Chris Bickford

Last week I was in New York for a photography conference, and had the opportunity to shoot a little bit more for my “In the Night” series. Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of hanging out with some old friends kept me from being very single-minded about it, but I did spend one fruitful night in various dance clubs, particularly Element and the Annex. I wanted some energetic photos to contrast with the still, lonely vibe of most of the stuff I’ve done up to now on the subject. I think the next step may be to figure out a way to capture the “landscape” of the night on the LES…maybe I’ll spend a few nights out in the rain with a tripod trying to channel Alfred Stieglitz…I’m thinking of going up again around New Year’s, which should be interesting.

Anyway, some photos…

Pictorialism is a style of photography that flourished around the turn of the 20th century which attempted to place photography within the context of the great artistic movements of the time–symbolism, impressionism, etc. It focused mainly on alternative processes and “painterly” themes, and indeed much of the work looked very much like the impressionist painting of the time. The movement was short-lived, as the Modernists took over and the next great wave of photographers embraced a more realistic and journalistic use of the camera, but even so, the Pictorialists, in their time, with their classical aesthetic and anti-modern sentimentality, produced some truly beautiful work.

I’ve lately been enjoying several books on Pictorialism, and looking at some of the interesting techniques the photographers used to achieve their effects: gum bichromate printing, photogravure, oil prints, etc. Not being a darkroom photographer myself, I have mainly been interested in the “look” they achieved and thinking about how to create similar looks in the digital darkroom. Rather than trying to recreate any literal approximation of the processes, I’ve just been thinking about the aesthetic itself, and playing around in Photoshop to create a similar feel.

Anyway, this little house in Currituck, which is one of my favorite houses in the area, has been the subject of my first experiment. I think I like the look, and hopefully will develop a little project around it. Kind of a nostalgic, Old South, Old Outer Banks, kind of thing. More to come later.

Here on the Outer Banks, we really don’t have much deciduous foliage to speak of. Matter of fact, I have yet to see a red or brown leaf anywhere except for the plastic ones people decorate with for Halloween…No, here the “fall color” we get is all in the water and sky, and it comes with the changing atmosphere; crisper air, big thunderhead clouds…Big rich reds, deep blues, blazing oranges, and lots of steel-cold grey…

This fall has been a little different however, as summer has refused to leave our little patch of sand. Aside from a couple of brief storms and a fast-moving offshore hurricane, we’ve enjoyed day after day of cloudless, warm, beautiful weather. Which irritates me to no end. Aside from the fact that the American Southeast is is suffering from one of the worst droughts of the century, day after day of pure blue sky makes for very uninteresting photography…

Still, every now and then a little patch of weather comes through, and brings with it the wind and clouds, a different mood for each direction: balmy, humid southeasters with a taste of the tropics in the air; dry southwesters with their biting black flies and the smell of earth from East Carolina farm country; and the big burly nor’easters full of rage and drama and salty, biting wet winds that chill you to the bone…

I’m hoping the weather gets worse soon…

Aye, ’twas near a full moon an’ the mojo was aye afoot on the Banks…bumblebees an’ Be’elzebub, convicts an’ Carnevaliers, Cap’n Jack an’ the Queen o’ Sheba…As for meself, I take no responsibility for me actions, for ’twas the devil she was in me…’struth, I managed a few wee snaps, but fer those of ye not represented haire, I says, take yer own bleedin’ photos…

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The following is a bit of “decompression” writing I’ve done since returning from David Alan Harvey’s “At Home” photography workshop in New York City (View David’s site here). It was a pivotal experience for me, and has left me much to think about. Those of you who are familiar wih David’s work, his blog, or his workshops, may find some good nuggets here. Those of you who have considered taking a workshop with David might get a little more insight on what to expect, and why you should do it. The rest of you, you might want to move to a post that has photos, as this one has none:) Read the rest of this entry »