Mountain Portrait

My 4x5" negatives have been developed and it looks like there is plenty of good stuff. That is really reassuring as I had no idea how the pictures would come out. Here is the first neg I scanned. It's very much the kind of image I'm looking for in my Mountain Portrait portfolio. I'm genuinely pleased with it. It's a frontal take on two rather modest peaks in the Valle Gesso, Alpi Maritimi. I love the massive bulk and mineral chaos suggested by the picture. It's very difficult to get a sense of scale. Zooming in reveals a tiny little bulldozer on the road just above the whitish slab of unstable "geröll" in the lower righthand corner. This is the only element that allows to get a sense of the vast dimensions of this natural phenomenon. Also nice is the difference in contrast between the lower and the (hazier) upper part of the picture. All of this I like. A good addition to the portfolio. More to follow.

Back again

After a long break I return to my photography blog. During the month of June I was simply overtaken by work. Early July we left for an uncommonly long holiday, winding our way for more than three weeks through Switzerland, Italy and France. Arrived back home yesterday, refreshed from the many sights, walks and encounters.

I had the Canham 4x5" with me (with two lenses, the standard 150mm and the 300mm) and the Contax Aria (with five lenses: the 25, 45, 60 macro, 135 and 200). I took the Canham (and its inevitable companion, the Gitzo) with me on all our walks in the Vercors, Ubaye and Alpi Maritimi, hoping to add a few pictures to my "Mountain Portrait" portfolio. Most often I had the Contax as well. I was particularly interested in playing around with the longer focal lengths. I haven't been working tele for a very long time and I was curious as to the possibilities they offered in a mountain environment.

There is no denying that my photography practice has moved onto somewhat murky terrain. I'm not considering it as a creative impasse (yet), but there is definitely a sense of friction, a sense of being less in tune with the material and the world around me. So often I have detected a certain hesitation when I unpack the Canham. I am lacking the self-confidence I had over the last couple of years. It's annoying, but it's also interesting. If I take my time to go to the bottom of this experience (which is my intention) it is an opportunity to grow. This blog will help me to explore various pathways - practical and conceptual - out of this predicament.

Picture above: mail waiting to be sorted upon our homecoming, Nikon D80, Sigma 30mm@f2.0