Saturday October 8, 2011

WARREN CONNECTICUT – Twelve or so years ago I did a series of projects where i set a camera up on a tripod and took an image each hour over a 24-hour period. I generally used a 4×5 view camera, but also an 8×19 view camera and a 35mm (generally my Leica M7). I typically shot images that were set up to mimic a well known piece of art, “appropriating” the organization and subject matter. For example I did a 24 hour series at our pool in Connecticut and a Balinese statue after Jennifer Bartlett’s study of her pool in Italy. (See Jennifer Bartlett pool for example.) I stopped doing the 24 hour sequences after I went digital. The fact that you can put a digital camera on a tripod and set it to take a picture every hour made it too easy and took the life out of these projects;

Enter the Alpa and the Phase One IQ 180 back. The aesthetic is similar to 4×5 or 8×10 and it’s entirely manual – you really can’t automate taking a 24 hour sequence. So I decided to give a 24-hour project a try. No reference to any only other works of art – just a shot of a tree line at our place in Connecticut. I shot 24 images, one each hour from late afternoon October 8 through late afternoon October 9. I’m please with the results and have resolved a couple of technical issues, so I’m starting work on a serious series, again borrowing from a well-known work. Here’s the image from 5:57 PM (local time). My self-imposed rule is that all images need to be taken within 10 minutes plus or minus the hour. Precision (i.e. exactly on the hour) really isn’t possible because of the vagaries of cat napping and so on. I’m pleased with the results so I’m searching for a project with a fine arts referent. By the way, I’ve also included an image of the Alpa set up to capture the tree line.

On this day one year ago: Seagrams.