I was going through a box of photos looking for a print to give Frederike for her birthday. This was on top of the pile and after flipping through the stack I came back to it. And she liked it!
Her print is somewhat different, however, a one-off. Boxes of Epson printing paper come packed with a stiff, white, smooth protective cardboard sheet. I call it a backing sheet and began printing on them. It makes a very diffuse, watery, painterly image that works well for some photographs. As you can see, this image is already headed in that direction and printing on a backing board took it even further, which was just right.
Fred's is unique because I've stopped printing altogether in recent years. The Web is my only medium now. I've left paper behind and a small grove of trees is still standing somewhere as a result.
The scene is the view into a garden in Boston's Fenway Victory Gardens. A low, slightly arched foot bridge spans a small stream, the banks lush with greenery. I've tried to find the spot again from time to time but it's gone, or perhaps eluding me. There are almost 500 gardens in the Fens, however, so it might just be hard to find. But I think it's probably gone. People come and go and things change fairly fast, nothing stays the same. Except in photographs.
The image was probably made in 1999 or 2000. The camera is an Olympus D-620L, the same one which still works well and continues to inspire me. We've covered many miles and made myriad pictures together and we're still on the first roll of 'film'.
This is a sort of image I always seem to be on the lookout for. Something really simple. But satisfying somehow. Maybe minimal is the word. I enjoy seeing how little you need, how basic and stripped down things can get and still have a wholely satisfying image that you can look at again and again with pleasure. That the viewer can interpret and project meaning onto as they will and make their own. I call this the modern method. Kind of like the lyrics of REM or some of the Stones songs. You make your own meaning.
Image is a new addition to our journal. I find people's photographs fascinating and enjoy getting people to talk about them. Which usually requires, yes, at least a thousand words. ... Steve.
Happy birthday, Fred!
