Square Photographs

 I have never been to Indiana, but I have a pretty good idea what it looks like thanks to daily visits to Jim Grey's blog, Down the Road.  Jim posts pictures there about his Home State, as well as those from his frequent road trips around the country.  The photographs are made with a large collection of old film cameras.  Jim has also published a series of books of photos and stories.  I was very pleased recently to receive a copy of the last book; it is entitled Square Photographs.  The pictures, in both color and black and white,  are all made with his Yashica Twin Lens Reflex cameras on medium-format paper-backed roll film.  

If you are mostly used to seeing photographs on the screen of your phone or your computer, looking at the nicely reproduced pictures in Square Photographs will be a somewhat shocking experience.  Even though many of the pictures depict pedestrian subjects they have a level of visual intensity that is hard to explain in words. Part of that impression comes from the large 6x6 cm negatives which can support considerable enlargement, but much of the impact of the photos is attributable to Jim's discerning eye.  I thought he made a particularly nice choice to put a head-on view of an old VW bus on the back cover.

My MAC screen shows a pretty good version of this shot, but it really pales in comparison with the actual cover picture.

Jim Grey's New Book, Textures of Ireland

Our mail usually arrives around the cocktail hour, providing an opportunity to sit back and leisurely concentrate on seeing what has been delivered.  Unfortunately, our mailbox is most often stuffed with junk mail which gets tossed without opening.  Then, I will sit down in front of the tv and the drink I have made will help a little bit to dull the jagged edges of the daily news.
Tuesday was a different story.  The mailman left a package on our front steps too big for the box.  I could tell immediately by the size and flat shape that it was a book I had been looking forward to: Jim Grey's latest, entitled Textures of Ireland.

So, there being no Guinness in the refrigerator, I mixed myself a Manhattan and sat down to enjoy Jim's new book, this one a travelogue of a journey to Ireland by Jim and his wife, Margaret.  The book's cover offers the perfect entry point to the narrative, a lusciously textured and toned image of the open front doors of Kylemore Abbey in Galway.  Jim's first book focused on a favorite camera, the images it makes and extensive explanations of the process of using the Pentax ME.  This new book about the Emerald Isle mostly lets the pictures speak for themselves.  There is an introduction in which the technical considerations are given their proper due.  Jim says he made a very large number of color images with his digital camera on the trip, but all the pictures in the book were produced by his Nikon N2000 loaded with Kodak's black and white T-MAX 400 film.  That seems an excellent combination to portray the rugged cliff-bordered coasts, quiet bays, quaint towns and ancient abbeys encountered on the tour which went through Portrush, Letterkenny, Donegal, Ardara, Killybegs, Sligo, Ballinrobe, Clifden, Oughterard and Barna.

One thing I have particularly enjoyed about both of Jim's books is the fact that they closely resemble the style and content of his photography blog, Down the Road.  The difference, of course, being that one can enjoy the high quality images on paper without the size limitations and unpredictable variability of any on line presentation.  Whether displayed on paper or on a screen, however, Jim's stories are always first rate, reflecting his dedication to achieving ever more mastery of image making and narration. Especially appreciated by me is that every blog post in Down the Road is fashioned by Jim to contribute to creating and sustaining a community of peers with a passion for photography.

The book, Textures of Ireland, is available on the Blurb publishing site where there is also a generous on line preview available.  Jim, himself, also distributes the book directly in pdf format at a reduced price.  He can be contacted through the email form in the About Page of his blog.

Exceptional Ordinary

I have been enjoying daily visits to Jim Grey's photo blog, Down the Road, for quite a while.  Not long ago he began talking about a book he was working on, and in what seems a remarkably short time he had it completed and available for purchase through Blurb Books.  Jim chose, wisely I think, to carry forward the topics and style from his popular blog to the 44-page soft-cover book.  Photographs in color and black-and-white are accompanied by concise and good-humored text.

All of the photos are made with one of Jim's favorite film cameras, a Pentax ME.  The author/photographer talks about the camera's features and why he likes it, but most of the text really focuses on creating a context for the pictures which explains not only how he makes the photographs, but what he finds interesting and compelling in his subjects.  Fans of his blog will not be surprised to find significant sections of the book devoted to Jim's passions for automotive and architectural history, family, friends and pets.

In terms of technique, Jim clearly has a talent for getting at the essence of a subject through the use of selective focus  -- a picture he made of a friend's dog in which only the staring eyes are sharply rendered is one of the best animal shots I have seen in some time.  Throughout the book, and in evidence in the blog postings as well, there is also an approach to portraying life as Jim Grey sees it which seems to be centered on a particularly acute awareness of life's often-fragile and ephemeral nature.  That kind of consciousness coupled to the nearly simultaneous acts of observing and documenting unique to photography  represent the medium's most important potential, and Jim uses it to very good effect in this first book.

A nice on line preview of Jim Grey's book, Exceptional Ordinary; Everyday Photography with the Pentax ME is available at the Blurb Books site.