Heart of the Circle

 Heart of the Circle

 Photographs by Edward S. Curtis of Native American Women

     Edited by Sara Day

I found this book today at the main library.  It is a marvelous collection depicting Native American women at their daily tasks or in portraits.  All of the pictures are in the Library of Congress.  Most are viewable online, and high-resolution copies can be downloaded.

The text accompanying the pictures provides cultural and historical context along with some notes about the photographer's interactions with his subjects.

A Navajo Smile - 1904

Papago maiden

A Desert Cahuilla Woman - 1924

Pakit - Maricopa

Qahatika Girl - 1907

Ola-Noatak - 1928

Lummi Type - 1899

 

 A search revealed that the book is remarkably inexpensive, so I've ordered myself a copy.

Saturday in Old Town

 We enjoyed an afternoon performance by the Spanish Broom group on the patio of the Tiny Grocer cafe.

Diana & Nikon

I have been wanting to read Diana & Nikon, Janet Malcolm's book about photography, for a long time.  The essays on photography  originally appeared in the New Yorker, and the collected articles were made into a book in 1980.

The book is not available in the branch library closest to me and I was about ready to buy it online.  The prices for Malcolm's book on Amazon seemed a bit steep, so I did a search to see what the options might be.  I was pleased to find a downloadable copy available at no cost on the Internet Archive website.  It is the expanded version published by Aperture in 1997 which contains five additional essays not in the original.

I've read just the first chapter so far, and it is excellent.  Malcolm casts a critical eye on several books about Stieglitz, Weston and Adams and comes up with quite a few stories about those pioneer modernists that I had not seen before.  As described in an Aperture article on Malcolm's photography writing, she had a decided preference for the fomalist style, but her knowledge and opinions about photography developed very substantially in the years she wrote for the New Yorker.

It is hard to find good writing about photography these days.  I can't think of anyone of Malcolm's stature being published now in the sources I used to look to. I think it is about five years since the NY Times stopped running the regular column by Teju Cole.  There are reviews of major exhibitions like the recent blockbuster show in New York of Diane Arbus' life work, but none show the depth of knowledge of Malcolm and some of her contemporaries like John Szarkowski, whose books can also be found in the Internet Archive.

Finding Meaning in Photographs

 Photographs are made with a purpose in mind, though the intent or meaning may not be fully articulated at the time of exposure.  The meaning attributed to the resultant image may only emerge when it is processed or edited, or perhaps only after it is seen in the context of other images. In fact, meaning in photography or in any artistic expression is ultimately the product of social interaction, and it may change over time.

For amateur photographers like me who are blog authors, the construction of meaning is a central task.  The photographs displayed in blog posts, though often from a single roll film, are often the product of multiple sessions, often with little direct connections.  The challenge then is to come up with some unifying meaning which imbues the product with some appearance of intentionality.

A convenient unifying theme for me and other bloggers centers on the medium and gear used in the production of the pictures in a blog post.  The pictures are evaluated partially in terms of how they express the characteristic capabilities of the camera, the film or the processing. Here, for example is such a picture.

My Hat -- Argus A2F

I think it likely that an observer's first question on looking at the picture of my hat is why such an image was made and exhibited. Well, my answer is that the image displays very good sharpness from a camera which historically has gotten little respect since its appearance in the 1930s.  ( For me, the image also has some relevance as an example of pareidolia.)

Another convenient point of departure for identifying unifying meaning  is a focus on formalist features.  One can always talk about compositional elements and how they come together in a photograph or a group of pictures.  Line, mass, tonality and balance all contribute to a sense of meaning which is essentially visual and perhaps not easily articulated because of a common disconnect between visual perception and explanatory processes.

There are times of course when even amateurs undertake a photographic exercise with the intention of communicating specific meanings.  Portraiture is one example of that in which an attempt is being made to portray the subject's essential physical characteristics, or perhaps link them to perceived personality traits.  A similar process may be the basis for a broader view of a subject with a natural history or cultural focus. An example of that was my effort to assemble a portrait of a community through the pictures I made in New York's Chinatown in the late 1960s.

The construction of meaning through social interaction is apparent in blog posts and in pictures posted on photo sharing sites in the fact that provision is made for image-specific comments.  While the hope is most frequently that positive evaluations may be expressed, there is also an opportunity to recognize or clarify the fundamental intent or meaning behind the offered images.

I can never discuss the topic of this post without reference to the writings of Terry Barrett.  The wikipedia article on Barrett provides a very good overview of his long career a an art critic, though there is little mention of his focus on photography, expressed so well in his book, Criticizing Photographs.

I have not found anything that surpasses Barrett's book in terms of depth and thoroughness.  I'll appreciate suggestions.

Medium Format

 Of my twin-lens cameras the one I enjoy shooting the most is the Yashica-Mat.  It has a very bright finder, a fine lens and it is light in weight.  When I decided to use the camera recently I thought I would maximize the advantage of the big negatives with some 100-speed film.  However, when I looked in the refrigerator film drawer I found that the closest to that I could get was an ancient roll of Ilford SFX 200.

I decided to give the film an extra stop of exposure to compensate for the sixteen years it had gone past its expiration date.  That seemed to be about the right match for the HC110b processing, judging by the results.  

I started off by documenting a bit of an ordeal we are currently experiencing.  The street that runs by the south side of our house in the process of repaving.  The work starts off noisily about 6AM daily; that has been going on for about three weeks, and it looks like the job is about halfway to completion.

The upside is that it is pretty interesting to watch the big machinery being operated close-up.  Also, the early start of the workday is understandable given the near-100 degree temperatures we have had recently.  (Some shots through that window with my little Lumix digital camera are posted on my other blog.)

I finished off the roll during a couple walks through Old Town.

Plein Air

South Plaza

I made several shots of this gorgeous 1948 Chevrolet, but could not quite capture the excellence of the restoration.

I think I would be very uncomfortable driving around in such a car, fearful of damaging such a perfect and expensive project.

A Nikon Lightweight

I have done several repairs on my Nikon EM to keep it going.  I like the camera because of its small size, light weight, and the fact that it accepts any of my Nikon lenses.  The-aperture-priority-only feature is not a problem as it is my preferred mode for any of my slr cameras.  I shot a roll of Kentmere 100 in the camera over the course of a week recently in Old Town and in the nearby Sawmill neighborhood.  The meter worked fine throughout, and I thought the Series E 1.8/50mm lens and the film delivered nice results.

La Plaza Vieja

Cervantes in repose

Sawmill Tower

I got out early on my three-wheeler to beat the heat and that got me to the Sawmill neighborhood just as the Flamenco School was about to open.

National Institute of Flemenco

The yearly Festival Flamenco just concluded here; it is an event that attracts performers and enthusiasts from all over the world, and it has grown steadily in popularity.  I was actually happier when it was of more modest proportions.  The prices for most of the Festival events have gotten beyond what I am prepared to support.  However, there are opportunities to enjoy Flamenco throughout the year and many are very affordable and even free.  The Spanish Broom group often shows up around Old Town and they offer performances at no charge, relying instead on donations through their website.

Bird Photography

 I first became aware of photography by birds when I acquired a well-used copy of Pigeon Heroes by Marion B. Cothren, with a copyright date of 1944.

The book's foreward carries impressive credentials:

and here is the relevant passage from Page 14:

This picture is from Page 16:

We always have a few pigeons hanging around our back porch, attracted by spilled birdseed from a feeder there.  I haven't yet seen any pigeons toting cameras, but I'll try to pay closer attention.

* * *

 Bird photography first took off in 1907 thanks to the efforts of a German pharmacist who had some previous experience with delivering prescriptions using carrier pigeons.  His success in this accomplishment was particularly impressive given the fact that the primary photographic medium of the time consisted of glass plates coated with a light-sensitive emulsion.  In fact, doubts about the feasibility of such an endeavor resulted in a rejection of the initial patent application.  That was overcome by the submission of certified images from the bird-borne cameras.

 

All the warring parties in both WWI and WWII took an interest in developing the potential of bird photography for intelligence gathering.  In the post-war years the CIA developed a pigeon-based program, but the results of that effort remain classified except for a stuffed pigeon with camera in the agency museum.

Loose lips sink ships.

As might be expected, bird photography has been significantly advanced by computerized miniaturization of the photographic gear.  That is well-illustrated on Youtube by a BBC production featuring eagles, hawks and falcons outfitted with video cameras which transmit their images by microwave.

 All of the above is well-documented in the Pigeon Photography wikipedia article.

Miyatake's Camera

 Toyo Miyatake, a skilled and successful photographer, was one of ten thousand Japanese-Americans imprisoned during World War II in the Manzanar concentration camp in central California.  Anyone of Japanese ancestry was forbidden to possess a camera at the time. Miyatake, however, did manage to include an old shutter and lens among the small amount of belongings his family was allowed to take to the camp.

With the help of other craftsmen among the camp's prisoners Miyatake put together a wooden bodied camera from found materials, including a piece of drain pipe to which the shutter and lens were attached to allow focusing.  Film holders, a ground glass, film and processing chemicals were smuggled in.  When it was all assembled, Miyatake set about surreptitiously recording the daily life of the Manzanar community in a body of work ultimately comprising over a thousand images.

Toyo Miyatake, High school students on school grounds, Eastern Sierras and barracks in background, ca. 1942–45 (Aperture #251)

Miyatake's story was nicely told in a 2023 article by Ken Chen in the #251 edition of Aperture.  There are also numerous videos available on the subject, including Episode 3 of the 10 Camps, 10 Stories series on Youtube. There is a PBS short featuring Miyatake's son,  How Tōyō Miyatake Handcrafted His Camera in Manzanar.  

In fact, Miyatake's story has been told many times over the years, but it seems that it needs retelling even more these days.

Toyo Miyatake (portrait by Ansel Adams)

 * * *

The history of WWII Japanese Internment is documented with great thoroughness at the Densho site.  See, for instance, Manzanar Children’s Village: Japanese American Orphans in a WWII Concentration Camp.

Connecting The Dots

Carl Van Vechten-1934

I was able recently to dispel a little of my ignorance about music with the help of Angela Davis and her history of early Blues performers, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. The book also included a reference to the writing and photography of Carl Van Vechten who compiled a vast catalog of images of performers and creators in all the arts who were attracted to New York - and particularly to Harlem - beginning in the 1920s.

 

Celebrity photography has never held much interest for me, but the sheer volume of Van Vechten's accomplishment demands attention. He managed for several decades to make portraits of just about anyone who achieved fame on stage, in films or in recordings, often as they were just beginning their careers. Here are four by Van Vechten on the way up in the 1940s and '50s at Wikipedia:

Harry Belafonte

Marlon Brando

Truman Capote

Lena Horne

There are many big collections of Van Vechten's work in museums and university archives; the Library of Congress houses 1,388 of his portraits.  The biography page on the LOC site also contains some information about Van Vechten's gear and techniques:

In the early 1930s, Miguel Covarrubias introduced Van Vechten to the 35mm Leica camera. He began photographing his large circle of friends and acquaintances. His earlier career as a writer and his wife's experience as an actress provided him with access to both fledgling artists and the established cultural figures of the time. Some of his subjects from this period include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, Alfred A. Knopf, Bessie Smith, and Gertrude Stein.

Van Vechten's portraits are frequently busts or half-length poses, in front of bold backdrops. Dancers were usually photographed on stage. Van Vechten did his own darkroom work, but frequently used an assistant to help set up lights for the portrait sittings.

*  *  *

Miguel and Rose

Since I could only summon up some vague memories of Miguel Covarrubias I googled the name and easily turned up a lot about his life as an artist and writer.  I discovered that he had written a well-received book about Bali that included photographs by his wife, Rose.  Best known by her adopted stage name, Rosa Rolanda, she was multi-talented like her husband and found success in dancing, choreography, and painting as well as photography.  

Rosa was a skilled photographer and it is apparent in the portraits she made - especially those of her friend Frida Kahlo - that she had a  talent for making people feel comfortable in front of her camera.

Rosa Rolanda's charm and performance skills frequently put her in front of the cameras of some of the most highly regarded photographers of the time, including Man Ray, Steichen, and Weston.

by Man Ray

 

by Edward Steichen

by Edward Weston

I always thought the picture by Weston was one of the best he ever made, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the sitter was Rosa Rolanda.  Now, I am looking forward to getting to know her photography.

Rose Covarrubias with Leica (World-Telegram staff photo)

A leftie?  I don't think so.  I am pretty sure this shot has been flipped left to right based on the watch and the index finger poised over the topdeck shutter release.   Also, with the left eye looking through the finder, the nose would be completely behind the camera body.    (World-Telegram staff photo)

Another "What is that camera?"

These pictures are part of the exhibit about Albuquerque's Special Collections Library.  They are printed from a large group of negatives in the Albuquerque Museum Photo Archives.

 The relevant clues are the camera shape, the controls on the top deck, the black lens barrel and the dates in the captions and in the Albuquerque Tribune article.

What is your guess?

Arresting Beauty: Julia Margaret Cameron

 

An article in the New York Times about an exhibition of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron at the Morgan Library & Museum was a nice excuse to look again at her work.  The reviewer is Arthur Lebow, who wrote an exhaustive biography of Diane Arbus.

Cameron has always been one of my guides to good portraiture.  It seems amazing she was able to produce such outstanding images so early after the invention of photography, and with such primitive equipment and techniques.

I think that the modern day appeal of Cameron's portraits rests largely on her posing techniques in which her sitters were placed very close to the camera and dressed simply in a way that minimizes the distraction of period styles.

There is a good selection of Cameron's work in Masters of Photography by Beaumont and Nancy Newhall. I have the first edition which was published in 1958.  Looking for the book on Amazon I found that there is a new edition.  The listing includes a long statement asserting that the contents are now in the public domain, which seems rather curious.  Perhaps the original publisher just abandoned the copyright?

Wikipedia has quite a thorough biography of Cameron and her career in photography which only began around the age of 48 when her daughter gifted her a camera.

Classic

 I only watched a bit of this PBS Masterpiece episode, but the beginning was interesting.

The scene shifted around quickly and I had some difficulty identifying the camera.  When she advanced the film and cocked the shutter with that lever, though, it was clearly revealed as a Zeiss Ikon Tenax I.

From Wikipedia:

The Tenax I is a 24x24 mm fixed lens camera by Zeiss Ikon launched in 1939.

The Tenax I was actually launched after the Tenax II. Like the Tenax II, it is a 24×24mm square-format camera taking over 50 exposures on a standard 135 film (35 mm), with a rapid-advance lever next to the lens. But it is a much simpler camera, with a completely different body, no rangefinder, a simple folding viewfinder on the top plate, and a Compur leaf shutter to 1/300". Most of them are equipped with a Zeiss Novar 3.5 cm f/3.5 lens. A smaller number have a Carl Zeiss Jena 3.5 cm f/2.8 Tessar.

Production began in 1938, and it was nearly halted in 1941. There was limited production during the rest of the war.

Spring Bloom

The yearly spectacle of blooming Yerba Mansa along the Rio Grande is something I always look forward to  It came along right on schedule this year at the beginning of June following some nice Spring rains.

Last year a little patch of Yerba Mansa I planted in our yard bloomed at the same time as those in the riverside forest.  That planting is spreading and looks healthy, but this year there are no blooms, or even buds. I'm wondering now if the lack of blooms is related to the fact that the plant is genetically incapable of self pollination. Perhaps I just need to provide a companion that is not directly related to my planting

There is some doubt about the origin of the plant's common name.  Yerba Mansa literally translated means Tame Herb, but what that might refer to is not obvious. An alternate name, Dragon Tail, would seem to be derived from the conical structure which bears the tiny flowers.

Yerba Mansa was used for medicinal purposes by all the indigenous people in the plant's western habitats. It would be interesting to know what names it was known by among  those people.

Screen Shots

Are you watching the growth of the falcons at Great Spirit Bluffs?

Here they are just a month ago:

 And today: