Naoya Hatakeyama at SFMOMA

 

Man’s relentless efforts to master the environment. That’s the underlying message I took away from my visit to SFMOMA to see the current exhibition of photography by Naoya Hatakeyama. But there is a twist.

The first images in the exhibition are of expansive landscapes featuring dramatic mountains. The mountains, other than being pretty held no obvious message, they are just “pretty.”

The images I found more appealing were of abandoned and working quarries and were photographed as grand landscapes and had a definite message. From an anthropological point of view they tell a dramatic story of the consequences of the archaic notion, so persistently maintained by human kind, that nature can and should be conquered. Hatakeyama’s work so clearly shows us that the fact that the earth will never bend to the human will is lost yet on another generation.

Hatakeyama demonstrates how this quest of humanity to dominate the very environment that gives it life, is carried out by every means that is violent. The irony is dramatically evident in his imagery of the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. These images share a gallery with a sequence of photographs of quarry blasting, images that capture the brutally violent reality and consequence of the explosions. But still, what these images tell us is that despite every effort by “man,” nothing will ever match the violence of which nature is capable. Nature is the master and there is no such thing as conquering the environment.

Photos: © Naoya Hatakeyama

Food for Thought

REPORTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY

"Conditions for photojournalism have changed dramatically during the last decades. It has receded practically completely into the background as a source of primary information. Gone are the days of the great picture essays like the funeral of Winston Churchill in February 1965. Life magazine rented houses along the parade route especially for the purpose of covering the event from various angles, and an aircraft was chartered to transport the exposed films. One can already recognize the motion picture principle in these reportages, i.e. sequences of still pictures. It wasn't much later that the mass medium of moving pictures - global television - made such reportages superfluous. We now expect pictorial information at the time an event is actually occurring, in other words, live. Life magazine, along with nearly all current picture magazines, has disappeared from the market. War reportages as part of photojournalism were able to survive only because some daredevil photographers venture further into combat zones than the more cumbersome TV crews. Reportage photography must therefore devote itself to other subjects or change its tendencies. This is already clearly evident in photographic competitions. Photographers are developing a more artistic approach or they describe their topics in a very subjective manner. This type of work is finding less and less of an adequate forum in magazines. Often the appropriate form of publication of large works is a book, which will then be reviewed again in magazines. But the style forms of reportage photography have also inspired other categories, for example fashion- and sports photography. In doing so, this type of photography restricts itself entirely to formal depictions. Naturally, the explanatory nature of classic reportage photographers, who for a time devoted their lives to showing certain events to the world, no longer plays any role."

- Horst Moser
(From: "Astonish Me, Surprise Me! by Horst Moser, Leica World 2/2002)

Photo: ©2011 David W. Sumner

Retouching Digital Prints

    One of the reasons I shoot a chromogenic black and white film is so I can take advantage of the Digital ICE feature built into my film scanner. Digital ICE works to eliminate imperfections in a scan such as those caused by dust or small defects in the film’s emulsion. ICE works with film that has a color base, in other words, not with a silver based film. The silver in traditional black and white film scatters the infrared layer created by ICE making it impossible for the scanner to read the image on the film. Consequently, you can expect so see dust spots and fibers on a scan from a silver negative. This often requires a considerable amount of time spent “retouching” the file in PhotoShop.

    When I go back into my archive of silver negatives and select images to scan I usually end up with files that show little white impressions of dust and fibers. No matter how much I clean and blow off the neg, there is usually a good amount of retouching still to be done in PhotoShop.

    For a variety of reasons it is often impossible to get every annoying little spot retouched in PhotoShop. In many cases I don’t even notice these lingering white specks until I’ve made an archival pigment print. Hence my years long quest to find an adequate method for retouching a physical digital print.

    I’ve tried various indelible pens and waterproof and smudge proof inks, but nothing has ever come close to the way Spotone worked with photo paper emulsions. Until today, that is, when I pulled out my set of Faber-Castell grey scale Pitt artist pens.

    These pens are actually brush pens with soft, felt brush like tips about one quarter inch long. The ink in these pens is a water proof, smudge proof, lightfast India ink. The grey scale set includes both warm and cool tones. So far I have found the Cold Grey VI 235 pen the most useful, but the lighter cool grey pens come in very handy as well.

   It takes a very light touch to administer just the right amount of ink through the fine brush tip. But if you have ever done traditional “spotting” with a brush and Spotone you know it takes a steady hand and a good eye to nail that little glaring spot with one delicate tap.

    I use only very matte paper, so I’m not sure how well this will work on glossy or luster papers. I suspect with a little practice it could work just as fine as on the matte paper I use. 

Photos: ©2012 David W. Sumner

Photography is Power

Photography is a skill and a tool that puts a considerable amount of power in your hands. Be conscious of that, use it wisely. A photograph is powerful.

Photographs have the power to shape our social environment. Not every photograph will or even have the potential to change the world. But the sincere pursuit of the medium, with the intent to examine, document and shape our social and cultural world has potential to succeed.

It doesn't take elaborate, expensive equipment or relentless travel. It does take determination, dedication, passion and a compassionate heart. Photography is a practice, a way of life. In much the same way one practices Zen, one practices photography.

The photographer who follows the practice has a social responsibility as a documentarian. He or she understands this and preserves their images; whether they are of images of war, the streets of the neighborhood in which they live or the flowers in the local park as the seasons change.

The photograph is the single most enduring document produced today. Images are remembered when texts are forgotten. Images are reproduced across all media. The power of the image does not diminish.

Photo: ©2011 David W. Sumner

Lee Friedlander at the Fraenkel Gallery

"Mannequin"

Friedlander's images are distinctly graphic in their composition and typically imbued with sophisticated humor and satire. A few of the compositions are simply brilliant. It's also important to note that the images are fun.

His mannequins were photographed very much the same way fashion was photographed in the 50s and 60s: extreme angles, well thought out graphic lines making up dynamic backgrounds - no small task considering that most of the backgrounds to the mannequins were composed from the buildings and structures reflected in the windows separating Friedlander from his subjects.

The prints are well made. They are rich and contrasty - possibly another nod to fashion photography of the last century.

I've never been a big Friedlander fan, but this exhibition, Mannequin, is impressive and a significant body of work for the artist.

A New Spring

Spring ritual, Waverly Place, Chinatown, San Francisco, California. ©2012 David W. Sumner

It pays to troll the KEH web site on a regular basis.

I've been looking at older, non-AI, Nikkor glass for some time. These lenses tend to be quite rugged and the glass elements have a single coating as opposed to lenses made today which have multiple coatings that reduce lens flare and other "undesirable" effects. However lenses with single coatings often render a range of tonality and color temperature that's impossible to achieve with contemporary multicoated lenses. Multicoated lenses also tend to render images much higher in contrast than single coated lenses.

Lately I've been interested in early 105mm and 135mm Nikkor lenses. I've been carefully watching the stock at KEH for some months, looking for pieces in good condition and within my almost nonexistent budget. KEH's grading system: Like New to Ugly, is very reliable. There are times when an item will be rated at the bargain grade because of cosmetic imperfections. The item is actually flawless mechanically or optically but the price is low because it isn't really pretty. Other pieces that are rated bargain grade may indeed have some flaws other than cosmetic but nothing that would compromise image making quality. (For example a while back I bought a bargain grade Nikkor non-AI 28mm f/3.5 for $30. Optically it's beautiful, but the aperture ring is squeaky.)

The other day as I scrolled through the KEH stock I found this Nikkor-Q 135mm f/3.5 lens, with an AI conversion, in Excellent condition for $39. Now here's the key, there were other identical lenses in excellent condition listed that were more expensive, but the fact that a previous owner had performed his own custom AI conversion on this lens made it less than perfect. (AI conversions usually require the milling or cutting down of a portion of the lens' metal aperture ring to accommodate the little tongue on the Auto Index cuff surrounding the lens mount on newer auto exposure capable Nikon cameras.)

For me the AI conversion is a real value. It means I can put this lens on my F100 and it will couple perfectly with the camera's metering system. It took less than a minute of thought for me to click the "Add to Cart" button.

I knew I wanted a lens hood for this lens as I use lens hoods to protect the front elements of my lenses and the hood will help reduce the possibility of lens flare which single coated lenses don't handle well. With a few more clicks I found the appropriate lens hood also in Excellent condition for $7. (A few months ago a camera shop owner here in San Francisco offered to sell one of these lens hoods to me for $15, saying they were rare. His offering was rather beat up and didn't fasten securely when attached to a lens. I'm glad I saved my money.)

This lens was manufactured between 1961 and 1966. It is one of the cleanest lenses I have ever seen, the glass is flawless. The focusing and aperture rings are smoother than those of some of my newer lenses.

Yeah, I'm excited. Vintage Nikkor glass for $46. Not bad.