LenKowitz.com: Provincetoen Massachusetts, August 1954, Hermit crabs, David Vestal

Saturday, April 05, 2014

Provincetoen Massachusetts, August 1954, Hermit crabs, David Vestal

"Provincetown Massachusetts, near the breakwater, August 1954. The little black round thing on my ankle is a hermit crab in its mobile home. Hermit crabs don't rent vacant shells, they just move in.
They don't pinch, they tickle.
This is a curious case of inkjet tweak. It's scanned from the only existing silver print of this picture, made in 1954, which is too dark to suit me at its right end. Fiddling with overall tones in tweaking the scan made the right end easier to see in inkjet with no local work at all. The inkjet shows me how to reprint this photo in the darkroom. I must try to make the right end seem clear in silver as it is in inkjet. I'm not sure I can do it, but it seems worth trying." David Vestal

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It occurs to me...

I've been thinking about the business of making photographs and I'm going to use this forum as a place to share some of those thoughts.
I'll also post new pictures as they get to the "finished" state and provide information on how you can go about having your very own copy. Taking a cue from Duane Keiser, http://www.duanekeiser.com/ , I think marketing my own work is the best way for me to go, at least for the time being

As I think about becoming a "photographer", I've spent some time with people who have made that choice long ago and are now working very hard at it.The work they have produced is in many cases, excellent. What I have noticed is that the profession has a very low return on the time invested. It's far cry from my previous career where the return on my time was actually very high.
Great credit is due those individuals who choose to become photographers and then actually make a "living" by making pictures.

One night last week I took two "portfolios" to the Houston Center for Photogrphy to have them "reviewed". It was an interesting experience.
I was told that the landscape work had no relationship to the short set-up comments I made and that I should keep working on the blk&wht, "Ode to O'Keffee" portfolio.
It was pointed out to me that "landsape" work is highly competitive. Interesting observation, how did I fail to see that?
It occurs to me that showing my work to strangers is a productive activity, at least for me. Unfortunately, I probably gain more from the experience than those who see the pictures for the first time. Maybe it's a fault of the work, not strong enough or unusual enough? Maybe it's the "reviewers" problem?
In any case, it's all just opinion and not fact. I will continue to seek out the opinion of anyone who is willing to look at the pictures, I will also continue to make pictures that I like.