From the not-so-recent past

• I don’t make a picture a day but there isn’t a day when I’m not looking — and looking counts, too. Emmitt Gowin

I was browsing (again) through Emitt Gowin's self-titled Aperture Book and it occurred to me how much his early work was ostentatiously about looking -- rather than seeking out an interesting -- even spectacular -- place or time. While his landscapes from Italy and the aftermath of the Mt. St Helens' eruption or powerful -- they lack the immediacy and warmth of his early, less formally considered work.

While looking for something else in Lightroom I found this portrait that I took at a gallery opening several (ahem) years ago. Our local motley crew of photographers, Group f/5.6, had a group show at Artemis Gallery -- alas, a short-lived location on the ridge above the I-90 tunnel. The owner/operator was hoping to leverage her framing business by showing local artists. She was doing ok until the rent soared after the tunneling below her was finished.

This sweet-faced young woman was pouring the wine, etc. for the opening of our group show. There was a silent auction to benefit the owner's pet charity and one of my prints was chosen for it. At the time I was working on a series "Scene Through a Glass" of reflections and multiple layers. The funny looking device on the left is an inspection tool for counting threads in fabric. (No, I didn't know what it was. I had to go into the antique shop and ask.)

Why am I digging through my mountain of old negatives? I haven't been collecting many new ones so far this year and besides the little electric heater in my darkroom doesn't have the horsepower to cope with cold weather. My Rollieflex is calling to me and there is film in a drawer in my studio.