New York Diane Arbus at the Park Avenue Armory

Off-topic again. Spank me. LOL.

So I have to choose between a SL3-S (24 MP) and the SL3 (60 MP)

My SL2 has 48.7 MP and the SL3-S is less costly.

In the past, before the SL3 release, I considered a SL2-S. 48.7 MP is overkill, and I know that the size of the pixel is more important that how many.

The SL3-S has it’s advantages… so does the SL3. Hmmm. Something new to obsess about…

BTW in the SL2 Focus Group we asked for an articulating rear display, but that did not happen. Glad that the SL3-S and SL3 have it.

I have on hand a leather Oberwerth camera bag that is styled like a book bag/saddlebag that could hold two fully rigged SL sized rigs with the monster sized glass. Right now I guesstimate about 25 pounds, so add perhaps 5 pounds for a payload of 30 pounds to tow around.

If I get down into skinny-bitch mode (under 155 pounds) I’d be towing around 1/5th my body weight to be able to brag that I truly am a tough guy from Brooklyn. I’ll go weigh my present kit of one SL body and 2 lenses on my digital luggage scale, and I’ll report back my findings.

Know I own the APO 35 Cron and the 50 Lux in “L” glass. Kinda dumb, but a trademark of mine is shooting either big cameras, carrying more than one camera, and kinda making photography a gym membership.

I don’t know who coined the phrase “Death-March” for the weekend shooting forays. Kinda 10-15 mile walks, even on high heat index days. I kinda remember Promone who has the genes for tropical humid climates was worried about me. Our walk started in Blissville a kinda desolate local with only a few houses and a deli/bodega.

The day was an extreme heat index, and Promone was worried about my safety because of my age, but I was clear with Promone that at 150 pounds at 5’10” I am no hero, and if he passes out from heat exhaustion that kinda I really have no choice but leave him for dead. LOL.

It did not take long before we had to head back to that bodega in Blissville for life support. Promone was suffering from heat exhaustion. Know that I use to race bicycles, and as an endurance athlete I know my body.

Anyways we did dumb things… We are photographers. LOL.

Cal
 
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One of our friends was Andre. He has a photographic memory and annoyed me because he could get perfect exposure without any light meter. I am mighty jealous.

Andre shot the square, and he either shot what he called “The Ugly” meaning urban decay, or these abstracts that kinda reminded me of the work of Mark Rothko the Abstract Expressionist painter.

Andre’s skill was annoying. LOL.

So pretty much John, Andre and I would venture a lot into the Bronx. The key was leaving shortly after lunch, but starting very early to avoid the “underworld” if you know what I mean.

Anyways, these were the good old days…

Cal
 
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Calzone said:
John kinda ruined my surprise secret weapon.

The SL2 can change format and in the VF’er you only see the square. Basically the 48 MP camera becomes 32 MP and you loose about 1/3rd of the pixels.
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Sorry. 🙂 My Fuji is 50mp and the Square turns it into 37mp. About a 20x20" print at 300dpi. I am ok with that. I´ve even started doing B&W on that camera only now.
 
My friend Tim will likely be attending this event. Warning is that he is a guitar player and not a photographer.

This is a guy who had me worried one summer because he disappeared. I though perhaps a former girlfriend’s husband or boyfriend took him out, but I would later learn in the fall that he was living with gypsies in Belgium who are descendants of Django Reignhart learning and playing gypsy guitar.

I have known Tim since he was 15. I was working at a guitar shop and someone was playing all different styles of guitar and had a feel for all of them. I went to see who this great player was and I saw this kid. I asked him how long has he been playing, and he replied only a few years, and he confessed that he really was a drummer.

Pretty much I felt sick and felt like going home and smashing all my guitars.

Anyways here is a guy with talent.

Cal
 
It will be interesting my state of health because radiation treatment starts next week.

I am already about half strength because of hormone treatment (fem-out) which is a side effect of this treatment. Then compound that fatigue with accumulated fatigue layered upon the tiredness and lower energy level I already have.

Quite literally I am half the man I use to be as far as strength.

In my case I’m getting 8-weeks of radiation, and know that generally Prostate Cancer only requires 4-6 weeks.

The hormone treatment is generally a year to 18 months, and I’m being given 2 years.

Know that Cancer does not run in my family, and genetic testing confirms this.

Know I am doing what I can as far as exercise to combat the usual side effects of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and weight gain that are the usual side effects of my Cancer treatment.

Also know that I am now living with a compromised immune system, and pretty much this will likely be the only new Meet-Up this year. Next year I pushed out the Camera Beauty Contest to late March or April because contracting Covid or the Flu would be rather severe for me.

I’m going to battle my Cancer physically through exercise, but the toll will be increased tiredness. I need to do this to prevent other diseases that will shorten my life. The prognosis with the Prostate Cancer though seems very positive. My worries right now are these other diseases that will take me out.

Cal
 
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Had my first radiation treatment today. I did well and held an uncomfortable full bladder for the length of the procedure.

This show I kinda take as a somewhat Diane Arbus retrospective. The $45.00 ticket I think is worth it.

Of course I was influenced by her.

The 19th is coming up soon.

Cal
 
Wow, I feel like I need a nap.

My research suggests that radiation treatment can cause fatigue, but usually not so in the first week.

Evidently tumors release some chemical that leads to fatigue, but counterintuitively exercise can somehow reverse the fatigue. Perhaps this is due more to blood flow rather than anything else. Hmmm.

The severely discounted neck got delivered today, and I am mighty pleased. Didn’t really pay for the flamed maple figure, the Tusq nut, and the “D” profile upgrade. Add in also a 9.5 radius, which is what I wanted. Seems like the neck is quarter sawn also for strength and stability. This I can tell already is a great neck.

Fast players generally like flatter radius’s. I kinda play chords up the neck, and the rounder radius supports that. A flatter radius also is best for bending, but then again I tend to use 11’s and 12’s for sustain, warmth, and better tone. My bending is rather limited to either a full-step or a half-step.

This neck seems like a gift from heaven… I am very pleased.

I have some vintage 1960 Fender Tele pickups that need to get rewound. I have a friend who winds pickups. I’m in no rush to build another Tele because I have many.

The alder body is a one-piece. Lots of cherry picked parts are going into this Tele, and I’m thinking of adding a “tummy-tuck” and a “forearm contour” to add comfort and loose some weight.

I’m tempted to add a Bigsby, but the costs add up rapidly.

It seems the grandson’s job is to eat all my food.

Cal
 
Next Saturday is this show.

450 prints is kinda like a retrospective. I’m curious about how the show was curated, the IQ of the printing, framing, and the size of the prints.

I wonder if the print size will be small even though shot with medium format.

Truth be told I never saw a Diane Arbus print before other than contact sheets.

I have started radiation treatment and some of the side effects made it so I would unlikely attend, but this week I’m doing better.

So let’s meet-up at 1:00 PM right out in front.

I got a haircut, but I still have a ponytail. It might be my imagination, but I also think my facial hair is more scant (hormone treatment).

Know that after the show I will be heading to Grand Central to catch the train. I have to take care of myself.

I’ll likely bring my SL2 rigged with a APO 35 Cron in “L” glass. Configured to shoot the square the 24x24 frame gets reduced to about 32 MP and the 35 Cron becomes a normal FOV. This APO glass is crazy good and encourages shooting at F 2.0 because it is tack sharp with this mucho wonderful transition to OOF. Very pretty.

Kinda big and heavy when compared to a Leica rangefinder.

Cal
 
I have two prints of Bruce Davidson from the Welsh Coal Miner series. On the back is a “Magnum” stamp, and they are only 6x9.

One image is of the little girl in the graveyard, and the other is of the little boy with a stroller and doll.

Back in the day these were ephemera and hard to gauge value. When I contacted Magnum they could sell me new prints, but they would be of a more modern size. I printed out the E-mail.

They had some original prints from the Brooklyn Gang series, but other than that only new prints.

I traded some camera gear that included a Leica M3 DS, and through some loan sharing deal somehow got the M3 DS back, which I sold to a friend, who eventually sold it back to me. Currently this M3 DS is jammed.

So prints back in the day were kinda small by today’s modern standards.

I’m not expecting large prints I guess, and I wonder about the IQ a lot and the printing.

At the meet-up I wonder about when fine art printing came about?

BTW even though I print big as if for exhibition, there is something very tactile about holding in hand a small print. Something intimate.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
This I think is a must see show for any photographer.

Cal
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I believe it, unfortunately it is on the other side of the ocean!

On of the most interesting photography book I have is "Revelations" by Diane Arbus. Beside the photos it includes an essay by Neil Selkirk, the only person ever authorized to make posthumous prints of the work of Diane Arbus. Very interesting with many details, like the descriptions how Diane originally printed her square format photographs with hard eges and around 1965 went for a black border and in late 1969 she began printing her photographs with soft edges.

If interested you can read the essay here : In the Darkroom — NEIL SELKIRK

I'm sure you will find the exhibition very interesting. Hopefully it will come to Europe soon or later, preferibly soon!
 
I've read a lot of books about Arbus — she's one of my favorites. A truly unique artist. If you are interested, Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer by A. Lubow is a recent, excellent biography. I could not put it down.
 
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