Sean Esopenko

Autumn in Prince’s Island Park

September 12, 2010

There is definite realization in the fine-art photographic world that digital cameras are changing the face of photography.  Simply snapping images isn’t enough any more because the medium is so accessible now.  There’s no exclusivity to simply taking a picture.  I do believe that some photographers are being attracted to darkroom process black and white photography because there still some exclusivity to be found there.  It’s a sort of “garrison mentality,” where artists are retreating to the older forms of the art to protect themselves from association with Uber-Gear-Guy.  He’s the upper-middle-class guy who drops $8,000 per year without flinching on digital photographic equipment.  While super-saturated, ultra-wide angle, super-zoom-in high-contrast images tweak the psychological chords of the public at large, they don’t denote skill and concept.  Fine artists are on the retreat.  They’re reclaiming old heritage sites of their medium & process that the mainstream can’t touch, no matter how much money they have.  I’m finally coming to the realization that I have to take a stance too or else I could end up washed away in mediocre imagery, afflicted with “Gear Acquisition Syndrome.”  I don’t want to be somebody who needs “just one more lens” to make images that stand out.

I’m starting to get this desire to make a better photograph each time I go out by improving my technique.  Technicalities are being understood and I’m starting to develop concepts in the back of my head, too.  When I turned on the lights after fixing this negative I held it up for a quick inspection and got quite excited.  I saw the contrast that I’ve been wanting to develop in my prints but I also saw the composition I aimed for worked.  I wanted to photograph this scene in a “naturalistic” manner, similar pre-impressionistic painters such as John Constable.

On a side note: the other day Luba asked me why I am so fascinated with clouds.  I couldn’t come up with a good answer then but today I remembered that John Constable filled books upon books with sketches of cloud formations.  He was fascinated with them and tried to explain his fascination in all sorts of ways.  I’m not quite at the stage where I can stand behind my images confidently but I’m starting to figure out what I want my images to say.  I think this 180mm lens works well for me too.  It’s a similar field-of-view utilized by photographers 80+ years ago, before the wide-angle and ultra-wides came into the picture.

This image is from south end of The Bow River, looking over to Prince’s Island Park.  I was shivering with a cold virus while a thunderstorm was threatening with thunder overhead.  By the time I heard the fourth thunder-clap I managed to snap the picture and get out of the rain before the heavy downpour came.  I’m glad because I didn’t want to make my cold any worse.  That building is the little cafe that’s on the island.  I tried some Kodak D-76 film developer and I like the results (and it’s price & longevity).    D-76 is supposed to give a more defined grain and greater accutance.  4×5 is so massive I don’t really need to control the grain and accutance is more desirable for me than a fine grain. Ilford Ilfosol 3 gives a nice smooth image but I think for my landscape work it doesn’t work for me.  I’m also going to start controlling my developing process to control the contrast of the negative.  This may be the image I use for the show at The Untitled Art Society in October.

Comments (0) | More: Calgary, Large Format, Photography