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Hello and welcome back. Everyone liked the descriptions reserved for the back of the book, so here we go again.
BASKET | ORKNEY, 2008
I love the light and textures and the fact that this was a hard picture to expose for. The range from window to wood was very large. This is the sort of pictorial problem that makes me think of going digital.
CHURCH | HOY, 2008
As you may expect, I made this for the flying angles juxtaposed to all the straight lines. The curve of the door on the right finishes it.
CHURCH STAIRCASE | ORKNEY, 2008
This is another one of those fun things that happens when experimenting with layouts. The original picture is wildly different. Tillman forced me to explain what I saw. Afterwards, we cut it back to this and voila!
GOODBYE SAILER | ORKNEY, 2008
I desperately wanted a nude on the bench. Unfortunately, this was a much more public and trafficked area than the picture looks. So, even if Elena were willing, it was out! When I saw what Erica could do in Photoshop I remembered a Kat picture I wasn't using. I suspect you will see lots of this conceit over the years.
KAT ON BENCH | BATH, ENGLAND, 2009
I went back to Orkney with the full intention of photographing the Neolithic sites. This is the only image that made it. Yes, that's graffiti . . . very old graffiti but graffiti nonetheless. Tells you something about the progress of civilization.
STANDING STONE | ORKNEY, 2008
This is part of a storage bunker. The farmhouse in the distance was probably there at the time of the war also. Very different feelings.
WWII STOREHOUSE | ORKNEY, 2008
This is one of the very few well-maintained boats I saw. It belongs to a government official.
PROW | VENICE, 2009
The time is 21:30 in June. I don't like graveyards much any more that you do but the extreme westerly (left) light was compelling. This is also a manufactured image. We took out a farm on the upper left. This is outside of the church seen in Plates 2 and 10.
GRAVEYARD | HOY, 2008
This is a Scottish rendition of the Hanging Lamps (So Far Plate 28) from the Cairo mosque. Compare them for differences between Islam and Calvinism.
HANGING LIGHTS | HOY, 2008
This is one of my absolute favorites. It took two hours and many exposures to get this right. I love that I was able to clearly capture all the light values but the kicker is the two rop-encased glass globes.
HEARTH IN BARN | ORKNEY, 2008
Ok, here is one of the super winners for the collection. I wish you could see it as Sergio printed it in silver. The lighting drove me crazy but it was worth all the effort. I will return here again just ot photograph the bar on the right.
GHOST TOWN SALOON | BANNOCK, MONTANA, 2009
I felt I needed a postcard. This was a very picturesque and familiar view. I purposefully shot it dark for a little mystery and feeling of older times.
LAMPPOST | VENICE, 2009
We have here very light and very dark. We also have very clearly a description of why we Americans of 2010 would not be happy here. Finally, we have an accurate picture of these good, hard-working people.
FIREPLACE | ORKNEY, 2008
So many stories here. First, this is not a natural picture. Sergio washed this through PhotoShop . . . yes, sports fans . . . I gave in. We took out a lamp in the upper left. We had a great debate about whether to keep an archway in the left. Hope you like the manipulated remains.
STAIRCASE PLUS COIN | ORKNEY, 2008
There are two pictures here. One is about the strong approaching lines coming from the pretty fountain. You figure out the other one.
SHAFT | VENICE, 2009
My Cartier-Bresson moment. I do love the subject matter of the man so small in his surroundings. The repeated and repeated bricks. Then the shadows.
LOST IN READING | BATH, 2009
Not much to add to what you see.
SOUP PADDLES | ORKNEY, 2008
Textures, light and subject. Once again, the importance of the layout of the picture. This was shot square and didn't do much fo rme until I cropped it harshly.
DRYING FISH | ORKNEY, 2008
When the tide comes in, the water runds backwards through the drawinage system and in some places comes out on the street. Tradition dictated that I had to take a picture of St. Mark's Square.
ST. MARKS | VENICE, 2008
The North Sea version on Floating House (So Far Plate 35).
BRIDGE IN FOG | ORKNEY, 2008
For those of you who are paying attention this should ahve "Evvy" written all over it. See Plate 42 for another version. Which do you like best?
STAIRCASE (NEAR) | BANNOCK, MONTANA, 2009
This was the plaza seen from the parador where we stayed. It had been a hospital for pilgrims. I was a pilgrim going back to Galicia where my father's family started.
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA | SPAIN, 2007
More peat smoke. The chair is a classic Orkney design. What's fun here is that Tillman and I both shot this scene and the renderings are so different.
ORKNEY CHAIR | ORKNEY, 2008
All photographic visitors to Venice must do a canal scene. This is mine. I think the laundry adds a certain truthful touch.
LAUNDRY | VENICE, 2009
Please Lord, no more fish.
FISH FIREPLACE | ORKNEY, 2008
The dancing trees was actually a filed image. What I was trying for at daybreak didn't work. But it stayed in my visual memory. Then out came the dancers from the Trout Parade. A perfect match and so much fun and energy. Neither picture works by itself.
FLATHEAD LAKE | MONTANA AND LIVINGSTON MANOR, NEW YORK, 2009
The dancing trees was actually a filed image. What I was trying for at daybreak didn't work. But it stayed in my visual memory. Then out came the dancers from the Trout Parade. A perfect match and so much fun and energy. Neither picture works by itself.
FLATHEAD LAKE | MONTANA AND LIVINGSTON MANOR, NEW YORK, 2009
I mean how British can we get! There were part of the formal gardens at the estate where we stayed.
LOLLIPOPS | BATH, 2009
Note the static against the movement of the wheel. I like the picture but it really didn't work as I wanted. The site was dark, gloomy and somewhat scary, like a b movie when the zombies come out. I don't feel that I captured that .
WATERWHEEL | JAMAICA, 2009
More from the smokehouse. The haze is smoke from the peat fire which is always burning.
SPINNING WHEEL | ORKNEY, 2008
Another attempt to do a "good" postcard. I recommend to exercise when you are vacation and trying to see a picture.
POTS AND ROPE | MAINE, 2007
The single center room for a whole family: kitchen, dining, living, sleeping. Smoke is from the peat fire and it escapes- or at least most of it escapres- through a hole in the ceiling.
SMOKEHOUSE | ORKNEY, 2008
Not quite the junk shop of So Far but fun in its own way. Surely tells you something about Maine versus Japan.
ANOTHER JUNK SHOP | MAINE, 2007
There's not much to add here. This is a wall in the smokehouse.
TWO JUGS | ORKNEY, 2008
Bless Kat for being such a good model. Many years ago this window was used by a great photographer to do a nude. Just the history made this a memorable experience for me.
HOMAGE TO WESTON | WILDCAT HILL, CARMEL, 2009
I am pretty sure that this picture speaks for itself.
HOMAGE TO WESTON | WILDCAT HILL, CARMEL, 2009
Stairway to heaven. The point here is the strong upward motion. I hope you feel a slight ascending tug.
CHURCH | JAMAICA, 2009
I like the sweep of the stairs as counterpoint to the posts.
CANAL GEOMETRICS | VENICE, 2009
Every book is going to have an image bordering the metaphysical. Can you hear Leonard Cohen?
THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY | MAROMA, MEXICO, 2009
While I like the picture by itself, it is important to look at in partnership with Plate 42 on the right. At the risk of sounding like a critic for the NYTimes, the sweeps are translation or transmutation.
KAT | WILDCAT HILL, CARMEL, 2009
The other view of Plate 22. Note the graffiti on the door and wall.
STAIRCASE (FAR) | BANNOCK, MONTANA, 2009
Another one of those gifts from the gods. I was shooting for no more than the shaft of light. Also since many have asked, yes, I purposefully left the plates in.
CROWN OF THORNS | ORKNEY, 2008