Trees from an Imaginary Memory

Zero Image pinhole taken May 2014

For whatever reason, this forested path reminds me of Russia. Not that I've ever been there or that the trees are the same trees you'd find there. Perhaps it's the result of having read so many Russian novels. There were frequently dachas described in the books (especially in Tolstoy), so perhaps this is the image of the environs surrounding the dachas I imagined while reading.

It's interesting how I create "views" for settings I read about in books. In a lot of cases, the imagined location actually has nothing to do with the book. Perhaps it's a location association built from the era in which I was reading the book and my daily travels. I remember associating a particular corner of 42nd St. by Grand Central Station in NY with Faust. Obviously it had nothing to do with Goethe's novel, but perhaps I think of that corner because I was frequently in that area while reading the book. Then again, I associate a particular scent from my childhood with pharmacies (actually a very pleasant smell...not medicinal at all...I can't even describe it). I know that Proust talked about scents triggering memories so maybe it's all part of the same apparatus of building memories - places, descriptions, scents, flavors - all tucked away in obscure areas of the brain to be triggered by what appears to be random.

So this photograph is my triggered memory of a place I've never been. An imaginary memory.

Georgia likes baked goods

Georgia at the Rocking Horse Bakery, Winthrop

My friend, Georgia was a good enough sport to sit for this pinhole portrait. I can't remember how long I made her sit still, but I think it was about 2-3 minutes. Taken with my Zero Image pinhole when I was in Winthrop, WA a couple weekends ago with my mother.

Georgia is a big fan of baked goods which is why this post has the title it does.

Bean Plant

Bean Plant - Othello, WA

Shot with a Zero Image pinhole box camera on Worldwide Pinhole Day 2014.

My photo for Worldwide Pinhole Day

Lower Crab Creek Road, Washington State 4/27/14

Worldwide Pinhole Day was a great success (I only speak for myself since I have no idea how anyone else feels about it). We drove to Eastern Washington and took photos along the Lower Crab Creek Road, which is located in the Channeled Scablands. If you've never seen the Scablands and you live in Washington, you should change that right away. They are beautiful, geological wonders that were created by the great Missoula floods which took place in the range of 13,000 - 18,000 years ago.

The weather was incredibly beautiful on Sunday. Blue skies and big poofy clouds that created interesting plays of light and shadow on the landscape. I took the image above using my Zero Image pinhole camera and TMAX 400 film. You can see the piece in the Pinhole Day gallery. It looks surprisingly good for an online gallery. If you go there and then search for photos from Washington State, you can see works by other pinholes, including my friend, Karen Howard.

Wander around the gallery site a bit and you might get the inspiration to join us next year for Pinhole Day.

Museum of Glass Pinhole

Museum of Glass - Tacoma

Yesterday, I took advantage of the nice weather to run over to Tacoma to test my pinhole camera. The Zero Image had been scratching my negatives but I was blaming it on the lab that processes my color film (I haven't been shooting a ton of black and white, which I process myself, so I hadn't realized the problem was my camera). (Sorry, lab processor, for thinking you had dirty film spools.) I added a little gaffer's tape to the contact points between the camera and the film and, voilá, problem solved. This means I'm ready for Worldwide Pinhole Day on Sunday. Hurray!

Pinholes and rain

Double sunflowers

Just a reminder that all the rain we've had here in the Pacific NW brings beautiful flowers and that Worldwide Pinhole Day is on April 27, 2014. This pair of photos was taken last summer with my Zero Image pinhole camera. I'm finally getting around to developing a number of exposed rolls of film. This set of pinholes was included in one of the rolls.

Get out and take your pinholes next Sunday!!

Recent pinhole

This photo was taken with the Zero Image pinhole camera. I took it in the Tide Flats area of Tacoma. I especially love the glowing amber color that can be seen inside the pipes.

Another pair of pinhole images

Yesterday I posted a couple Zero Image pinholes that were part of a series of pinholes of people reading. Here are a couple more from that same series. Bridget is my subject this time.

I especially like the second picture since you can see that she's got her hands resting on an anatomy book that's opened to an illustration of the arm.

Zero Image pinholes

A while back I took a number of portraits of my friend Crysta. In addition to color film and digital shots, I also took some black and white photos of her. I subjected her to a couple pinhole images. Fortunately, she didn't need to sit long since it was outside on a sunny day (in the past I've forced people to sit still for 20 minutes for a pinhole that didn't turn out...brutal!). Now that I have an Epson Perfection V750 scanner, I can actually scan my larger negatives at a much higher quality (oh happy day!!).

In honor of my new scanner and Crysta, who said she was most interested in the pinholes, here they are.

This is part of a project I've been working at off and on...pinholes of people looking at books. Sometimes you can see the pages in motion. Sometimes less so.