City scapes

Fortunately, I have had the chance to see the world.  Every time I have traveled, I've taken one or another type of camera with, and recorded some sights I considered typical or at least representative of the places I've been.  These are my city scapes.

DeKalb has a nice corner (in a photographic sense, the place is anything but nice) in Sixth and Lincoln, where a large lottery ad can be seen from a distance.  I saw it photographed a long time ago, in a rather big print, presumably done in medium or large format, and liked it a lot.  This is my own version of it: the pick-up truck, the man getting out of it and the lighting speak of loooong summer afternoons to me (M6TTL, 35mm Hexanon, Scala ISO 200).

Getting out of DeKalb, we go to Chicago, whose streets have lots of personality but not always look good in photos.  Here is the Artists's Café on Michigan Ave, in a tilted version á la Winogrand (M4-2, 35mm Hexanon, BW400CN).  Looks to me like very much a Chicago place, yet the woman in the large sunglasses adds a weird, cosmopolitan (I'd even say Parisian) air to the scene.  I must print this one in a larger size to enjoy all the people who appear in it.

Lastly, Barcelona, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, because it conjugates both, a distant and a not so distant past in wonderful harmony.  This balcony is at the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic), and even though it was taken in 2004, the fact that I used a 1936 lens gives it a strange flare that does not detract from the scene (at least, not to me).  There's something timeless about the pidgeons in this shot... and it's one of my favorites (M6TTL, Elmar 90/f4, Scala ISO 200). 

More to come later! 

Street photograph=people shots?

Here comes the question of the week: are people necessarily part of street photography?

Some have said that street shots should document the streets.  To me, the streets are nothing without people.  Those who think otherwise can take a peek at the Atget photographs of Paris and decide on their own. 

Here we can see some examples of people in the streets of Chicago; the first shows a group of people looking up... all of them, at the same time!  Why?  The Air and Water Show (and the Blue Angels hovering over town... quite noisily).  Then, a young couple having their picture taken in Millenium Park (some family history started right there and then).  The following one shows a man who plays chess with multiple mates not far from the Art Institute, and the second portrays two fellows in wait of customers for their tour of Chicago in an open bus.  Both are street scenes, both present the life in downtown, what those who live in the Loop see every time they step out of their apartments.  These are the images that won't be remembered easily.  Sometimes I wonder what would Chicago look like on the screen, just in case someone in the year 2080 wanted to film a movie set in the Loop in the early 21st century.

They'd need my photos, of course!

Images and Politics

Let's talk about something different today.

How about photography and politics?

The photographs above may be seen as showing my political leanings... to a certain extent. One can see politics in the energetic stance of the young people in the first photograph, participating in a demonstration to protest the bombing of the Atocha train station in Madrid, on March 2004. I was in Barcelona when this occurred, and saw the entire country grind to a halt... with indignation, stupor and disbelief. While I was in the streets, decided to photograph the demonstration against the terrorist attack, I was feeling like a journalist and wanted to capture people doing what these young students are doing here: showing their rejection to terrorists tactics. However, with time, I've come to like this image because I would have liked to be there, standing along with them. Instead, I was on my knees, with my M6TTL loaded with Ektachrome ISO 400, trying to get as much as possible with my Hexanon 35/f2.

Now, I understand it better.

Then, there's the perennial protesters in Chicago, the ones that have been on strike for the last five years, parading in front of a well-known hotel south of Congress (on Michigan Ave). They are tired, their protest has turned into a routine, it seems to have lost its zest, they appear to be there out of habit. The hotel administration, however, won't relent or listen to them. Now, they are a fixture of the landscape, fodder for tourist pictures that will show abroad that America ain't the stuff dreams are made of.

And, speaking of the making of things, this photograph was taken with my M4-2, the same lens used for the photo above, and black-and-white film.

Finally, our local protesters. Ever since the current administration announced its intentions to go to war in Iraq, these people began protesting against it. They already were known as vocal demonstrators (in a subdued, Midwestern way) for their weekly stands in front of the DeKalb memorial monument every Friday, but with the war and its developments, they have grown... unlike their counterparts. Their ideological opponents stand next to a traffic light, across the street, and waive a flag while calling the protesters names. Usually it's a middle-aged and pudgy couple, sometimes accompanied by a thin girl with braces. At times, it's only the man. He bellows and screams and, frankly, is so scary I cannot muster the guts to photograph him.

BTW, I used my M6TTL, Hexanon and T-Max ISO 100 for this photograph, which was later incorporated in the archives of the city of DeKalb in 2006, as part of the DeKalb Streetscapes Project. In short, the image no longer belongs to me, but to the city. They were generous enough to give me copies, though...

All these events and circumstances make me wonder why and how did this country become so polarized... but while I may not have the power to question it or the guts to participate in the debate, I do what I can do better: photograph these actions so that they document the national mood for the days to come.

Now, given the way the powers in office have trampled over basic reason and common sense, will the eyes of the future bother to learn from the mistakes of the past? Probably not, because our current leaders haven't done it either.

Bleak future, indeed...

Oh, well, there are other, more immediate things to worry about, and we'll get back to them later. So long!

Chicago images

Made with my M4-2 last Saturday, August 16th.  First, customers at the famous Lou Mitchell's, a Chicago institution, where gentlemen waiting in line to be seated receive a doughnut hole, and the ladies get Milk Duds.  Then, there's this building maintenance crew in Chicago, near Jackson and the Union Station.  

This city has one aspect I like: it's always active, but without the hustle-and-bustle of other, larger towns like NY (which feels messy).  However, there's a paradox here: while NY seems dirty and messy... it photographs beautifully!  Chicago, an architectural gem, clean and active, doesn't seem that photogenic.  

Go figure!

New Images... this time in BW400CN

Thursday, August 14th... I loaded the M4-2 with BW400CN film and went to the Farmer's Market in DeKalb.  Here's what I came back with: a nice series of people shots exposed with the lens as open as the light allowed it (mostly at 1/1000, between f5.6 and f8).  The baker admired my camera while his customers silently shopped.  I couldn't help to tell him that what he called an "antique" was actually made in the seventies.  I guess the idea of antique pretty much rests in the eye of the beholder.

After the market and doing some errands, I returned home.  Later, we played with our cats.  Mimi was especially receptive...

On Saturday, we took the train to Chicago in the company of Corina, a colleague from Argentina.  We went for lunch at Lou Mitchell's, a Chicago institution, when I suddently ran ouf of frames. 

At least not all was lost: I had some spare film.

More to come soon!

Two More

Part of our daily routine: Frances, my wife, has to fuss over Ben (M4-2, Fuji ISO 200, 1/1000, f4).  He's the oldest cat we have.  The young one is below...

her name is Mimí, and this shot (1/60, f2) was taken right after the one posted yesterday.

Today, even though we had a beautiful day, I couldn't go to downtown to photograph something because there was a lot to do around the house.  Hopefully I'll be able to shutter away later.  The film in the camera right now is B&W, and since it's chromogenic, I expect to get it processed quickly. 

My own processing has been hampered by a number of circumstances, but soon enough I'll get back to my (intended) routine of working on this at least once a week. 

In the meanwhile, when I'm not reading or writing, I'm scanning or tinkering with this blog.  It's still kinda fun, let me say.

TTYL!

Not a masterpiece but...

Not a masterpiece, granted, but it's one of the first photos I took with this M4-2.  

More to come soon!

In the meanwhile, this is Mimí, our young cat and less patient model.  Since I had some Fuji ISO 200 in the camera, I decided to meter it like ISO 400 but with one stop on the plus side.  Hence, this is at 1/60 at f2.8 with my Hexanon.  In a larger copy you can count her whiskers...

Now, after burning that first roll, I loaded some Kodak chromogenic film (the BW400CN).  I recall having used it a long time ago, when it came out first, and then lamenting its demise.  Apparently, Kodak brought it back last year, and I was happy to find it as something like $4 a piece in my local Walgreens. 

So, either on Monday or thereabouts, we'll have some B&W shots from this M4-2. 

So long!

Feeling cyber frisky

Here comes a little surprise...  I'm playing with the stuff I have in Flicker (didn't quite work out) and this blog.  I'll try again later.  

In the meanwhile... an old photo from December 2007 (is that really old) to illustrate the blog for now.  Like the preceding one, it was taken with one of my Leica M6TTL bodies, and my Summilux 35/f1.4 lens, with Arista ISO 400 film, exposed at ISO 1600.  I souped it for 15 minutes in T-Max.  And the PS adjustments were just in size, which makes me very happy...

I'll get the first photos from the M4 2 tomorrow.  

First Pic... of the camera!

Here, to the left, is the new acquisition, sporting a Konica Hexanon 35/f2 lens.  Yes, it's loaded (Fuji ISO 200, supermarket film) and I already burned some 10 exposures (I'm at home and there's a limited number of photos to take). 

Oddly enough, I don't miss the meter.  Is this normal?

Back later with more news... and pics.  As long as there's a one-hour lab open until late, there`s hope.

Camera Home!

Well... the Leica M4 2 just arrived today.  It will join my M3 (seen on the right of this text) as the second meterless body in my inventory.  I had to clean it a bit, and will have to send it out for a CLA but let's see how much the film advance lever becomes more pliable, and how long it takes.  Right now, after a few silly dry shots, it's beginning to act as it should.  This camera must have been dormant for a while. 

TIme to load some film and burn it.  We have a gorgeous afternoon, so methinks all the photos will be at a fairly small aperture.  

BRB!

Wow... that was easy

Now, kind potential readers... why do you blog?  What's the purpose of it?  In fact, while I can see the sense of a photo blog, it boggles the mind to think of any other type.  Although, now that I think about it, the ones I've read occasionally work as ranting spaces (like the one by a waiter with all kinds of stories of bad customers).

How does one publicize a blog?  I'm an academic.  If we blog, we keep it under wraps.  That's not, say, expected.  It's not frowned upon either, but it's similar to, say, a ballerina that watches soap operas: it's not really bad, it's simply unexpected.

I believe there are people in this profession who blog.  But then, I'm sure they teach English.  I teach Spanish, but the last thing I want to blog about is my teaching.  Good that I still like the literature I teach!  

Be that as it may, I must go to bed thinking about this whole blogging business... and also it would help to bookmark it.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of things to talk about tomorrow, as I stew in my own impatient juices waiting for the silly camera that works as a pretext for this blog.

So long!

First Entry

Pretty much on impulse, and in the impatience about waiting for my Leica M4-2, I started this little blog. Much against my inclinations, mind you, as I really aren't into blogging or anything that may seem a commitment with a hobby.

However, given that my camera is still somewhere between New York and Illinois (where I live) and I frankly cannot wait for it to come, I googled it (for the upteenth time) and found Andrew Nemeng's Leica FAQs website with a nice section on this camera. In that page, it also said that there used to be a blog named after this type of Leica. When I clicked on the link I learned that the blog had been canceled, and that the name or domain was available. "Do you want to register it" my computer asked.

Why not?

So, here I am.

Of course, since I still DO NOT have photos with this camera, my blogging will remain circumscribed to what I have done with my other cameras. And, of course, to what my potential readers may say about my work.

Funny... I barely read blogs. In fact, I didn't like the idea of keeping one. But now I started one out of sheer jumpiness.

TIme to learn!