Wither Goest the Photography?

Wildlife crossing, Wyoming.



I missed this little beauty during my road trip, instead taking the Hermes 3000.



Kevin and I typing under a pagoda on the edge of a motel parking lot in Wyoming. The Hermes worked well on the road, as it's very quiet, though a bit heavy to carry for any extended distance, due to the uncomfortable handle.


The discarded couch from the Delaware Hotel in Leadville, Colorado. We had a pleasant evening here, smoking cigars, sipping scotch and conversing with the locals.


Nick Dvoracek's Evil Cube pinhole camera made from a Tomatin scotch box. I'm looking forward to running a roll through it, and hopefully making prints of any good images.


My Bronica ETRS with Zenzanon 75mm F/2.8 lens. I've had this camera since the late 1980s. It shoots the 645 format and yields 15 images per roll of 120 film.


The little Ricoh GR3 with lens extended. These are the smallest APS-C sensor cameras around. I've yet to get in the groove with it, more work is needed.

In answer to the broader question of "wither goest the photography," I'd say the creative energy I expend on video production seems to satisfy my creative urges, mostly. Though I really do enjoy large format and especially working with paper negative or Harman Direct Positive paper to get one-of-a-kind small prints. These aren't the kinds of photographic methods that lend themselves to an extended photo stroll or trek, like what you'd do with roll film or a digital camera, with their multiple exposures and general convenient in rapidly recording multiple images.

Shortly before I left for the road trip, I'd installed the Instagram app on my phone and began using it during the trip. My goal became one decent image uploaded per day. I've never been an Instagrammer, but enjoyed the challenge of finding that one decent image -- and also lamenting the instant positive, ego-stroking feedback that the app is designed to generate, a psychological trick that purposefully triggers endorphins and gets you hooked on the "likes," one that also threatens to rewire you self-worth around this positive feedback from strangers. As much as I enjoy sharing these images with friends, I don't like the sugar-jolt ego-stroking the experience delivers. There should be a higher purpose or calling to sharing photographic art with others than stroking our fragile sense of self-worth.

These opinions of mine are only applicable to myself. If you enjoy the experience of photographic social media, that's wonderful. Maybe you can change my mind, but that's what I'm feeling right now.

We should work hard at our craft to gain the self-confidence to know who we are as artists, without the artificial sweetener of fake friends and their fake likes, dusted on top like some icing. That's what I hope to work toward in my retirement next year, regaining my skills as a photographer and being confident in my abilities. But for now, these meager attempts will have to do.

I must extend a thanks to Nick Dvoracek for spurring me on toward working more with pinhole cameras. Thank you, Nick!

PS: Here's that Polaroid SX70 print of my grandson: