ANNIVERSAIRE D'ATGET

after the sticker shock of adding up my shopping list and the resulting panic, i dropped some of the items that would be nice and started paring down.

out went the 300mm lens. it would be nice to play around with selective focus the way that i was at the end last year in pouch. i am not going to look for more dark slides. even the harrison jumbo tent for film loading is out will simply stuff more towels around the door of the bath and - if like the pipe house - multiple layer them on the window.

i would like to buy a plate burner. while not as romantic as using the sun much more efficient and it does free up sunlight hours for wandering. it will be one contact printing frame.

the surprise is the paper the cranes’s cover stock natural white is cheap – have ordered some for experimentation.

even so the total cost was still over us$5000 when i included a medium level car from t.j. am now thinking of dropping the luxury of proofing with printing out paper or hand coating argyrotypes - a savings of about $1000. but don’t know how i can get it any cheaper than that and not worry about running out or over editing.

well yes i do. again thinking about the great leap forward in technologies. thought about digital. i duplicate what i have been using. epson 4780 scanner - $500
epson 2200 printer - $300 – both refurbished
15 rolls of agfapan apx 400 120 per day at $1,90/roll. $1250
pmk pyro developer $180.
that would leave me with less than half of what 19th century technologies would cost. even if i did by reems of inkjet paper.
actually i could buy a used mamiya 7 with a 65mm and still be cheaper.

workwise it would be the same – photograph during the day, print at night, i would be easier for me as medium format is more amenable to climbing than a large format kit. this is an underlying fear as i know that i need a lot of space to make images, i like to roam. – all of bell island, the irish loop, bay de verde and back. i fear that there is a great snap just there up ahead and i may miss it. after years of this i know that medium format is best for this.

this time though is for experimenting for pushing myself for not rushing. four weeks along the great northern a fortnight on the avalon plenty of time.

it is tempting – but am not sure if it is due to laziness and i am using the lack of funds as an excuse. my plan was to make a book if i dedicated my funds to decent inkjet paper – cranes museo, or hahnemuhle - i could still show the same amount of respect. i could save on transporting all this up to the rock as i could mail order so that it would arrive when i did. intellectually and financially it would be the better choice.

then preparing for my class, in pulling books to scan, come across lois connor’s china work, linda connor’s work from india and even andrea modica’s human being. i am looking at the reproductions and they make me envious. i reject the inkjet option – even if i do call it giclée. i want what i do to be tactile – intellectually i know that it can be done digitally but yesterday salting the paper, coating the paper and then exposing it on the back deck and dealing with minutes not seconds in silence.

the faculty enrichment grant is written and ready to be submitted. this will be the main determining factor.