I paid just twenty dollars at a yard sale for my Minolta X-700 three years ago. Since then it has made a lot of pictures I like. The camera is light weight and compact and the Minolta lenses I have tried have all produced excellent results. I took along the X-700 a couple days ago when I visited the Albuquerque Botanical Garden. I mounted the MD 1.7/50 lens and loaded a roll of Kentmere 400.
I saw a piece on PBS about the painter/photographer, Barkley L. Hendricks. The program featured a current exhibit of his work, but I see there is also a recent book about his photography. It looks like both provide some insights into the relationship between his photos and his paintings. Hendricks was not on my radar before he was gone, so I'm looking forward now to familiarizing myself with his dual accomplishments.
The attention to the Hendricks show and book immediately brought to mind the work of another painter/photographer, Harold Joe Waldrum, who had his studio in Truth or Consequences and who is best known for his paintings and prints of old adobe churches all around New Mexico. Waldrum, like Hendricks, apparently initially made his photographs as sketches for his painting and printmaking, but the photography seemed to take on a life of its own.
Waldrum's polaroids, made with an SX-70, are very carefully composed, showing the same attention to light, shadow, form and color as his painted work. Thousands of those polaroids ended up in the Museum of New Mexico and are now in the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives. Over 900 of the little photo prints appeared in an exhibit at the Albuquerque Art Museum which I had the pleasure to attend in 2011. One of Waldrum's prints of a red walled church was included recently in an exhibit about print making at the Albuquerque Museum; I'm pretty sure there is a polaroid twin.
Exhibits at the Albuquerque Museum are often accompanied by postcard reproductions of the the art works which are made available at no charge to visitors. In the case of the 2011 Waldrum exhibit, six prints were included in a fanfold booklet, with each being the same size as the originals. I'm pleased to say I held on to my copy.
After finishing the twelve black and white shots in the Argoflex Forty I made another circuit of the Albuquerque Museum car show with my Olympus Infinity Stylus (mju) loaded with Kodak Gold 200. The little Olympus has a lot to recommend it for such events. It is easily slipped in a pocket. The 35mm lens is very sharp. The auto-focus and auto-exposure seldom miss their mark.
On a Sunday in May the parking lot and the street in front of the Albuquerque Art Museum are populated by the automotive treasures of the area. There are an equal number of opportunities and challenges for photographers at the event. The sun is always very bright and it shines on acres of chrome, producing dazzling reflections interspersed with deep shadows. The cars, probably around a couple hundred, are packed side by side in each parking lane. The free show draws a big crowd and it is often difficult to get an unobstructed view of the cars.
I think I logged a couple miles up and down the lanes over a couple hours, so I was glad I chose my lightweight Argoflex Forty to make my pictures of the show. Quite a few people asked me about the camera. One fellow took a picture of me and the Argoflex. Most seemed somewhat surprised to find it was still possible to make pictures with such an instrument.
I took a morning walk along the river. A lot of water has been let through the dams for irrigation, so the bosque is getting the benefit too. There is strong growth in the patches of yerba mansa and there a few flower buds on the plants. I expect the flowering of the yerba mansa will reach its peak in a couple weeks. So, I'll look forward to getting back soon, probably with the same camera and film.
