Robbie Becklund Photography

Wow, when I do a Google Search on "pencil shavings", there are 12,400 sites with that term.

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Well I'm ending the year on a pretty good note. I saw SpongeBob today for the second time (with my son) and I found three ways to try to fix scratches on my holga negatives, thanks to searching APUG.

Maybe tomorrow I'll make a half-ass list of what I'd like for the new year regarding my photos and my quasi-photo business and how I progressed this last year. Since I got a blog isn't that what I'm supposed to do.

Oh, Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to right 2005 on your checks.

I was reading an article in Aperture magazine about John Coffer - Traveling Wet-Plate Collodion Artist he has some great images of Coney Island. He traveled around the country with a horse drawn wagon like a traditional collodion portrait photographer in the 1800s. He lives in upstate NY and has no running water, electricity or phone. Reading about this guy is pretty amazing.

A lot of the photographers using this process shoot civil war reinactments.

Another collodion photographer, William Dunniway with some fellow collodian photographers shot at Yosemite. I really like these photos.

I am really taken by the look of these photos--not the old timey dress-up ones--but the look of the image. What I really like is the excellent tonal range and detail from the view camera, but at the same time the edges are messed up and the collodion gives streaks and unevenness. The barrel lens also add to the magic.

Sally Mann uses this process sometimes. I think she used a more advanced method that wasn't a wet plate, but it was with glass negatives.

Side Bar: At college in Chicago I got to work in the photo department at the Field Museum for a co-op job. Every so often I go to contact print glass plate negatives from 1900 or so taken during expeditions of the West. It was scary to handle them.

I printed these last night. A couple are ones I've been meaning to print for awhile, but most are from newly developed film even though the dates are old.

I view this blog as a place to show my work in progress. Not everything I printed last night made it here. And much of what I post here will never be made into a final print. But everything I post here I like.


With the Yashicamat twin lens


Three Trees, San Diego, 2004 - holga


Windmill Shadow, Iowa, 2002 - holga


East River, NYC, 2002 - holga

This is taken on the Manhattan Bridge with the Empire State Building in the background.


Confederate Army, Mobile Bay, Alabama, 2002 - holga

This is on a ferry crossing from Dauphin Island to Gulf Shores to visit some friends. It just happened there was a Civil War reinactment that day at one of the forts.

I'm printing tonight. I'm not feeling much better, but I just have to do what I do and this is it. After being in New York during 9/11 I realized how important it was to try to live the life you want. Now I realize that this massive tragedy is a sign to redouble my efforts and not let up. To do what I do and try to do it the best I can.

I was going to print tonight but after reading about what's happening in southeast asia from the tsunami I just didn't have the heart. I look at the contact sheets of the pictures I was going to print but nothing is there--it seems so shallow. At times, and especially times like this, I question my direction, style, content, etc. Is it doing anything, is it helping anything.

I guess you could say if you're making someone's life a little better--improving a bad day with this website by offering something interesting to read or look at, or by giving someone moments of happiness through a cherished photo hanging on the wall--you're doing something to help. But at times like these you question if that's enough. Could you be taking photos that somehow can have an impact to improve many people's lives or maybe even save lives or to help protect the environment. I don't know.

If you've been living in a cave you might not know that over 60,000 people have died from the Tsunami in southeast Asia. If interested here's a blog with lots of information on what's going on. WorldChanging: Another World Is Here.

Here is extensive information regarding effected countries and how to help at Wikipedia, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

Even more extensive information on what's going on in the region and what to do to lend a hand or a dollar at The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami.

We have friends who are from Sri Lanka who now live in the U.S., I hope all is okay with their family and friends who still live there.

The author of "On Photography," Susan Sontag, Writer and Social Critic, Dies at 71.

North Minneapolis Warehouse, 2004


Mississippi River Island Trees, 2004


Stone Arch Bridge and Downtown Minneapolis, 2004


Greenbelt 4, Austin, Texas, 2002


Greenbelt 3, Austin, Texas, 2002

These are all from recently developed film. I might not have printed the greenbelt photos if I hadn't spent time recently studying Sally Mann's photos and appreciate their beauty. Not sure how well these work.

I feel like I'm hitting my stride with getting a rhythm with my work habits. Using RC paper for contact sheets and test prints really helps since it speeds up the printing and washing process so much. I print at night (darkroom still has daytime light leaks) and put stuff on the blog in the morning. I do film when I have a free hour or so (and when the dishes are washed, since I use the kitchen sink). I'm getting to the point where I'm printing at least every other day. I'd like it to be everyday, even if it's a couple of photos, at least it's progress.

Last night I taught my son how to do photograms. It's really the first time I've shown him how to make a photo. I usually print after he goes to bed. He, of course, was mesmerized by the image appearing in the developer (I still am). I told him about solorizing prints, so that will be next on our photo 101 tour. Needless to say I hope I have corrupted the poor child. He did get fix on his hands so he might be hooked.

Having a son, I think about what Edward Weston did with Brett Weston. When Brett was 14 or so, Edward took him out of school and took him to Mexico to live and photograph and you see what happened, Brett turned out to be one of the greatest photographers. It didn't hurt that he was taught by one of the greatest photographers.

Cool, when I do a Google search on black and white photographs minnesota I'm number one! and same for black and white photos minnesota, I'm number two for black and white photograpy minnesota. I'm even number one for black and white photos big bend.

Okay back to work...

Kodak Updates Its Brownie to Compete in a Digital Age
"Sales of film and other traditional products were down 20 percent in the third quarter, even more than expected. But digital products-consumer and professional cameras as well as printing systems sold to drug stores and the like-were up 39 percent. (The company recently stopped selling reloadable film cameras in the United States.) " --NY Times

Yeah! Kodak is selling lots of digital cameras--maybe they will be able to afford to hold off on eliminating traditional photo products.

Shomei Tomatsu's show at the Japan Society in NY was picked by one NY Times critic as the best show of the year. I think I highlighted this article earlier, but it's worth pointing out again. He's a great photographer. There are many excellent photographers in Japan that started to make their names in the 60's. My fav of the bunch is Daido Moriyama.

Here's a Village Voice article about Tomatsu's show.

The show, entitled Skin of the Nation closes Jan. 2, so if in the NYC area you better hurry.

I'm taking this as a sign to finally get a Flaming Lips CD or 2 -- I saw them last night on Austin City Limits- they were great. Of course it made me miss Austin hugely and I won't go down that path right now except by saying I'm thinking of checking out the Uhaul website soon... Anyway... Yes the Flaming Lips put on a great show. Right now I'm listening to the SpongeBob Squarepants movie sound track (my son got it) and the Flaming Lips are on that--that's the sign. The Flaming Lips have been around for awhile and I'm sure they're one of those bands that people say were better years ago. Kind of like the Butthole Surfers.

By the way the SpongeBob CD is good. The bands include Wilco, The Waikikis, Electrocute, The Shins, Ween and Motorhead among others.

I received the toycamera.com calendar for xmas. One of my favorite sayings from it is: "Plastic lenses are the photographic equivalent to running with scissors."

To me photos made with a Holga camera are similar to exciting live rock and roll. There is always imperfection. You never know what's going to happen. Chances are taken. Things can go right up to the edge and sometimes over the edge. Something unexpected usually occurs. It's fun, exciting and beautiful. Feedback and blurriness are synonymous.

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VocalEssence - Witness, A celebration of Gordon Parks. Gordon Parks was a great photo-journalist and renaissance man. This will be in St. Paul in Feb., it doesn't say how much it deals with his photography. There is multi-media though... Personally I'm not into the chorale thing so I'm not sure if I'll go.

Lulu.com looks pretty cool. It lets you self publish books and calendars. You can even have your books listed in Amazon.com. I've been thinking about doing a book of my photos sometime and this just might be the way to go.

Fun boring facts: This week 212 page views per day--average. 187 sessions per day--average. A definite drop. Probably due to the shopping spectacular we call Christmas.

I've been working on an inadvertent series for many years because the subject matter is always there, it's pictures of my son. Here's a couple:


In Prospect Park in Brooklyn, 2001. Our big oasis. We lived about 10 minutes away by foot. This was with a Twin Lens Yashicamat (I really liked this camera. I can't remember which one but I did lots of research on which one to get, I think I got it for $125 on ebay. If they made one with a wide angle lens that might be my only camera. I left it and a holga on the subway days after 9/11--they probably had to evacuate the train thinking it might be a bomb).


Along the access road, Minneapolis, 2003 - holga.

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You know when you live in an apartment building and the hallways take on the smell of what people are cooking, well I hate it when the smells seep under the doors or through the floors. I used to live in a place that smelled of frying hamburger 24/7. Currently, the smell of what I can only image as boiled rodent skins is seeping into my bedroom. This smell woke me up this morning! I'm sure the hall is just reeking--I've had to run down the hall holding my breath. Sometimes the food smell is great but not today.

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Christmas morning with an 8 year old in a too small apartment for your stuff is a little frightening. It's hard to walk across the living room floor and touch carpet. I go in there and just turn around. I have no idea what to do with all the stuff--and there are many gifts in the entry way that have not made it to the testing center in the living room. I can't even get all his current stuff put away in his room. I guess I need to get some shelving like they have in a warehouse and maybe one of those big rolling ladders. By the end of tomorrow every toy will be touched/used/played with for about 15 minutes and then left in it's place for the next thing.

Boy I can't wait till my son is 15--22 years old (or so). What a confusing time. I read the posts of kids (I'm assuming it's kids...) who use my photos on their websites and blogs (I try to track them down to see how they are being used, unfortunately many sites don't use static pages or you have to be a member to access it). People get so worked up about what their friends think and how others perceive them. There's a lot of kids out there with parents who barely notice them, let alone understand them. I feel that will be my biggest and funnest challenge--understanding and appreciating my son's interests (God, I hope he's into skateboarding, good music, photography, and road trips).

Wind Mill/Wind Generator, Iowa, 2002



Trees Dirt, San Diego, CA, 2004

It's nice to get some shots that you feel good about. I contacted a few rolls last night and there's definitely some stuff worth printing. I hate when the contact print looks good but the actual print isn't so hot.

I've been thinking about offering small prints matted to 8x10 and/or have notecards. I'm thinking of making the notecards with an RC print and corner mounting them on some nice paper. I need to look at some fancy card stores to see the different ways people are making their cards.

I just got a 40% off coupon for Dick Blick, where I buy some of my matting supplies. They have pretty reasonable prices for a retail art supply shop. I usually buy my matboard from wholesalers--much cheaper. But I need a new mat cutter and maybe they will have one that I would like. I'll check after this weekend. Assuming I have enough money. Why is Christmas at the end of the month, a week before you have to pay rent--bad timing...

Oh by the way HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!

I thought it might have been Kwanzaa yesterday. I see it's not just one day. Last night there were a lot of kids running around and having fun (we have a lot of people from Africa in our building--Minneapolis has a sizable Somali population). It starts on the 26th so who knows, just another fun night at the Crystal Village Apartments.

Wise thought: Don't give your son's Christmas list to all the relatives before you (meaning me--dad) pick out a few of the best gifts to buy first.

Ahhhhh!!! I just realized we've got to go shopping today for more Christmas presents.

Man, it's 60 degrees warmer in NYC than here in Minneapolis--how does that work...

These are from a couple of weeks ago, taken in North Minneapolis, all with the holga. I printed them a little lighter and flatter--with less contrast. I see I was getting too dark in places and loosing detail.








Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr -- it's -2 degrees right now. Luckily our apartment is warm. It snowed a little yesterday and the day before sleet and freezing rain.

Opportunities for Artists listed by the Minnesota State Arts Board. Here's a cool one: The Nadine Blacklock Nature Photography Fellowship will be available to women nature photographers from any location and from any career level, whose work reflect and build upon Nadine’s aesthetic sensibilities. The fellowship includes a month on the Sanctuary property.

Haven't had a chance to print new work in the last couple of days. But I should get at it tonight and have some stuff to post tomorrow.

I might try to post articles that are a bit more positive and maybe only negative ones about the environment. I realize it kind of makes me crazy reading about the problems. There are positive things that go on, what if I found articles about that. Positive things with the environment and maybe how people could do their part to help to improve the environment--hmmm there's an idea. Well, we'll see, tomorrow's another day.

Stats update: Average of 289 page views per day on the site for the week. Off a bit from last week.

A Bronx Curbside Whisper: 'Hey, Need a Tuneup?' - Here's a good article about New York life--street mechanics.

Here's a batch of new work from recent and older film.



Jamaica Bay Seawall 3, Brooklyn NY - 2002



Jamaica Bay Seawall 2, Brooklyn NY - 2002



Ice Abstract - 2004



North Minneapolis 3 - 2004



North Minneapolis 4 - 2004

The 2004 pictures were taken two weeks ago.

I don't know if you can see it but some of these pictures have a very fine scratch which is across the negative. This is an intermittent holga camera problem. No matter which camera I use it pops up. I don't know if there's some magic solution to put on the negatives that can fix this--I kind of doubt it, but I will investigate. I've tried to make the area in the camera where the film comes in contact as smooth as possible. Also, the scratches are not in the same place from roll to roll--gremlins... And I like some of these pictures.

Should I care about this scratch issue? I obviously care, but I've talked to some people and they say it goes with the Holga photos and probably isn't that big of a deal.

If I didn't care about the scratch, than I probably shouldn't be spotting the dust spots on my prints, but I am. I'm fine with what happens when the photo is taken--the lens flare, the vignetting, the out of focus, etc. But I want the print to be clean, with no dust spots, or scratches. So now what? Do I bag the Holgas and head off in a different direction. I've thought about getting a 4x5 press camera, maybe I could get a 6x7 back for it so I can use 120mm roll film still. Or get a Bessa 35mm range finder and don't look back. The frickin' saga continues.

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So if the Ansel Adam's quote is true, which I agree with: "The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways."

Than the person who uses an inkjet printer or gets machine prints made is essential playing a CD (a digital file) and not performing the score.

I used to print with an inkjet printer for a time until I realized it wasn't right for me. And you do not print each print individually, you push a button and an identical copy is made--just like a recording.

In a song you can play the same notes every time but it will sound slightly different because of mood, how much energy you have, finger placement isn't the same, etc. It is exactly the same with printing your own work in a darkroom.

Of course the digital printing crowd will argue that their prints are originals just like a darkroom print. But being someone who has done both, I feel this is a hollow arguement. Even when I was using an inkjet printer I had a hard time believing this arguement. I've even seen digital printers use the above Ansel Adams quote in relation to their working in Photoshop to tweak the image file, but they leave out the "Each performance differs in subtle ways" part. I think they miss the point of Ansel's comment.

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"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." --Ansel Adams

Ain't it the truth. Ansel must be rolling in his grave...

I think the thing I want most in my life is to make a living selling my photographs. I realize that there's a problem with this for me. The more I think and plan in terms of selling, the more I second guess the photos I make. I don't like this. I want to take and make the photos that come naturally to me not the ones I think will make me the most money. But if you want to make a living selling your work this has to be, because it's a business and you have to be somewhat business like. It's like selling hot chocolate at the beach in August--it ain't a good business move. While some of my photos are and have been sellable, others haven't and aren't and probably never will be.

The other problem is money. You need money to make money. What do you do when you don't have extra money? Save money. What do you do when you can't, won't, or don't have time to make more money so you can save?

I really enjoy selling at art fairs and I think that is where I have the best chance of success. Unfortunately, you have to have money for these shows. I'm sure I can save up enough to do a few local shows and that is my plan, but is it worth it. Is it worth making myself shoot photos to sell, not letting my work grow/evolve/improve in it's own way? And, is it worth trying to pay for show fees, photo supplies, mat board, frames, rent, food, gas, child care and a little recreation all at the same time?

Or... do I keep shooting what I want and do my website and blog to share my work and sell a photo here and there and just...just enjoy my photography. I don't know. Maybe I need another year of shooting and learning and experimenting and saving money before I make a serious effort to sell my pictures.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard: Behind the Masks, Portraits of Southern Gothic -- at the International Center of Photography.

Manhattan Skyline from the Empire State Bldg - 2002

I forgot how simple RC paper is to use, it's almost as easy as using an inkjet printer. And it doesn't curl like the Dead Sea Scrolls! I got Oriental Seagull VC RC and am real happy with it for contact sheets and test prints. I have been using Ilford Multicontrast Fiber for my final prints, but I think I'm going to switch to Seagull Variable contrast. I think the blacks are a little jettier.

I should finally be posting more pictures. I've got a ton of new stuff to print, and I'm shooting regularly. Some of the photos I post might not be my best work, like the Manhattan Skyline shot, but they are of interest for some reason or another. One reason I have this blog is for people who like my work to see how the winning images come about--by shooting lots, printing some and out of that comes 10 - 20 keepers a year. If I print something usually I'll post it in the blog. Much of the stuff I post here doesn't make it into one of the galleries, which I consider finished work or keepers.

Creating a market for art - Firm plays matchmaker for artists and buyers.

The New York Times > With Few Luxuries, an Artist Sticks to It

The New York Times > An Artists' Colony on Thin Ice in Jersey City

Yippee! Yahoo! I just fixed one of my holgas so it will focus to two feet instead of three feet and maybe a bit shorter--I'll have to do some testing. Essentially you take the lens off, break off one of the stops inside the lens and then screw a screw through the outside edge of the lens creating a new stop. The screw has to be at a point that will facilitate a shorter focus but stop the lens from unscrewing all the way and falling off. I'll have to take pictures of this and put it on my holga mods page. Anyway this is something I've been wanting for some time. Here's the instructions I used. Gotta thank Susan Burnstine for her assistance in finding the link. Check out her photos. She does great holga/diana camera pics with very close focus.

How cool is it--how liberating is it to be using a camera you can jam a screw through the side of the lens and be excited about it.

I can't wait to shoot tomorrow, and luckily I have enough pyro for two more rolls--I knew there was a reason to save it--it had nothing to do with laziness.

Bennet Airfield in Brooklyn near the Far Rockaways and Rockaway Beach. Bennet Field was a favorite place to shoot because I never knew what to expect. I usually expected to come across a body but luckily only scenes like this. And who knows how long this car was sitting like this. This was when I was shooting 4x5, there were lots of wooded areas, so I could practice my Ansel Adams shots.

I stumbled across this site looking for recent work by Lee Friedlander, In Response to Place, a touring show by the Nature Conservancy. There's landscapes by Lee Friedlander, Sally Mann, Annie Leibovitz, William Wegman and many other respected photographers. It looks like it's almost done touring but it looks very interesting, a very diverse group of photographers. Oh and the site doesn't work too swell when viewing the pictures but it's better than nothing.

Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, 2004

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In a few days I should be getting more images on here. Friday or yesterday I ordered some Seagull Oriental RC paper for contact and test prints. I might also do some finished printing with Seagull. I've been using Ilford, but I think I might like the Seagull a bit more. I haven't used the variable contrast, just their graded paper before I switched to Ilford multicontrast.

I finally buckled down and ordered my paper from B&H, which is a substantial cost savings from running to National photo, which is only 5 minutes away. Sometimes it's too convenient having the photo store so close--of course I pay for that convenience. At least I bought 100 sheets so I'll have enough notice before running out so I can order more. Next time I'm getting the 250 sheet box which equals big savings.

Fun Facts: Last week my site averaged 315 page views per day with an average of 53 per day on the blog. Also 232 individual sessions averaged per day. Just in case you don't know what these terms mean - a page view is when someone views a page on my website. A session is when someone comes to my site.

I've been adding some new links to this page if you haven't noticed. While there are artists that I really like and who have influenced me, like Diane Arbus, Margaret Burke White, Robert Frank and others, they don't have their own websites. I decided to put current working photographers and artists who's work I really like, many I have met and/or are good friends.

The outside world links are to companies or places I use, love and respect and in the case of Tom Becklund Coffee, work for. Yes, he is my brother and his coffee is the best I've tasted (and many other people feel this way) and I'm a coffee snob (just a side note, I did his website and took the pictures. So see, I am willing and able and a functioning human being for all your commercial needs).

I've got a few more links to add. I promise I won't just make a list of anything and everything and anyone I can think of.

And here's an update to the update I added to my about the pictures page: Currently and for the foreseeable future I'll be shooting with the Holga camera, similar to my work in 2002. I'm attracted to commonplace things or images that by shooting them with the Holga or just isolating them and taking them out of their context, something interesting is creating or captured.

It seems I've read this type of thing by other photogs so it's not original but I think it's accurate.

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--oh my god I got to get away from the computer--my ass is becoming one with the chair. I've got to get xmas presents--off to the thrift store...

If you're a parent with school age kids in NYC or thinking of moving there you should check out Insideschools.org - New York City public school guide, reviews, statistics, and forum and NYC Department of Education - Assessment and Accountability.

A Book Review about a new book on De Koonig. It looks pretty interesting.

Bill Brandt Nudes

"One day in a second hand shop I found a 70 year old wooden kodak. Like nineteenth century cameras it had no shutter, and the wide-angle lens, with an aperture as minute as a pin-hole, was focused on infinity. My new camera saw more and it saw differently. It created a great illusion of space, an unrealistically steep perspective, and it distorted. I felt that I understood what Orson Welles meant when he said 'the camera is much more than a recording apparatus. It is a medium via which messages reach us from another world.'"
--Bill Brandt, from Brandt: The Photography of Bill Brandt, 1999.

By Bill Jay regarding the response to Perspective of Nudes by Bill Brandt in 1961: "The editors of Popular Photography found it impossible to accept the concept that this collection of poorly printed, ineptly cropped photographs of badly posed, unattractive women is his idea of a serious work."
--Brandt: The Photography of Bill Brandt, 1999.

Bill Brandt said: There are no rules, photography is not a sport.

I love this Bill Brandt quote: "...I found atmosphere to be the spell that charged the commonplace with beauty..., it is a combination of elements... which reveals the subject as familair and yet strange."

I'm always intrigued about how or why someone comes to my website or if it's from one of my photos that's been copied and they aren't hosting it on their own server. Sometimes the referring website is interesting like this one from Hong Kong.

I'm just about done with developing film, I still haven't gotten through it all. I decided to keep developing film until my current batch of PMK Pyro developer was used up. I think I got enough to develop one or two more rolls. This film goes all the way back to 2001. The photos are from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Woodstock, NY; Big Bend, Austin, Galveston, Texas; San Diego California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Iowa. I'm going to order some cheap RC paper to contact print the negs and make test prints.

I wish my website statistic software would give me info on what time of day is the most active--I don't seem to have that. It only shows the current open sessions. I just looked and right now there's 9 active sessions, which is pretty good. I once checked my stats and there were 5 google bots/spiders swarming my pages (how sci-fi).

I was browsing the Agfa photo site to see what papers they still made. They now only make Multicontrast Classic and Multicontrast Premium. I remember 20 years ago I loved graded Portriga Rapid and Brovira. I think you can still find some Portriga Rapid, but I don't think it's the same quality as the older papers. Agfa used to make some of the best papers. 20 years ago, if you would have thought what the future had in store for black and white photography, you would have invisioned more selection and better quality, but what we have is just the opposite. Oh, I better stop thinking about it, I'm getting bummed out, I've got film to develop--at least you can still get the same poisonous chemicals.

Here are two abstracts taken with the Holga 120 SF, the F stands for flash (and yes I used the flash on these two shots). This is foam along the shore of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. The sand is a dark gray and white foam is kind of rare. Usually it's a nasty yellowish brown.



Here's the shot of the Parachute Jump and the Thunderbolt rollercoaster.

Coney Island and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge - Brooklyn

I post this contact sheet because I was thinking about the element of chance in photography. I think there's a lot of it. Especially using a Holga camera... There are things that go wrong--like the V-shaped light leak in the upper right edge of each frame, and there are things that go right, like the flare that looks to have danced around the inside of the camera and around the Parachute Jump. Unfortunately, the bad chance won out on this roll, I don't like that light leak (that camera has been retired).

I think it's interesting to show contact sheets, you can see what I may have been trying to to or get at or what I couldn't stop taking pictures of for some reason.

A little history about the Parachute Jump

Reminds me I have a holga shot of the Parachute Jump and the Thunderbolt rollercoaster before the Thunderbolt was torn down.

Wild Pigs Terrorize Florida Suburb. Have you ever been in the woods and heard on of these things snorting--Eeeeeeeh!!! run for the car!!

I listed more North Shore photos on eBay. eBay and I have a love hate relationship. I keep getting frustrated with selling on eBay and then I start to miss it and look at my sales versus listings and realize it's not too bad...

I guess if you read this blog on a regular basis you must think I'm insane. It's hard to figure out the best way to sell your work, especially with a modest income and an 8 year old son. These aren't excuses, it's my reality and just makes the long term decisions a bit more challenging. No matter how I slice it, eBay always comes out as the most cost effective way to sell. I need to remind myself that although I'm not selling as much as I'd like, at least I am selling.

I think I'm also going to try to not make definitive statements about what I am or ain't going to do--just go with the flow man.

One thing I could write about is why I take my photos and what about them appeals to me. But not right now.

This might be a better way to make money instead of trying to sell art, set up an online exhibit space and have contests. Projekt30 has an exhibition every couple of months, I think they advertise in Art Deadlines List. They charge $35 per entry, they accept 30 people for their online exhibit, right there that's $1,050, and who knows how many people apply for the show. They do give a $300 award to the top artist.

The free photo giveaway is officially over.

Okay... 4 left--I'm sure y'all think this is a joke or there's some catch -- no.

For the timid and those who have a hard time making up their mind. My most popular Holga shots are: Scrub Clouds Mountain, Barn Wood, Boardwalk 4, Water Grate Sky (also the most stolen on the internet!), Bumland Underpass 4. Or you could go with one of my favs - Jamaica Bay Seawall. My son has a fondness for Cyclone.

Free Photos!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay I'm going to try something fun...

Starting right now, the first five people who email me will get an 8x8" or 8x10" matted photo for free. All you have to do is email me and tell me which image you want. There's one hitch, it has to be one of my photos I've taken with the Holga camera, either from My Holga Pictures gallery, or a holga image you've seen in the blog. Okay...Go!

Fine Print...
It might take me a few days or more to finish them and get them shipped. I'm not going to rush, but I will send you an email to confirm if you were one of the first five and confirm your selection.

If the image is square I will mat it to 14x14" if it is rectangle I will mat it to 11x14. The photos most likely will be dry mounted to Fome Cor, with the 4 ply overmat set back from the print by a half inch or so. All images are limited editions of 25 or 50 and will be numbered and signed on the back of the mat and the overmat. You'll also get a signed certificate of authenticity.

What else... It might not be printed exactly like the website image, they will probably be printed with a rough black border around the print, but maybe not--depends on the image--depends on my state of mind... When I ship them, I will send a note with my address in case you want to reimburse me for shipping, which runs around $7 in the U.S. Oh, this is open to anyone, anywhere. If you have any questions, pick a photo and ask questions later. Depending on how this works or doesn't... I will do this every few weeks. Have fun!

And one freebie per person.

More Stats: Last week 274 page views per day; 192 sessions per day; 20% of page views were on the blog, which is where the most traffic is. The rest is spread out. The other popular areas are the gallery pages, holga mods and index or home page.

I've contemplated eliminating my North Shore scenic photos from the site for a couple of reasons. I'm now only shooting with the holga and feel it would be good to focus on one thing and that's the holga work. I'm selling some off the website and they are usually the north shore stuff but I know for me, the web is not a viable selling place--it's a good exhibit space and for edjumakatin people about my stuff. I think for selling it's off to the "real world" -- galleries and art shows. Cyber space is fun and I'd love to not have to leave the house but jpegs are not the best way to view my holga pics (there is much subtlety, nuance and blurriness to appreciate). And, while I like my n. shore scenics and so do others, I only started shooting them when I started selling at the minneapolis farmer's market (hey now, it's huge and very cultured...) so I'd have some local scenics to offer.

Since I've been spending my time developing negatives, I thought I'd post a recent contact sheet with some barely legible comments to provide a little visual nourishment. Minnesota State Fair - Sept. '04

If you're familiar with LensWork Magazine, you know Brooks Jensen's writing and how good it is. Here he gives daily commentaries in the LensWork Blog. He's insightful and thought provoking.

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When I use my Blogger spell check, doesn't it seem strange that the word blog comes up as a misspelling...

If you are interested in seeing more Sally Mann photos, here's three pages of images. Some of these are photos of Civil War battlefields that are enlarged from 8x10 negatives to 38 x 48 inches! I think seeing the actual photos would be mind-blowing.

Richard Tuttle showed a piece at the Whitney Museum of Art in the 70's which he described as some paint at the end of a coffee stirrer, placed on a 40 foot wall.

Here's a nice quote from one of his collectors: "The work is very challenging. You can't just look at it and understand it. You focus on slight details, and then you go into the street and looking at cracks in the sidewalk becomes beautiful. His work taught me how to look at art and things around me."

I've got one more auction on eBay that ends tomorrow. After that is finished, I'm finished with ebay. I love the idea of selling through the internet and selling from home, but it's just not the right place to sell my photos.

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For the time being, all I'm going to do is shoot with the Holga. Last night I developed 4 rolls, tonight will be another 4 rolls. Tomorrow contact sheets and a couple of test prints. My backlog of film is down to about 30 - 40 rolls - I think I'll throw a party when I'm caught up--woohoo, let's all go to Chucky Cheese's!

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I'm going to ask for B&H Photo gift certificates for Xmas (assuming someone asks).

"The B&H Gift Card is a unique way to let that someone special locate exactly what they have been searching for. It allows the recipient to purchase any item available at B&H Photo Video, whether they shop over the web, on the phone or in our superstore!"

Last year I did get gift certificates from the local photo store, which actually has a decent darkroom department.

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So since I've given up my pipedream of making a living selling photos on ebay, I guess I'm left with: website--slim pickins; galleries--maybe...fat chance...in another life...worth a try...who knows...; art festivals--summer fun! If I want to make it fulltime, I'll have to home school my son, but I'm too worried about screwing him up, so that's probably out.

Oh who knows, I'm not sweating it right now. I'm just happy I'm content with shooting with the Holga. So I worked through my scanning and inkjet printing freakout of last winter/spring--I'm perfectly happy with traditional darkroom printing. And now I've worked out my camera situation. Next I'll have to work out how to sell these things. Besides doing the art festivals again, I have been thinking about doing handmade books or self publishing a book. I do think photos are great on the wall, but for the average person, it's hard to buy multiple photos because of $$$ and space. A book on the other hand has a whole series of images and maybe cheaper than a single print.

Here's two interviews from the PBS show "art 21" about Sally Mann and her dog bone photos, and her use of the
Collodian or wetplate process --making glass negatives to shoot in her 8x10 view camera. She's done lots of photos of her kids and amazing landscapes that were shot with screwed up lenses.

Here are some thumbnail images of her Deep South series. The thumbnails do not do these photos justice.

I got her book "What Remains" from the library. I love the way she takes things to the edge. Some photos are barely visible in a field of black.

If you want to learn more about her here's a google search on her name.