How Much Have We Accomplished?
So…how much (or little) has everyone accomplished, photographically speaking, during this pandemic?
OK - I’ll go first: Very little actually. Seems that I’ve been doing mostly home improvement projects/maintenance, and rebuilding my car. Very easy/tempting to give myself a retrospective kick in the pants.
Indeed there have been many nights (typically after midnight) when I’ll wake up and start to perseverate about “wasting such a great opportunity” to create some new work, try new techniques, and/or think up and engage in new ways of promoting my work generally.
But this has been a very strange, often very stressful year, and I guess it would be pretty accurate to sum up this year as having been one of more “acquiescence and acceptance,” than of regeneration and renewal.
More recently though, I have begun processing and printing again - starting with some new work from this year’s single, successful travel experience (our yearly trip to Monhegan Island), and have very recently photographed some still lifes in my basement studio, preliminary prints from which look promising. More importantly I feel freshly motivated…I can feel myself (despite what still lies ahead) “getting up off the mat” once again - and thank goodness!
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
I've made a few images, but not many. I did some printing for my daughter. Tried out a new paper. Started a photo essay, but found the camera I needed to do it was dead, so it's out for repair. I took out an old enlarger from my darkroom and put in another that I've 'souped up'. And my new 10x12 LED light source is almost done.
Not enough printing or imaging, but doing okay at the miscellaneous.
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
I tried out a couple of new lenses on 4x5 at the very beginning, but I haven't even developed them yet. In my defense, we had a death in the family (FiL), and I had to clean up their house, tend the yard, sell it, and move disabled MiL in with us, so I've been busy.
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
I've made a handful of images, but no where near my normal output. We've got wide open spaces out here in the desert southwest so getting one's self out there alone is easy, as long as you stay off the more common trails. Before the pandemic, every so often I'd make multi-day trips requiring overnight stays; nowadays, my destination needs to be within one day drive to and back. No worries though...someday we'll all be back out there doing our thing!
2 Attachment(s)
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
Don’t beat yourself up for not doing enough. This year is traumatic, and even just keep on keeping on without losing too much of your sanity is an achievement in itself.
I read somewhere that the people who flourished under confinement/lockdown/social distancing were only showing how self centered they really are. ;)
They meant it as a joke but still...
That being said I feel like I’ve had a decent year, photography-wise.
No street, no travel... I went all-in on portraits.
A year ago I was a hardcore documentary guy, now I’m just as excited about artificial light and studio setups. It’s just another tool to tell a person’s story.
Just today I built a guerilla studio downtown and shot a bunch of people who have been furloughed because of the second (third?) wave of the plague.
The portraits are to be printed and hung in the windows of the shut down businesses, to draw attention to the human factor of all this, rather than abstract talk of numbers and bankruptcy.
Attachment 209983
A year ago I only used my Hassy with color film and paid to have it souped and scan.
Now I have a fridge full of B&W film and I do processing and scanning at home.
Attachment 209984
One last thing, I started following David Alan Harvey on Patreon.
He gave out 4 assignments this year, which he then critiques.
This is not where my best work this year has come from, but if you’re struggling with setting your own goals and challenging yourself, it’s nice to have these assignments.
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
My progress has been slow but steady. As time permits I bring an old camera out of “storage”, load it with film, and expose. Probably my biggest advances have been on the processing side and I've been processing a lot of film that otherwise would have been sent to a lab. I’m still working full time through the pandemic... staring at a computer and conference calls from home rather than the office. Only extra time I seem to have gained is the time formerly spent sitting in freeway traffic while commuting.
But I’m still waiting to make any “worthy” images!
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
Quite a lot, in hindsight.
Started mixing my own developers and fixer from scratch. Finally worked out a reliable method for enlarging negs onto lith film. Found a good paper and process for vandykes. Played around with macro for the first time. Almost nothing in large format, but quite a lot (for me) 35mm. Progressed with carbon transfer, to the point I can make prints, but not good prints.
Mostly, though, just glad we made it this far.
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
Survival is always paramount. Today listened to an adaptation of Norse Saga. Good advice. Rereading Steinbeck and Speech: “Now is the winter of our discontent”BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Realized I will not be using my trailer and will sell it. It was to be a mobile Darkroom and Camera, 20 years in the making with 2 trailers. National emergencies both times.
I will be home well past the duration of the Plague, hopefully...
Made UVA Print Box, Darkroom is better now. Waiting for another CAMERA!
Time is moving very fast for me, seems like Groundhog Day every day The movie!
BUT I always have a plan. More studio work, working a set today.
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
Very productive in terms for exercise, fresh air, and shooting (film use). I'm still developing stuff from months ago and only scanning/posting things from my very productive springtime and summer.
Not so productive in terms of projects.... I've still got on the backburner the LED enlarger head project. Haven't really printed much. I work an essential business, and we're busier than ever and I come home and while I might be up for developing a batch of film or scanning something, I'm not up for major projects in the evening.
Re: How Much Have We Accomplished?
Somewhat busy, with a winter coming that I am sure I will make the most of my powers to procrastinate. Seriously behind cataloging and storing negatives...need more clamshell boxes for 5x7, 8x10, and something that will work well with 11x14 negatives. I just developed a drum full of 5x7s (taken late October), but have many nights worth of 11x14 negs (from Feb) to tray process. Between storage and development needs, it's cramping my desire to expose more film...but certainly not for going out and enjoying the light.
I am working on the room I use to store and sort negatives. Making room for the various camera systems -- which also entails getting all my film holders back in order. That is out-of-hand. I need a day (or three) of holder cleaning, remarking, and proper storage of holders. It starts to snowball pretty quick.
Then there is the print storage and matting/framing room...can't even cut a mat right now! It would not take long, but it would entail moving boxes into other room(s), and so on!
First world problems...