SPRING FLOWERS, TROUT LILY

 

Spring has definitely arrived here in Northern Ontario. The last few days have been exceptionally warm for April. So to celebrate Spring I scanned several older negatives of wild flowers, which I took on my nature walks along my favourite nature trails. The film I used was either Kodak or Agfa colour negative film. I prefer negative film because it allowed me to make colour prints. I always enjoyed working in the darkroom and now I continue making prints digitally of course. 

THAT’S HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN

We are living through dark and anxious times but looking through my files I came across this picture, which I took one Summer visiting Baie Saint Paul in Quebec. I think it is an image, which reflects the words from the poem Anthem by Leonard Cohen .

“There is a crack, a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in.”

STORMY LAKE, ONTARIO

I certainly have procrastinated lately but here anew posting of an old picture I took many years ago of boats on the shore of Stormy Lake in the provincial park in Restoule, Ontario. However I am certain that if you would go to the park, you could photograph an almost identical scene. It is still a very peaceful, quiet 

place with many photographic opportunities. When I took this picture it was a very nice early sunny Spring day. After scanning the negatives I did not find the picture visually very interesting. So using photoshop an onOne I added drama by changing it to a night scene. This added drama to an otherwise rather boring image.
 

DUCHESNAY FALLS, NORTH BAY

 

We are still in lockdown here in North Bay, so I am still exploring my negatives files. It is a voyage of nostalgic memories. When I scanned this negative I wondered why I never printed this image. It is one of many I took on my regular excursions to Duchesnay Falls. It is close to my home and is one of my favourite photo spots. I still like it but , getting on in age, makes it more difficult for me to walk the trails and clambering the rocks.

FOR DAVID BROWN

Another image from my negative collection. I dedicated this image to David Brown, a passionate photographer and , just like me and I am certain many other photo artists , miss working in the darkroom. A unique place to work quietly on creating your images. Of course we follow the same processes while working digitally but we miss the unique intimacy of working in an almost dark environment experiencing the magic of seeing the image appear in the developer tray. 

WINTER LANDSCAPE, SUDBURY

 

Another image from my old files. I took this picture on a little photo excursion to the Sudbury area before the the great landscape restoration. Before the changes the area around Sudbury was quite barren. Actually it looked quite grim and desolate. It is amazing how, since the nineteen eighties, the landscape has been transformed to the point that it will be difficult to find areas as this one I photographed in the mid seventies. This truly is a historic image. 

SNOW LANDSCAPE WITH ABANDONED HOUSE

 Another rediscovered pictures. This time an old house I photographed a few times. The old elm trees are all gone and actually so is the house. I am at an age now where you realize that your camera was really the magic memory box. Every day I discover new forgotten memories. After scanning in these old negatives to can re-interpret these images again.

MINE SITE, PICKLE LAKE, ONTARIO

 

We are under stay-at-home order, which is a good time to search my files for hidden gems. I scanned this negative, which I took many years ago on a trip to Pickle Lake in North Western Ontario. We were driving along a dirt road near a large copper mine. I guess what attracted me was the beautiful cloudy sky contrasting with the textures of the rocks and dirt along the road. The film I used was one of my favourite films Ilford HP5. I still miss working in the darkroom. If you wonder about ofthe height of  this”mountain” well, it was only about 3 meters high.

MINIMALISM, LAKE NIPISSING

 

This image is a reflection of our unusual time of isolation. It reminds me of the minimalist art of the nineteen sixties. It shows a view of just basic elements of rectangles and strong basic colour contrasting with the texture of the railing at the government dock here in North Bay. 

FIREFIGHTER’S HELMET

 

It is quite a lot of fun looking through old files and discovering negatives which I simply forgot about. This negative is quite a few decades old. Actually I took this picture when we just arrived in Canada and I worked for a photographer in Toronto, who did a lot of work for the provincial and federal government. So one morning,on my way to the subway, I passed some firetrucks parked outside an office building. The firemen were busy rolling out the hoses, so of course being a curious photographer I had to take some pictures of course.  I was intrigued by this helmet . You don’t see these anymore and I am certain that they are quite valuable . Thiswas shot using Kodak Trix developed in Agfa Rodinal.

WINTER, LAKE NIPISSING

 

Choosing negatives from my files, remind me of a famous quote by Ansel Adams, “the negative is the score and the image is the performance”. I have to agree with his analogy with music. Each time you make a print of a specific negative you make some subtle and sometimes of course major changes in the interpretation of the negative. A good example is this print, which is made from a old negative but is a very different interpretation from earlier prints. 

LIGHT BEFORE COLOUR

 

The British painter J.W. M. Turner once said light came before colourand as a photographer I have to agree with that statement. Turner of course was a master in painting light and that is one of the reasons I so admire his work. This image is quite old. I made this picture sometimes in the seventees but , because I did not write it down, I simply can’t remember where I took the picture. During this period of isolation and actually compltete lockdown, I gigured this is an excellent time to once again go through my old negatives and start scanning some of them.I came across this negative made with my old twinlens Roleiflex and processed it on my computer. I never printed it before and looking at the result I wonder why I never printed it. It is a wonderful image.

WINTER LANDSCAPE, BONFIELD,ONTARIO

Another picture from yesterday’s photo excursion. Yes it was quite cold with the temperature around -15 C However the sun just appeared above the horizon, colouring the Winter landscape in a beautiful golden hue. Of course it did not add to us feeling warmer but it definitely created a very romantic atmosphere, giving us quite a few nice images.

 

BACK LIGHTING

 What a beautiful Winter day we had. So John, Gerry and I left early on a photo trip. Of course we could not let this day go by without taking photographs. One of the places we visited was an abandoned saw mill. John and I had been there before but of course you always see something new. My first series of pictures were of a large backlit group of old loading facilities. The very pronounced shadows and large shapes made me think of the traditional black and white images by photographers like Edward Weston, Charles Sheeler and the German photographer Albert Renger Patzsch.

WINTER, THE SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

 

As I promised, I will be posting more pictures this year. While we are still in some form lockdown, I look at this time as a good period for reflection. My extensive photo archive is simply a treasury of forgotten images like this view of the South River, which I took two years ago. Using a large matt around the image gives it a new visual perspective. 

BARN, STURGEON FALLS

 

Revisiting some of the old sites I have photographed over the years, you see the process of time. Like this barn, which is slowly deteriorating and probably wil be gone in a few years or maybe has collapsed already  since my last visit. It still has character with its strong textures and patterns.

QUILTED ICE HUT, LAKE NIPISSING

 

When visiting the North Bay art winterfest I took a picture of this quilted ice hut on Lake Nipissing. It certainly is a good picture for these dark times when all of us are living in isolation because of the dreaded  covid 19. But I am certain that this year will hopefully bring us a semblance of normal life again. So lets keep our fingers crossed.

WINTER, LAKE NIPISSING

 

Winter has definitely arrived  here in North Bay and surrounding areas. Many parts of Ontario did not or hardly received any snow. Very unusual for this time of the season. I took this picture at the end of the popular cranberry trail in Callander. A black and white version of this landscape is also quite strong. However the colour version was my final choice In a future posting I might use the monochrome version.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

Christmas Eve and the right time to post a my Christmas image. I chose this image of one of my most favourite subjects, an old maple tree, which I have photographed since the early seventies. So here is my visual 

AGGREGATE PIT, NORTH BAY

 

A few years ago I visited an aggregate business  not far from my home. In the Winter of course, the only landscape is quite stark . everything blanketed in snow contrasting with the exposed, strongly textured gravel and sand. It is a great place to photograph because of the stark simplicity of the landscape. White and black interspersed with beautiful textures and patterns.