ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY IS BACK!

…but did it ever go anywhere? In high school my dad’s work-friend was dismantling his darkroom and sent me basically the entire thing! It was a mish-mash of different technologies, I remember a fair amount of Cibachrome, some instant RC color print equipment, a Jobo!, and small Omega enlarger. It was enough to get me excited to build a darkroom in my parent’s garage and start playing. But, I was pretty random and didn’t get serious about shooting until I was in college. By that time I was settled in on large format black and white!

INFLUENCES

Fred Picker Zone VI was a big influence in my early days. He still has the best approach to the Zone system of exposure which I use for every photo. He also reminds me of a grumpy shop teacher with his North East personality! I still have a binder of all the ZoneVI newsletters.

I also was very inspired by Edward Weston’s daybooks, he seemed like a true artist that happened to be a photographer. In fact a few years back I took a workshop with Kim Weston to see the original Wildcat Hill darkroom.

Of course I admire Ansel’s technical approach to photography as well. I never got to meet Ansel, but have taken a workshop with his primary assistant John Sexton. In the darkroom I rely heavily on all the techniques I learned from these great photographers.

WHY THIS SITE?

Because analog photography is back! I’ve had a personal site since around 2001, but felt a separate site just for my analog photography would be fun to develop. I mostly avoided the industry “switch” from analog to digital in the early 2000’s, but do have an interest in VR photography despite the unavoidable chase for new digital equipment. My hope is to use some of that VR technology to document my analog photography, I think it will be a good mix of new and old technology.

I hope to make this site a useful creative outlet, and gather a small fan base that can help support my work as I move towards retirement. With the state of the Internet today, and its future which doesn’t look that great, I want to cultivate physical things like prints and e-zines, and also in-person experience through meetups and workshops.

I hope you will support my efforts, whether it’s a simple “like” on a YouTube video, a purchase of a print, or a subscription through Patreon, I appreciate you!

Cheers,