Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
What’s next for me?
As I read through this thread I see people are preparing to publish books, start an exhibition, scan 30 years worth of film, sell it all and give up photography, start their own film developing business, create art, open workshops, develop photography blogs… my head spins at all this energy and ambition.
Me, I just get up in the morning and make coffee, read the paper (yes, a real newspaper that’s delivered to my door), see my wife off to work; I’m retired she’s not; eat breakfast, do a bit of house work and then I’m out the door with my camera. Usually not much of a plan, walk the streets, take some pictures, eat lunch somewhere, carry on a little longer then go home and start making dinner before my wife gets home.
That’s what’s next for me - and I love it!
All the best,
Mike
As I read through this thread I see people are preparing to publish books, start an exhibition, scan 30 years worth of film, sell it all and give up photography, start their own film developing business, create art, open workshops, develop photography blogs… my head spins at all this energy and ambition.
Me, I just get up in the morning and make coffee, read the paper (yes, a real newspaper that’s delivered to my door), see my wife off to work; I’m retired she’s not; eat breakfast, do a bit of house work and then I’m out the door with my camera. Usually not much of a plan, walk the streets, take some pictures, eat lunch somewhere, carry on a little longer then go home and start making dinner before my wife gets home.
That’s what’s next for me - and I love it!
All the best,
Mike
bucs
Well-known
Self published a zine recently, which you can preview here:
https://youtu.be/Ng3dYTxkfdY
Currently making another one. First draft is ready. Thinking of having prints made to see if I’m firm on the sequencing and edits.
https://youtu.be/Ng3dYTxkfdY
Currently making another one. First draft is ready. Thinking of having prints made to see if I’m firm on the sequencing and edits.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Sounds like a great retirement Mike and a nice reflective/contemplative way to spend your days and enjoy your time.
Enjoy!
Covid-19 and not being able to photograph on the streets has allowed me to really think about photography without always just doing it frequently. I've done a lot of editing, built a website, written a two articles about my projects, will be part of a little book and exhibit in Italy and I have been looking at a lot of non-street photography online and in my book collection. Also, my wife is also saying she does not want to live in the city after another 3 years and we also have a 5 month old child. Life has changed drastically. While I will continue to photograph in the streets when I can, I really feel I want to branch out and do something else too. Due to a mandatory quarantine, I've been photographing around my apartment and from the 14th floor terrace of that apartment. I've actually made photos I like doing this. Of course, the photos come less frequently then on the street, but at least they come. It has boosted my confidence that I can make photos I'm happy with anywhere if I need to.
So, I'm thinking that for non-street photography, I'd like to move to a Fujifilm GFX-50R and one lens...probably the 50mm 3.5. This will give me a format change since it is 4:3 and also has a great panoramic mode (30mp at 65:24). Getting away from 2:3 will allow me to think a little differently and keep things fresh and exciting.
Lastly, I've also always made personal books. I find them to be great editing tools allowing me to see my photos on something other than a screen. It's an economical way of printing and a neat means of storage. BUT they are still expensive if you want to make a book to sell or give away. So, I want to start doing zines here in Chile. First, I will do my own photography and then maybe branch into doing zines for other photographers I like here. The end product has to be relatively cheap, so I'm currently trying to figure this out. Something in format similar to https://www.caferoyalbooks.com would be great. Not a rip off, but that's the inspiration.
So, I'm thinking that for non-street photography, I'd like to move to a Fujifilm GFX-50R and one lens...probably the 50mm 3.5. This will give me a format change since it is 4:3 and also has a great panoramic mode (30mp at 65:24). Getting away from 2:3 will allow me to think a little differently and keep things fresh and exciting.
Lastly, I've also always made personal books. I find them to be great editing tools allowing me to see my photos on something other than a screen. It's an economical way of printing and a neat means of storage. BUT they are still expensive if you want to make a book to sell or give away. So, I want to start doing zines here in Chile. First, I will do my own photography and then maybe branch into doing zines for other photographers I like here. The end product has to be relatively cheap, so I'm currently trying to figure this out. Something in format similar to https://www.caferoyalbooks.com would be great. Not a rip off, but that's the inspiration.
Horatio
Masked photographer
Near-term (next 12 months) I'm hoping to set up a functional darkroom for wet printing. I actually have all the equipment I need, just no place to set things up. The closest community darkroom is about 1.5 hours away, but it's been closed due to Covid-19.
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
*Getting more work out competing for exhibit—regionally (Carolinas), Colorado, Oregon, California, New York, wherever a call warrants entry. Some success here, including enough cash to cover costs of subsequent entries.
*Getting work out for publication—The Sun (USA) will be publishing a streetshot from my series in Firenze, and they’re looking at other images (The Sun was an early publisher of my poems in the 1970s-80s, so this has a peculiar appeal later in life). Other images have appeared in exhibit-related zines/catalogs (e.g. Black Box Gallery, Portland). And, as I know from The Sun, there’s a world of literary journals, online/print, which also seek cover art and visual features. I used to publish poems and prose poems in dozens of these, so (obviously, in a forehead-smacking way!) why not test their interest in my images....
*Aiming to join a regional cooperative gallery where I can show, take part in event-planning, openings, chat with art-tourists, bring in old friends from my earlier, mostly literary life In this state. While I’m waiting to hear about this, though, I’m also considering joining the Center for Photographic Arts in Carmel as a member photographer, to maintain a West Coast connection—because that’s where my photography life began in earnest over ten years ago, where most of my images come from, and where my children and Linn’s relatives live.
*Winnowing the catalog. Redeveloping every image worth keeping to current standards. Refreshing/upgrading backup to accommodate raw files, big jpegs, TIFFs from my cameras that produce greater resolution & bigger files than ever.
*Getting my IMac OS to talk collegially with a Pixma 100 printer. I can order perfectly good prints from afar, but it would be nice to print at home once more. Not being able to get the devices communicating is pathetic, I know—like hosting a perfectly fine dinner where two guests seem unwilling or unable to talk to each other, though I keep rebooting, reprompting, consulting online gurus. Small steps, small steps. Maybe I’ll even ask for RFF gear help!
Encouraging to consider what others are doing, too. Thanks for the timely prompt, John!
*Getting work out for publication—The Sun (USA) will be publishing a streetshot from my series in Firenze, and they’re looking at other images (The Sun was an early publisher of my poems in the 1970s-80s, so this has a peculiar appeal later in life). Other images have appeared in exhibit-related zines/catalogs (e.g. Black Box Gallery, Portland). And, as I know from The Sun, there’s a world of literary journals, online/print, which also seek cover art and visual features. I used to publish poems and prose poems in dozens of these, so (obviously, in a forehead-smacking way!) why not test their interest in my images....
*Aiming to join a regional cooperative gallery where I can show, take part in event-planning, openings, chat with art-tourists, bring in old friends from my earlier, mostly literary life In this state. While I’m waiting to hear about this, though, I’m also considering joining the Center for Photographic Arts in Carmel as a member photographer, to maintain a West Coast connection—because that’s where my photography life began in earnest over ten years ago, where most of my images come from, and where my children and Linn’s relatives live.
*Winnowing the catalog. Redeveloping every image worth keeping to current standards. Refreshing/upgrading backup to accommodate raw files, big jpegs, TIFFs from my cameras that produce greater resolution & bigger files than ever.
*Getting my IMac OS to talk collegially with a Pixma 100 printer. I can order perfectly good prints from afar, but it would be nice to print at home once more. Not being able to get the devices communicating is pathetic, I know—like hosting a perfectly fine dinner where two guests seem unwilling or unable to talk to each other, though I keep rebooting, reprompting, consulting online gurus. Small steps, small steps. Maybe I’ll even ask for RFF gear help!
Encouraging to consider what others are doing, too. Thanks for the timely prompt, John!
Vince Lupo
Whatever
I love your 'plans' Mike - hopefully my plans will mirror yours in the not-too-distant future!
This year has actually been pretty good, work-wise, so as of right now all is going okay in that department (though I'm always trying to keep a few jobs 'in the hopper' to keep the momentum going).
As far as personal work goes, I just finished having a 'virtual' solo show of 'Mapping the West' at the Smith House Galleries in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and had 5 pieces in another 'virtual' show at Catalyst Contemporary Gallery in Baltimore. I haven't been able to get back out West this year, but come January I'll be spending 5 weeks in Carrizozo, New Mexico in an 'artist in residence' program. Not sure how it's going to go, given the current situation (though social distancing shouldn't be an issue out there) and the fact that I'm supposed to have a large show out there at the same time, but I'm not too worried. It will be great to be back in New Mexico and the West.
Only other thing that's happening, photography-wise, is a return to film (and glass plates!) -- it's been going really well and it feels good to have revived that part of my photography which had been dormant for a number of years.
willie_901
Veteran
Editing (selection and staging) for several series and projects. The list is long.
Rejuvenating my web site. I'm thinking about moving to a new platform -Behance and using Adobe Portfolio. I'd like to begin adding images on a regular basis to SEO more efficient.
The 50th anniversary of my first street photography work is coming up. So, it's now or never to finalize a set of Series that spans 1971-1972. This also means re-scanning some film.
During the pandemic my cameras are in hibernation. So there I have no gear plans whatsoever. However, I recently upgraded and streamlined my computer hardware.
Rejuvenating my web site. I'm thinking about moving to a new platform -Behance and using Adobe Portfolio. I'd like to begin adding images on a regular basis to SEO more efficient.
The 50th anniversary of my first street photography work is coming up. So, it's now or never to finalize a set of Series that spans 1971-1972. This also means re-scanning some film.
During the pandemic my cameras are in hibernation. So there I have no gear plans whatsoever. However, I recently upgraded and streamlined my computer hardware.
JohnWolf
Well-known
No grand plan here; just trying to flow with life and make a beautiful photograph now and then. I'm sticking with the Holga, which I started using when our lockdown began. I like its more expressive take on the quotidian subject matter the pandemic has forced upon us.
Next, I hope to venture back into the big city (Chicago), where I haven't been in since retirement five months ago, for long walkabouts. Sure do miss the waterfront.
I considered developing a website, but I think Instagram suits me well enough.
And I've got a couple chapbooks of poems in the works.
John
Next, I hope to venture back into the big city (Chicago), where I haven't been in since retirement five months ago, for long walkabouts. Sure do miss the waterfront.
I considered developing a website, but I think Instagram suits me well enough.
And I've got a couple chapbooks of poems in the works.
John
D
Deleted member 65559
Guest
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
I plan to work harder at doing nothing, hope to finally get it done.
JoeV
Thin Air, Bright Sun
Okay, the typewriter repair thing sounds interesting! Tell us more!
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I am currently doing a 6 week apprenticeship under a former IBM tech who has been in typewriter repair since the early 70s. Once I'm done with the training, I'll become a part-time employee of his, working to repair machines that customers bring in. Interestingly, the manual typewriter is on its way back, not unlike the resurgence in use of analog cameras. Now that most of our social existence is tied to a computer, there is a bit of a "backlash" happening; a push against the connected digital existence, towards the creation of something personal, secure, tangible, yet nearly instantaneous. There is less distraction using a typewriter. The manual ones don't require batteries or electricity, they just need the power of fingers and whatever sits between the ears. I'm not looking forward to it, but they will allow me to continue writing duurring the rolling blackouts which will probably be coming as this has been one of the hottest summers on record here (as well as everywhere else) and the aged power grid is strained.
Phil Forrest
Dogman
Veteran
No plans. Less likely to be disappointed that way.
Photographically, I'm clearing out old photos in the computer to make space for more. Everything's backed up on five different hard drives anyway so nothing is really gone. Hoping for better COVID circumstances and cooler weather soon so I can get out more often. Daydreaming about being able to attend a festival of some sort and be surrounded by people having fun so I could make pictures and have fun too. Wishing the politicians (may they all rot in Hell) would lose my phone numbers so they would quit calling several times a day. Typical wishing, hoping and dreaming.
Photographically, I'm clearing out old photos in the computer to make space for more. Everything's backed up on five different hard drives anyway so nothing is really gone. Hoping for better COVID circumstances and cooler weather soon so I can get out more often. Daydreaming about being able to attend a festival of some sort and be surrounded by people having fun so I could make pictures and have fun too. Wishing the politicians (may they all rot in Hell) would lose my phone numbers so they would quit calling several times a day. Typical wishing, hoping and dreaming.
robert blu
quiet photographer
Thanks for this thread John, very timely. I always make my programs, proposals at the end of the summer, as I was used when I was a student!
I think the most important is to bring out much more of my work. I have many projects going, some are finished and I would like to share most of them in public.
Not being on FB, IG or other commonly used social I have to find a different way.
Books and zines will be part of this.
These are the next steps I have to work on.
By the way where are those Lomo film I just bought before the lockdown?
I should add another point... I should get the studio in order
I think the most important is to bring out much more of my work. I have many projects going, some are finished and I would like to share most of them in public.
Not being on FB, IG or other commonly used social I have to find a different way.
Books and zines will be part of this.
- I'm working on a small size book "those moments" with photos I took during the lockdown time. It will be printed through Blurb but I'm looking for alternative ways as well.
- I work on issue 2 of the zine "Imperfect Moments" about lo-fi photography. Issue #1 was mentioned in this RFF thread a few months ago.
- More regular thread on my "quiet photographer" blog, which could be a vehicle to promote my zine and books as well. But a good way to interact with other photographers.
- I'll print the projects I finished to be ready to take part in portfolio reviews. Unfortunately due to the covid restrictions I do not think there will be any in a short time, but I would like to be ready! At the moment the idea to go out in a crowded place is scaring, covid numbers are increasing much in my area.
- Planning to work much on publishing I should really learn more how to work with InDesign , probably following an online course
- More strictly photographic I plan to work more in the area where I live, documentation and visual interpretation. I already started, not yet sure if go digital or film, B&W or color or maybe both. Work is still in an essay stage. Only places or people as well? not yet decided. Some pictures will be posted in the RFF gallery and in a dedicated thread.
- I recently bought a BEOON and of course I should learn to use it in conjunction with the M10! Need a light table but all shops are closed for summer holiday, I should receive one at the end of the month! This is just in case my Nikon 5000ED dies...
- I also plan to work on a all hand made "artist zine" in numbered edition only for a few friends...please do not take the word artist to seriously
These are the next steps I have to work on.
By the way where are those Lomo film I just bought before the lockdown?
I should add another point... I should get the studio in order
Livesteamer
Well-known
A spot meter. For the past ten years most of my film has gone thru a pair of Leica IIIc's, sometimes with a handheld meter and sometimes not. There is great freedom in carrying a IIIc and nothing else but I would also like to further my knowledge of metering for the times I want to be more careful. Joe
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
This has been a sad year, and most of us have had ample time (indeed, for many, too much time) for introspection and planning. Many posters here expanded their photo horizons in so any good ways. Me, I decided to do the opposite and reduce my photo options. A sort of 'minimalising' of my creative activities in Covid-locked down Australia, for an indefinite period, or perhaps permanently.. Just now, I don't know for sure.
Late last year we moved from Tasmania back to the mainland. I did almost all the packing as my partner works full-time. Shock and horror to discover that of the 100+ large cartons of possessions we intended to take back with us, 35 cartons were my photo/darkroom gear. The B&W chemistry alone took up 16 of those boxes.
So a big cull was called for. Much of what I decided - during a second massive cull of everything we owned - I really didn't need was donated to our local camera club and to photographer friends. All the chemicals stayed in Tasmania. A few items were sold. Four huge enlargers ended up as two - I kept the Leitz Focomat and the LPL 7700 for future printing projects, if these ever eventuate. A few cameras found new homes. My image archives were kept. We did take the cats, but not in cartons.
Once settled in our new home (never mind the 60 or more cartons still cluttering up the main hall and second and third bedrooms) I set to rebuilding my pre-digital era photo archive, the earliest work dating to 1962 - and realized how much I'd neglected and, more importantly, how much work was involved in trying to come to grips with this overload.
Silly me to have neglected doing anything but filing away negatives and slides for almost three decades. The scanning will take forever. Keywords and captions eat up so much precious time.
Then the next problem, what to do with all those archived, keyworded/captioned photos?
I resolved this, in a way, by setting up categories - personal, family, travels, architecture (I was an architect for 20|+ years and have many thousands of images of client work which I need not keep, but I do), colonial buildings (about 40,000), cats (we've lost count). This has at least let me retain my sanity to an extent, even if I've only managed to make a small dent in the pile.
A couple of months of serious thinking brought me to the resolve that much of what I've shot in the last six decades, will remain unscanned unless I have a specific demand or need for an old image. Even so my old photos must still be identified, checked for damage and decay, and keyworded/captioned before returning to their hidey-holes in archival folders and acid-free boxes.
A half dozen camera kits will go, later this year when the sale market improves in Australia - but that's another story, maybe worth a future post.
All this has caused a degree of angst, and I found affected my photography, to the extent that I no longer carry a camera with me on my daily exercise walks. Street shooting in an Australian country town isn't especially satisfying. Interesting subjects are few and far between and many bush Aussie dwellers aren't particularly social or polite and often don't take kindly to having a 70-something stranger push a camera into their faces in public. Doing portraits of flowers and trees and white cockatoos in our local parks holds no appeal for me, so that aspect is definitely out.
I live in the hope that Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions in Asian countries and here in Oz will loosen up in the not-too-distant future so I can go Asian nomad wandering, tho' this now looks like I had best not pin my hopes too high until the end of this year.
I'm reading old photography books and acquiring new ones here and there as I go - my latest prize is 'On Photographing People and Communities' by Daoud Bey, an Aperture book found in, of all places, a discount bookshop in Melbourne just before the latest stage 4 lockdown clicked on and the city center became a ghost town. The book wasn't cheap, but it has opened my eyes to new potential in people photography, o which I'd not really devoted much time in my quest to record old colonial buildings and other period architecture before the property developers' bulldozers turn up.
I have now concluded that we photographers are neatly categorized (or maybe 'pigeon-holed') into two specific sociological categories, the under-65s and the over-65s. The first lot look forward to greater things in their imagery, while the other lot are seeking for more ultimate (and in my case, minimalist) outcomes.
As always, your thoughts on all this will be appeciated.
Late last year we moved from Tasmania back to the mainland. I did almost all the packing as my partner works full-time. Shock and horror to discover that of the 100+ large cartons of possessions we intended to take back with us, 35 cartons were my photo/darkroom gear. The B&W chemistry alone took up 16 of those boxes.
So a big cull was called for. Much of what I decided - during a second massive cull of everything we owned - I really didn't need was donated to our local camera club and to photographer friends. All the chemicals stayed in Tasmania. A few items were sold. Four huge enlargers ended up as two - I kept the Leitz Focomat and the LPL 7700 for future printing projects, if these ever eventuate. A few cameras found new homes. My image archives were kept. We did take the cats, but not in cartons.
Once settled in our new home (never mind the 60 or more cartons still cluttering up the main hall and second and third bedrooms) I set to rebuilding my pre-digital era photo archive, the earliest work dating to 1962 - and realized how much I'd neglected and, more importantly, how much work was involved in trying to come to grips with this overload.
Silly me to have neglected doing anything but filing away negatives and slides for almost three decades. The scanning will take forever. Keywords and captions eat up so much precious time.
Then the next problem, what to do with all those archived, keyworded/captioned photos?
I resolved this, in a way, by setting up categories - personal, family, travels, architecture (I was an architect for 20|+ years and have many thousands of images of client work which I need not keep, but I do), colonial buildings (about 40,000), cats (we've lost count). This has at least let me retain my sanity to an extent, even if I've only managed to make a small dent in the pile.
A couple of months of serious thinking brought me to the resolve that much of what I've shot in the last six decades, will remain unscanned unless I have a specific demand or need for an old image. Even so my old photos must still be identified, checked for damage and decay, and keyworded/captioned before returning to their hidey-holes in archival folders and acid-free boxes.
A half dozen camera kits will go, later this year when the sale market improves in Australia - but that's another story, maybe worth a future post.
All this has caused a degree of angst, and I found affected my photography, to the extent that I no longer carry a camera with me on my daily exercise walks. Street shooting in an Australian country town isn't especially satisfying. Interesting subjects are few and far between and many bush Aussie dwellers aren't particularly social or polite and often don't take kindly to having a 70-something stranger push a camera into their faces in public. Doing portraits of flowers and trees and white cockatoos in our local parks holds no appeal for me, so that aspect is definitely out.
I live in the hope that Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions in Asian countries and here in Oz will loosen up in the not-too-distant future so I can go Asian nomad wandering, tho' this now looks like I had best not pin my hopes too high until the end of this year.
I'm reading old photography books and acquiring new ones here and there as I go - my latest prize is 'On Photographing People and Communities' by Daoud Bey, an Aperture book found in, of all places, a discount bookshop in Melbourne just before the latest stage 4 lockdown clicked on and the city center became a ghost town. The book wasn't cheap, but it has opened my eyes to new potential in people photography, o which I'd not really devoted much time in my quest to record old colonial buildings and other period architecture before the property developers' bulldozers turn up.
I have now concluded that we photographers are neatly categorized (or maybe 'pigeon-holed') into two specific sociological categories, the under-65s and the over-65s. The first lot look forward to greater things in their imagery, while the other lot are seeking for more ultimate (and in my case, minimalist) outcomes.
As always, your thoughts on all this will be appeciated.
maddoc
... likes film again.
Partly, yes. I have the choice between no photography and fake photography (digital imaging) due to the deteriorating eye sight after surgery last year. I can't properly focus any Leica/Nikon RF anymore and eyesight changes quickly, I would need a lot of diopter correcting lenses. Minox is OK because scale focussing or the Leica Standard with the external RF. I have tried the Nikon F2, same problem, diopter required. The SONY A7 has a diopter AND can be used with old lenses, I can use the Noctilux again.
OMG
Is the mad doc going digital? Gabor, please say it ain't so!
peterm1
Veteran
Maddoc if your eyesight is changing you could try what I use. Japan Exposures Store, markets an "eye piece magnifier" for Leica M in various magnifications (0.85x' 1.15x and 1.35x) but the real advantage is that they all include steplessly variable diopters between -3 and +1) Due to some licensing considerations they put in a disclaimer saying its not intended for use on Leicas in USA but in reality how it is used is up to the buyer. Works pretty well I find especially as my eyes are degrading too and its much more convenient than Leica's fixed diopters. They are not exactly cheap but still affordable if you need it and well worth the money I think
The only one available right now is the 1.35x (others are sold out.)
https://www.japanexposures.com/shop/accessories/ms-mag-x1.35-magnifier-for-leica-m.html
EDIT: I just noticed they now even sell a 1.8x magnifier for Leica M. That's new. And possibly useful for people like me who like using longer lenses.
https://www.japanexposures.com/shop/accessories/ms-mag-x1.8-magnifier-for-leica-m.html