I have been without laptop for the past three days, the good news being I have a much better one now. I've beat on the old computer for years, putting out five books on those keys, many of which were worn down so much there was just white spots left. This one is has the i7 processor, solid state drive and 14 gigs of RAM. Works pretty good.
The next print in the Mexico series is one I took along the Malecon near sunset, when the tourists from the cruise ship had been bused back to their ship at the end of the peer seen in the background. The local begin to come out, gathering along the Malecon, after work or with family. This shot was a young man just off work, sitting on the sea wall looking out over the water, seemingly content just to be there. What drew me to this shot was the juxtaposition of elements. The tree forms the zone 1 weight to the print. The main character being the young man in the middle foreground, sitting on the wall. The other subjects near the sea wall are in shadow, with only the people near the water being lit from the late afternoon sunlight.
I have to say I am enjoying this form of photographing, once again. It's been many years, in the early and mid eighties photographing people, many wino's along Burnside, sleeping in doorways and the like. That district has been greatly altered, cleaned up and updated with galleries, restaurants and shops now. These images were of a very different kind, obviously, not just in subject matter, but in the casual way I was able to get these shots. The locals were not altered by my being there, nor photographing.
Most of these images are also taken late afternoon, near sunset. The lighting is everything, and interpreting the light quality via printing is the focus now. This print was a 9 minute print, developed in sodium acetate, then toned in palladium toner. I seem to be running through a crappy batch of paper as the past three prints have had some sort of paper flaw or flect or line show up, after developing, not anytime during coating or when it was dry. Really annoying.
I have worked diligently in trying to match the tonal and light quality of the actual print. I believe I'm pretty close anyway. The feel of the image seems to be correct. And taht tends to make me want to reprint the image, depending on how the print looks to me after full dry down. For now it is what it is. Being I only do one print of any mimage now, it has to be perfect before it's finished.
Palladium toned Kallitype
"The Sea Wall" 11"x1\4"
Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico
