My Love Affair With Photography
My Love Affair With Photography
And an announcement...
It gives me a big grin to see this ridiculous piece of American history. Goodness gracious. Believe it or not, but in the pre-digital age, my first job was sitting in one of these booths, and I did it for years. This is my way of telling you about my love of photography.
When I was about sixteen, I took a job working in one of these booths, in Downey, CA. Across the parking lot sat the parent shop, the 45-Minute Photo Lab. The owner developed film on the quick in the main shop, and I sat in the booth, receiving rolls of film from eager customers, closing the booth long enough to run the rolls over to the main shop, and rushing back for the next Buick or Datsun. One day, a car full of punks pulled up and threw a bucket of water on me, then peeled away. That’s a proper prank if ever there was one and I’m happy to take one for the team.
Prank soakings aside, I’ve had a bit of a love affair with photography, and working at the photo lab played a big part. Over the years of working there, I split my time between the little hut, and developing 4X6’s on the Noritsu machine. Each morning, my boss or I would start up the machines and run test prints. All the colors in a photographic print originate from just four colors - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (also known as Key). The test strips weren’t actual images. They were little dots and slashes of CMYK across a white field of paper. I loved this, and many years later, it inspired some of my paintings, like Desert Dorothy.
We developed a ton of photos at the old photo lab. One of our big customers was my friend, Richard Harbaugh, and his dad. They were the official photographers for the Academy of Motion Pictures, so pretty much anything shot in an official capacity for the Academy was first developed at our lab. As the years went by, I’d tag along with Richard on many of his ultra-cool, Hollywood assignments. On occasion, I’d assist a bit, holding an external flash while Richard would shoot, running from task to task, subject to subject, with great calmness and ease. He was brilliant at this, and I had a great time on these adventures.
Sometime after I’d moved into The Brewery complex in LA, I met the photographer Jena Ardell. I can’t recall how we met…something to do with a common interest in the painter, Robert Bechtle, I believe. Anyways, Jena and I shared an interest in all things mid-century modern, subjects which inspired her photography and my paintings. I loved looking at Jena’s photography and, from time to time, we’d work together on a project. We’d also discuss Bechtle and Thiebaud, painters we both loved, as well as the work of every Angeleno’s favorite art god, Ed Ruscha.
Ed Ruscha is best known as a painter, I suppose, but this is unfortunate. His photography shakes the ground we walk on…perhaps the reason for the earthquakes in LA? Ruscha’s photography made me rethink imagery and beauty more than any other artist. He is the undisputed king of deadpan and cool. What makes something beautiful? If you start thinking about it, almost anything, given context. And that idea alone is most beautiful.
As I dove into hundreds of books about painters in my thirties, I dove into the world of photography as well. Ed Ruscha, William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Gregory Crewdson, and the experimental work of David Hockney all pulled me in, as did Robert Frank, Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, and Walker Evans.
One day, and I don’t recall how, I discovered a book of the work of a relatively unknown photographer from Texas named Bill Wood. Bill’s photos blew my mind. Bill’s story is fascinating, and I’d highly recommend his book, Bill Wood’s Business.
About eight or nine years ago, I took a trip with my friend, Linda, to Rochester, NY, to visit the George Eastman Museum. I was there to view some images from the 60’s and 70’s in the museum’s archives. A fellow artist, Linda was working on an idea for a piece based on a Phenakistiscope. This was one cool photographic invention. We had an appointment to view one of these rare devices in the basement of the museum, in their equipment archives. This was a special treat. The steward of the collection, a gentleman who’d been working in the basement for forty years, doesn’t get many visitors, and he was happy…let’s say eager, to show us some rare objects. At one point, he handed me a Brownie camera. Original price, $1.00. He was actually handing me the very first Brownie. Crazy. In the middle of the room was a giant camera, mounted in a sturdy metal structure. With it was a developed roll of film. Just the roll, no prints. He unrolled a portion of it and within each frame was merely a space with a circle in the middle. “What’s that?” His response, ”Earth.” This was the camera that went to space and took the first photos of our planet and here was the roll of film. I still shake my head at the events of that day.
All these years, I thought about photography, hung around photographers, and loved their work, but I didn’t often consider making photography. I took photos for the sake of my paintings, so I’ve always felt comfortable looking through the viewfinder, considering compositions within the frame. But that was the extent of it.
A few years ago, I finally bought a professional camera, and found I quite liked the feel of it. I took some photos on occasion and started thinking more about my place in this realm. The fact that I wasn’t trained in Photography gave me pause. I’ve always had this tendency, and in most things, or possibly all things, I have no training. I wasn’t trained in oils or watercolors, and I often wondered about my place in those realms as well.
It’s been a slow tour, but I’ve finally arrived at the place this journey was always headed. I’ve been taking photos with intent over the past couple years. A few months ago, on one of my stays in Oxford, MS, I got to visit with the photographers Langdon Clay and Maude Schuyler Clay, and their daughter, Sophia Clay. I fell for them right away and they’ve quickly become some of my favorite people. Langdon and Maude live in the Mississippi Delta, a place rich in soil and soul. One day, I was staying in the Delta and I got a call from Langdon, inviting me to join he, Maude and Sophia on a sunrise photo excursion. I jumped at the chance, and I couldn’t believe I got to drive around, taking golden hour photos with these wonderful artists. This was one of the most wonderful and memorable days of my life.
At the time of writing this, I’ve just gotten back from LA, where I inspected my first prints at ICON LA. I’m so excited about this new chapter in my art-making. Its fresh and scary and magical. I’m attaching some of my images below, and all of these, as well as all images on my Photography page, are now available as prints. If you have any questions or would like to acquire a piece, feel free to reach out at robert@freecolortv.com.
