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He knew where to start. He had made mistakes, so many mistakes that had made so many things so difficult. But it was all good now. He had overcome those obstacles and now it was time to pass the knowledge, to let others know so that they could avoid those very mistakes. He only needed to figure out how to explain things so that someone like himself so many years ago would actually listen. He had no idea where to start.
I meet with a group of photographers each month who are interested in large format and alternative process photography. Oftentimes I arrive early and go to an area where I can get something to eat. On this particular evening several people were sitting outside Starbucks, and I had to pass this gentleman three times before I was able to get this picture.
It had been an instant, and one she had not anticipated. He came on like a hero, like a knight in shining armor, like a beacon on a dark hill. Not a week into her job she had accidentally deleted all of her files and felt in a panic. He knew just what to do and saved her from sure disaster. And his smile seemed to indicate that perhaps there may be more to come. She started humming a tune as she thought of the possibilities.
Another in my project, The Extras. This is actually the companion piece to my Master Of The House entry, and I might place them side by side at the show in November. As is the case with the other prints in this project, this is a Bromoil print, and as is the case with many other the others, was created through a digital negative in the darkroom.
Almost four years to the day. At first it appeared to be the perfect job – more shoes than she could take in at once. The she could touch the styles and compare them, marveling at their simplicity and their beauty. But then it became pedantic and boring. Long hours, disinterested customers, low pay. Two long years of school finally had changed that and Monday would begin her career. As she left the store she was nervous but confident with her choice.
This is another in my series of The Extras. I am completing the final prints for the show in November and am looking forward to deciding which prints to display. The room is a bit funky, in that there are several walls on which I will be able to group like prints. As some are best grouped as pairs, this will facilitate the sequence.
Yup, nobody knows. Nobody even suspects. If they only knew, they’d be on me in a flash, but I’ve taken all of the precautions, covered all of my tracks, and have hidden myself in plain view. They’ll never, ever know. Hmmm, why is that guy taking a picture of me?
Need less to say, I have no clue as to who this person is. However, I have been having fun coming up with stories about the people I do not know in preparation for my solo show in November. I have put together a small website about the project at GeorgeSmyth.com.
“Master of the House,
solding out the charm …”
Indeed it had been one of those days, but this time the other way around. This time they all crowded around my desk and this time they marveled – marveled - at how I had fixed things. And this was that new girl’s first day, I’m sure she was impressed. As far as she knows this is just another day in the life. Well, this time the bird ate the cat.
“Master of the House
keeper of the zoo …”
This is another image that I am considering for my project, The Extras . More about the project can be found at George.Smyth.com. This is a Bromoil print that was created through the use of a digital negative.
Aaron had seen so many pictures. They were pictures of buildings from everywhere, and they were colorful. Nananny spoke in her gentle way, but Aaron did not know what she was saying. Some of the buildings were very old and some looked happy and some looked sad. He wondered if someday he could go to one of the buildings in the pictures. Nananny’s voice wavered and her words now came more slowly, but he did not understand her. He had seen so many pictures and many were very colorful. One had a sky so blue that he thought that the color blue might look at it and wish it were that blue. Nananny stopped talking and Aaron turned his head and noticed a tear in her eye. He didn’t know what she had been saying, but he had seen so many pretty pictures today that he wondered which one was his favorite.
This is another in my series of The Extras. It is a preliminary print that I will eventually print just a little differently. Each of the images has an accompanying story, but of course anyone can create their own story to go with the image. This image is a Bromoil print that has been created through the use of a digital negative.
It had been three weeks since she submitted her application and today the decision would be made. She had felt confident all along – finishing the project, being satisfied with it, and getting positive feedback from those who didn’t always offer it. But over the weeks she thought of all the things that were out of her control. How would people she didn’t know react? Would they read into it things that she had not intended? Perhaps they were having a bad day – not much she could do about that. Her phone rang. As she read the display that showed the originating number, she knew that the decision had been made.
This picture was taken before the gallery reception of a friend as I waited for the doors to open. I shot holding the camera behind my back as I faced the opposite direction. You can see the back of my head in the window reflection over her right shoulder. This image was captured with my Canon G11. A digital negative was created, and the Bromoil print made from that negative.
And speaking of gallery openings, I will have my first ever individual show at Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland. The reception will be 2-4pm on 7 November 2010. The subject will be The Extras, and the above image is one of the possibilities for the show.
He couldn’t have been less subtle. Of course, that must have been his intention, to end things in such a way that there would be no turning back. She had felt it coming, but even so it seemed like part of her was gone and would take time to recover. She looked forward to getting through the mourning process and moving on to the next phase.
This is another in my series of The Extras, a project that highlights those who are the extras in the movie of my life. I do not know these people, I do not interact with them, and they do not influence me in any way – they are just people filling the screen. Of course, their lives are full and I am but an extra in the movie of their life.
The stories I see in these images have nothing to do with the reality outside of my imagination. Certainly every picture tells a story (sounds like a good song title), but those stories are unknown to me, so my mind fills in the gaps.
This image was printed through a digital negative on my ever decreasing stock of Agfa MCC118 paper.
It had been a long time – too long a time since they had seen one another. Each had stories to tell, accomplishments to highlight and failures to gloss over. Growing up they shared so many things, occasionally fighting over their differences, but always finding a way to reconcile the gap and accompany the other’s presence. But the years had been too long, and the more they talked, the more they realized that the other was a stranger. They both found a way to end the conversation and go on their separate ways.
This is another in my series of The Extras, a project that highlights those who are the extras in the movie of my life. I do not know these people, I do not interact with them, and they do not influence me in any way – they are just people filling the screen. Of course, their lives are full and I am but an extra in the movie of their life.
The stories I see in these images have nothing to do with the reality outside of my imagination. Certainly every picture tells a story (sounds like a good song title), but those stories are unknown to me, so my mind fills in the gaps.
This image was originally captured digitally, then printed in the darkroom through a digital negative. As is the case with all images in this project, this scan is from a Bromoil print.
Traveling in Spain a number of years ago I entered a small town near Gredos. There was a small town center with a few people, and I wandered through it quite quickly. Continuing onward I came across this couple, who had decided to slow things down, and collected the image. I have made numerous Bromoil prints from this image without success, but was finally able to produce something I liked by making a digital negative and working from that. Another, but very similar, version of this image was the Advanced Monochrome Photograph of the Year at the Bowie-Crofton Camera Club this year. In my 18 years in the club it is the first time I have ever received such an award.
