something different and shake up your creative process. It gets people shooting film cameras, and that's what it's all about. The food and beer at Aubrey's in Dexter was good, too.

Argus Exhibition - "Renegades With a Camera"

If you have followed this blog long enough, you know that Ann Arbor, Michigan has a camera museum. Argus cameras were produced here from their inception in the late 1930s to their demise in the early 1960s. A pretty good run for a bunch of cameras manufactured in a small town. The Argus Museum is located in the old factory building on 525 W.William Street (now much renovated, of course) that is owned by C3 Partners and houses offices for ONeal Construction, among others. Although the museum is private, it is open to the public on weekdays from 9 to 5, and by special appointment on weekends. The Argus Museum Curator, Cheryl Chidester, has been quite active in getting exhibitions and gatherings at the museum, and I was quite happy with our 2008 exhibit there. Last fall, the Argus Collectors group help sponsor the Everett Kuntz exhibit at the museum, and it was well-received.

For the next month, there will be a small show from students from Henry Ford Community College, and it's called "Renegades with an Argus." It opened last Friday, August 17, and several of us Ann Arbor Crappy Camera Club members attended the reception. Here is the artist's statement for the exhibit:

Historical Radicalism: Renegades with an Argus Camera
20th century photography cannot be discussed or reviewed, without the mention of the importance of “small camera” photography and the use of film. Before the invention of the medium format and 35mm film cameras, photography was a laborious and expensive enterprise.

In the 20th century, the camera became democratized and anyone could own and record their lives. The Argus camera, made in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was one such camera company that produced these types of cameras.

The Wayne State University 20th century photography class alumni and the Henry Ford Community College directed study class were charged with exploring the idea of “following their muse”. The students were only requested to use an Argus camera as their tool of expression. We used the Argus models: A2b, C4 and the Argus 75. We chose black and white film, color transparency, copper toning and cross-processing techniques in the production of our images.

We let the divine elements of chance guide us in our conversations with our muses and let our muses reveal themselves to us in these visual apparitions.

Many students chose not to perfect their images. They were interested in the “snapshot aesthetic”- to quickly capture and not refine the image- to retain a “pure” image. Others let their muse take them by the hand and explore vanishing small towns and to reveal the life remaining- past and present.

I chose to participate with my students in channeling my muse.

Through the viewfinder of an Argus the sublime was revealed and imprinted onto our hearts. It was then that our images made themselves visible and can now be seen.
Professor Deborah R. Kingery, Ab7102@wayne.edu

My first impression of the exhibit was that it was great to see some students using quite old cameras and shooting film AND producing gelatin-silver prints! Talking with some of the exhibitors, I learned that for some, it was the first film camera that they had used. Imagine growing up in the digital camera age and someone hands you an Argus 75 and tells you to go shoot some photos. I think that is pretty interesting and challenging. My second reaction was that the images represented a wide range of vision. Some images were quite excellent compositions, and others left me feeling, "meh." But that's me, and I don't have to like every photograph I see on a wall, and I expect the same from others that view my work. I think the images were well-presented and flowed through the museum quite well. The print size was perfect for the space, too. The Argus Museum has some limitations for its exhibition space, and it's a pretty intimate atmosphere. Given the parameters of the artist's statement, I think they fulfilled their mission. The show is definitely worth a lunch hour trip if you are in town during the week, and since the exhibit ends September 17, don't delay in seeing it!

Photo Tsotchkes

 Taken at the Columbus Museum of Art. 

It's fun seeing what's out there for gifts for the photographer.  With film cameras seeming so retro and chic, they are often used in advertising and as models for novelties and art objects.  Museum gift shops are often a great place to find obscure photographic-related gifts.  Not that I need any, but I appreciate that they are out there.  As part of the legacy of photography of the last century, old film cameras present an immense variety of form.  The mechanical aspect and solidity of them makes them special, and are often works of art in their own right.  So, wait for the day when instead of seeing a plastic reproduction of a press camera in the gift shop, we see a press camera on a pedestal in the museum.  

The latest cool thing I saw was a mechanical pencil sharpener that looks like a twin-lens reflex.  They almost had it right...but the crank for tirning the sharpening mechanism is on the back of the camera, not the side where it would be for the film advance.  Still, a fun and useful item (if of course, you use something even older than cameras.. a pencil).

Of course, there are those mini keychain cameras that have a flashing LED and make a shutter sound.  Might be something good to enrage mall cops with ;), and the multi-faceted lens in a card that looks like a Hasselblad (which can actually be used to good effect with a real camera).  Some museums  (such as the DIA) have plastic pinhole camera kits.   I think it's all good, and there is something for everyone.. even a $65 Weegee tie. (Note, I know that tsotchkes usually refer to freebies from trade shows, etc., but I think that is an appropriate use here.)