Brothers

My Grandparent immigrated to the U.S. from a small remote mountain town in southern Italy.  We have traveled back a number of times to spend time with relatives that still live there.  Each time we go we have always enjoyed the people and the old way of life that exist there.  We noticed with a recent trip in 2014 that the little mountain towns were losing their young people to the cities, and the old way of life and culture is fast fading away.  The old people that filled the streets and piazza have died out, and with them went the life and vibrancy that made up the character of the town.  I made this image of two bothers going to work in their orchards back in 2006.  I stopped and talked with them in my best broken Italian.  I noticed if I told people my last name I was instantly accepted as a member of the community, and it made photographing people an easy task.  Last month I walked the empty streets and felt sad with the loss of the people and the traditions that will be gone forever.  I feel fortunate that I was able to capture a little of this life and culture with my camera.

https://www.summerinitaly.com/guide/ottati

Amos

I lived most of my years in a small rural town in western N.Y. near the Pennsylvania boarder.  It is a region of the foothills to the Appalachian Mts.  The area offered a diverse culture of quaint small towns and backroads full of old country folk.  I made this photograph back in the 80's with my view camera using Tri-x film.  It was after sunset on a summers evening when I made this image of Amos at his home.  He is the last of a hillbilly family that lived in the area.  His one room shack never has had electric or running water.  He grew up there with his brother, and parents.  The family walked everywhere they wanted to go and it was a good eight miles or more down to our little town.  I remember pulling up to his house as he was sitting there, and thinking I hope I can make his photograph.  I had seen him many times over the years but it is doubtful he ever knew me.  He was friendly and was glad I stopped by to chat with him.  Driving away I could only imagine how lonely it must be for him being the only one left of his family, and not to have modern day conveniences that we are all accustomed to.  This image has some softness to it but is barely noticeable in a 11x14 print.  The scan of the negative has magnified this condition and doe not look as good as the original print 

Bob Wills and the headless horse

A number of years ago I was was out driving around photographing near my home town when I came across a strange sight of a man with a headless horse on the back of his pickup truck.  I was curious and pulled in to talk with him and hopefully make a photograph.  His name was Bob Wills and he acquired this horse a few months earlier and was planning on storing it in an old one room school house he owned. He said I showed up at the right time because he needed help getting the horse off of his truck.  The horse had cast iron legs and was quite heavy.  After we got the horse off the truck I asked if I could get a picture of him with the horse in the doorway before we moved it inside.  He was happy for my help and accepted my request.  I setup my large view camera and made a couple of exposures.  I asked him how did the horse lose it's head and if he had it.  The story he told me was that the horse originally came from  Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua,N.Y. ( now a NYS park), and that he bought the horse without the head at an auction.  He said he contacted the original owners and discovered that they still had the head to the horse but were not willing to give it up.  They were hoping he would give up the horse to them.  Years later I went by the old school house. stopped and looked inside to see the headless horse still standing there covered in dust. It was apparent the horse and it's head were probably never going to be reunited.

http://www.sonnenberg.org/

http://nysparks.com/historic-sites/36/details.aspx

Corn Lily #5

Working in low light and a long exposure to create a blend of light and form.  An image from my corn lily series.

Corn Lilies

In the springtime back in upstate New York, I enjoyed going out in early evening and photographing the young corn lily plants along the river.  I would setup my large view camera just after sundown and prepare for a few long exposures ranging from 5 to 10 minutes in time.  The need for such a long exposure is required because of the small f-stop needed for close up work with a view camera, reciprocity failure of the film, and the slow film speed I liked working with. The light is very soft at this time of day and the leaves of the plants take on a wonderful glow from the low ambient light.  There is a real challenge to photographing in low light, but with experience it can render some very rewarding images. The slightest breeze during the long exposure could ruin the image.  Many times I would be several minutes into an exposure and a gentle breeze would come up just enough to make the leaves rock back and forth.  Knowing that the first signs of movement would not be recorded in a long exposure, I would cover the front of my lens with the dark slide from my film holder and wait for the the breeze to stop.  Once the plants stopped moving I would continue my exposure and add any extra time I thought may be need because of the failing light conditions I was working in.  The soft light with the added benefit of increased contrast in the negative due to reciprocity failure of the film is a great advantage when photographing basically a mono toned subject like plants.



http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/False%20Hellebore.html
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/veratrumviri.html

Castle Creek

This image was made in 1994 with a 4x5 Linhof view camera.  I was in Snowmass Colorado at Anderson Ranch working as an assistant to John Sexton at one of his workshops.  The workshop experience provided a chance to visit some great locations as well as interact with students.  I have always enjoyed photographing in low light and using a long exposure.  When working with film and long exposures, film has what is called "reciprocity failure", where the film doesn't react to the available light as it would during a normal daytime exposure.  To compensate for reciprocity failure an increase of exposure requiring two or three times the metered reading value of the scene is needed to get proper density on the film.  As I recall the meter reading with a spot meter of this scene was 25 sec. at f16.  To compensate for the low light I gave an exposure of 60 sec. at f16.  To be able to photograph in low light situations is a great advantage.  The shadows are much softer and with greater detail than if the scene was photographed in harsh mid day sun.

http://www.johnsexton.com/schedule.html
http://www.andersonranch.org/
http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=021501CC&CU_ID=1

The wave

This is a hard image to convert to Black and White.  The color of this area is over powering and it is one location that I prefer the look of color for the final image.  This location is in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. It is called Coyote Butte and is in a section of the Praia Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness area.  It is a strictly protected area and it requires a permit to hike into this location.  It is a fabulous location for seeing a rare sandstone formation.  It is best to hike in spring or fall because the summer and winter temperatures can be extreme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_Buttes
http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/the_wave.htm