The Valise [pinhole photograph]
early October 2007, Maine
(click in the image for a larger version)
This is the last image (for awhile, anyway) from an ongoing series called Artifacts of an Uncertain Origin. All the images in this series are pinhole photographs made with a ZeroImage 6x9 multi-format camera. The selective sepia toning is all done in Photoshop. Click the Pinhole link on the right in the Categories section to see more from this series. I have photographed a couple of new ones in the past several days but it will be a few weeks at least before the negs are developed and I have time to get to them.
Behind the Scenes
When I was in Maine in late September/early October, I purchased two old valises in a huge, crammed-to-the-rafters three level junk and antique shop with the specific intention of using them for this series. The one in this photo was designated to be the "stunt valise" since it was very musty and dusty. It probably had mold spores hiding in it and was not the place where you'd want to pack anything good. This, and the price ($10) made it a perfect candidate for getting wet which was the idea I had in mind since I knew that I would be heading north to Acadia National Park where picuresque, easily accessible shorelines abound. The second valise that I purchased was much nicer and was never subjected to being submerged in a tide pool or sloshed by the incoming waves of the rising sea.
Once on location in Acadia, I discovered that the valise floated much more readily than I had anticipated (now there's craftsmanship for you!), so to get it to stay put in the tide pool and also to prevent it from being washed away once the more vigorous waves began rushing in, I filled it with about 30 pounds of large rocks. And, to address an obvious question that this image may raise: yes, my feet did get a little wet during this photo session, but the camera was always whisked away just before the surging surf reached it.
When I was done with the photo, my original plan was to throw it out in a dumpster, but it was still in pretty decent shape, in spite of its ocean voyage, and I kept thinking that a stunt valise might just come in handy for future photo projects. You just never know. So I packed it up in a box and had it shipped home to California. I was a little leery of the fact that it had gotten wet and might sprout mold during the cross-country journey in a stuffy truck. When it arrived, my suspicions proved correct and the parts that had been in the water sported the furry coat of an active mold community. Fortunately, it cleaned up well enough and ever since it has been designated as an outdoor valise (with its mold history I'm not about to bring it inside). The dry weather of our autumn and now the freezing temperatures of a snowy winter have kept the mold from returning. One of these days it just may end up in another photograph. Or perhaps play a supporting role in a surreal garden tableau.
Upcoming Creative Collage Workshops
If you live in California near Monterey, Santa Cruz, or the San Francisco Bay Area, then you may be interested in a new weekend class that has just been added to my schedule. I'll be teaching a 2-day version of my Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop workshop at the Monterey Adult School on March 1st and 2nd.
For a more in-depth exploration of this subject, with plenty of time to work on your own images, I have a 5-day version of this same workshop that I'll be teaching June 2 - 6 at the excellent Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging on the central California coast near San Luis Obispo. These classes tend to fill fast, especially at that time of year, so if you are interested in participating, click the class title for a link to the workshop's page at the Lepp Institute site. The computer lab at the Lepp Institute is really first rate, with fast Windows computers kitted out with dual monitors and Canon 5100 printers (as well as larger format printers adjacent to the main lab area). Tiered stadium seating ensures that everyone has a clear view of the main screen. I've taught there several times over the past five years and I always look forward to going back. It is truly one of the best digital lab facilities I've taught at.
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