Inspirations #31: Frederick Sommer

Frederick Sommer once stated, "Climatic conditions in the West give things time to decay and come apart slowly. They beautifully exchange characteristics from one to another."

I have always admired the photographic work of Frederick Sommer. Early in my photographic career I tended towards landscapes. Over time I became disenfranchised with landscapes, too often, just pretty pictures. After seeing the work of Edward Weston for the first time, my eyes were opened up to the possibilities presented by photographing “that which has been overlooked, forgotten, or looked at, but not seen.” Mr. Sommer also had this revelation after seeing Weston’s work, albeit 50 years before I had seen it.

Some of his most noted photographs are of weathered carcasses of desert animals near his home in Prescott, AZ. However, these images were sometimes not popular with the general public.

Jack Rabbit, 1939, Frederick Sommer

Coyotes, 1945, Frederick Sommer

After moving to the Arizona myself in 2005 I became aware of the brutal life cycle of the desert. On many of my walks I would spot something that had been run over by a vehicle… snakes, birds, lizards, rabbits. I was amazed that after repeatedly being crushed by heavy motor vehicles that the remains almost become part of the road. When the carcass was easily removed from the road surface I would collect them and bring them home, keeping them in the garage, much to my wife’s dismay. After collecting several specimens over several years, and recently putting our home up for sale, my wife gave me an ultimatum, “Get rid of those things, or photograph them, and then get rid of them!” And so, I did.

 Baby Bird, 2013 © Richard M. Coda

 Lizard, 2013 © Richard M. Coda 

 Rabbit, 2013 © Richard M. Coda 

 Rattlesnake, 2013 © Richard M. Coda 

 Baby Rattlesnake, 2013 © Richard M. Coda 

 Snake, 2013 © Richard M. Coda

These images will be part of an ongoing project called “Crushed”… animate and inanimate objects that have been crushed by motor vehicles. These objects would include the ubiquitous aluminum can, in all its various permutations, signs, bottles, you name it… if it can be crushed by a car, I will photograph it.

Inspirations #30: Grandma's Curtains

Well, it's been a long time since my last post... been real busy with work. Not much time for photography... you know the drill. Anyway...

I had the opportunity to use my large format cameras only 4 times in the past 15 months. Once on a field trip with Rod Klukas to Sedona. Once to drop my daughter off at college in Pittsburgh, and twice during the Spring when my wife had some church gatherings to attend. On one of these gatherings I used the time to photograph the Tempe Mill – a place I had been wanting to photograph for a few years now.

I only had an hour and had to park a few blocks away. I carried my 4x5 small bag (I also have a large bag which I left in the car), tripod, vest and film the three blocks and set the camera up. After setting the first shot up I realized that I had left my light meter in the large bag... which was still in the car. Rather than tear everything down, go back and get the meter, I decided to see if there were any light meter apps available for the iPhone. I was lucky and there were two. I downloaded them and, after 15 minutes of trying to figure out how they worked, came up with an exposure. The exposure "seemed" to be accurate so I went with my instincts and made the exposures.

One of these exposures caused me to have a flashback to 1983 and my grandmother's house. I had gone to visit my grandparents, who were in their late 70s and early 80s at the time, and to take their portraits with my 4x5" camera. I also took a photo of their curtains, which had a soft, glowing quality (or "glowacious" as Randy Efros relayed to me how Brett Weston used to say) to them. Anyway, after seeing the negative from the Mill after development I immediately went to find the negative from Grandma's house some 20 years ago. The results are strikingly similar even though one is made of concrete and over one hundred feet tall, and the other is made of linen and a only few feet tall.

Tempe Mill, Phoenix, AZ, May, 2013 © Richard M. Coda

Grandma's Curtains, Maplewood, NJ, 1983 © Richard M. Coda

Inspirations #29: Henry Gilpin, 1922-2011

Highway 1, 1963 © Henry Gilpin

Henry Gilpin is a familiar name on the Monterey Peninsula in California. He was an educator, a photographer, a citizen, but most of all, a gentleman.

He was a contemporary of Ansel Adams, Brett Weston and Morley Baer, all of the "West Coast School" of photography, made popular by Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and others years earlier. He took his duty as a citizen so seriously that he joined the Monterey County Sherrif's Department in 1952. He taught photography at Monterey Peninsula Community College for 37 years. It is hard to put a number on the photographers that he has taught or influenced. He definitely influenced me.

I remember my first trip to the Peninsula in 1984... a journey to walk in the footsteps of the masters who had preceded me. Henry's most famous image (above) was one of the images that made me want, excuse me, NEED, to visit this beautiful place to see if I could make photographs worthy of it. My first attempt was "Sea Lion Cove" that year. One thing I see now, looking back at that first trip, was how overwhelming it is "your first time". Your senses are bombarded by the beauty of nature at every turn. I think I exposed just over 80 4x5" negatives in just 4 days.

Sea Lion Cove, Pt. Lobos, CA, 1984 © Richard M. Coda

If you have ever been on Highway 1 in Big Sur or just south of San Francisco, you know that every turn can "kill you". The road, built in the 1920s-30s, hugs the coast and has wicked hairpin turns, often just inches from a 300 foot fall to your death. The first time I took my wife on the road (1989) from San Francisco to Carmel, she almost became ill.

My next trip in 1986 produced this image, an 8x10" negative.

Garrapata, CA, 1986 © Richard M. Coda

On a trip in 1987 I made the image below. You can see Highway 1 in the top left of the frame.

Big Sur Coast, CA, 1987 © Richard M. Coda

The photographic community is saddened at the news of Henry's passing on December 13, but he leaves behind a legacy of photographs to inspire future generations of photographers. I am very proud to have Henry's "Highway 1" hanging in my living room. It is an image I will always treasure.

Inspirations #28: Bill Fuller - Urban Architecture

Chicago Athletic Association, 1981 © William W. Fuller

As I have mentioned in the past, I used to photograph landscapes when I started in photography. Over the years I have been drawn to more urban subjects, especially abstracting modern architecture.

San Francisco, CA, 1987 © William W. Fuller

I recently met and befriended Bill Fuller through INFOCUS at the Phoenix Art Museum. Bill is a very interesting guy, a well-educated and self-taught photographer who has several large bodies of work, including "The City - A Formalist View of American Urban Architecture". I first became aware of his work a few years ago when I saw it in Lenswork and B&W Magazine. I loved the way to brought order to chaos in the city by reducing the scene to basic components of shape, line and tone. I noticed a similarity in the way we both photographed urban architecture, but also some significant differences.

Seattle, Washington, 2008 © William W. Fuller

Bill generally shoots from a distance and his subjects are very large. Although there are angles in his work he prefers straight on and he rarely includes the street or street view.

First Presbyterian Church of Phoenix, AZ, 2011 © Richard M. Coda

I, on the other hand, prefer to get in closer and almost always include a diagonal line in the composition. I often include reflections as the main focal point, as well. My subjects are smaller and a fair amount of the time I include the street or street view. See this blog post for some 2008 images from Phoenix.

From Chase Plaza, Phoenix, AZ © 2011 Richard M. Coda

Dodge Building Reflections, Phoenix, AZ © 2011 Richard M. Coda

But there are times when we have a very similar approach to our images.

Embarcadero, San Francisco, 2000 © William W. Fuller (left);
Phoenix Skyscrapers, AZ, 2011 © Richard M. Coda (right)

Tempe, AZ, 2008 © William W. Fuller (left);
14850, Scottsdale, AZ, 2008 © Richard M. Coda (right)

Long Beach, CA, 1999 © William W. Fuller (left);
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, 2011 © Richard M. Coda (right)

Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, CA, 2003 © William W. Fuller (left);
Downtown, Phoenix, AZ, 2008 © Richard M. Coda (right)

Chicago, IL, 1987 © William W. Fuller (left);
Chrysler Building, NY, 2005 © Richard M. Coda (right)

All of my images made before 2011 are purely coincidence, or an instance of great minds thinking alike. My images from 2011 were inspired by Bill.

I recently designed a website for Bill at www.williamwfuller.com. Please visit it to see his wonderful body of images.

Inspirations #27: Rocks

Earlier in my photographic journey I lived for landscapes, often traveling very far to get what I thought I was after. Living in NJ for all of my life (at that point) I was always searching for a wider view, which is very hard to get in the Garden State, except at the beach. Starting in 1983 I took my vacation every year in California, the epicenter of great landscape photography.

During my 1987 trip I had read about the Pinnacles National Monument. It had been described as a "mini Yosemite" where you could sometimes have the park almost to yourself. The park is actually half of the park... the other half is 195 miles to the southeast. The San Andreas fault had split the park some 223 million years ago and ever since it has migrated northwest to its present location. So, I made the trip one day and was not disappointed. The day I was there I exposed maybe two dozen sheets of film, and most came out pretty well. I think I crossed paths with 10 souls that day... nothing like the droves of people at Yosemite.

The park is very hikable, and even if you want to go vertical it's not that bad - unless you're carrying 40 pounds of gear with you! But I was 27 and in good shape so I couldn't complain. This image was made about half way up my hike to the summit.

Pinnacles National Monument, CA, 1987 by Richard M. Coda

Wonderland of Rocks, 1937 by Edward Weston

Moon and Half Dome, 1960 by Ansel Adams

Inspirations #25: Ansel Adams, Riverside

Seven Springs, AZ, 2010 by Richard M. Coda

OK, since attending the Ansel Adams preview last week I have him on the brain. There were many wonderful prints of both his well-known and not-so-well-known images. Two of my favorites are Merced River, Cliffs, Autumn, 1939 and Tenaya Creek, Dogwood, Rain, 1948. There were several prints of each at the show.

Merced River, Cliffs, Autumn, 1939 by Ansel Adams

Tenaya Creek, Dogwood, Rain, 1948 by Ansel Adams

On my recent field trip with John Prouty and Juan Garcia to the Seven Springs Campground and Tonto National Forest I took the first "landscape" I have taken in a very long time. By landscape I mean something Ansel Adams might have taken. Most of my work in the past five years has been urban in nature, and, as I have stated before, as I approach 50 I find myself being drawn to the comfort of landscapes.

This image was actually my first image of 2010, taken with the 8x10" on TMax 400. Of course, mine is no comparison to Ansel's images but when I saw it I immediately thought of these two images. The more I look at it I wish I had made it a horizontal image. I remember doing that initially and something bothered me so I switched the back to vertical. I just can't remember why... I guess I'll have to go back and photograph it again.

Inspirations #24: Moonrise

OK, there's been this big discussion over on largeformatphotography.info about why Ansel Adams' Moonrise, Hernandez, NM is his most sold image. The answer, basically, is that is just drop-dead beautiful. It is a haunting image, and based on Adams' writings, it haunted him in the darkroom. For those of you who don't know, the original contact print looks nothing like the finished print, and even the finished print evolved over the decades. The amount of work that went into the final print is astonishing and has probably not been rivaled since, nor will it ever be.

Moonrise, Hernandez, NM, 1941 by Ansel Adams (finished print)

Moonrise, Hernandez, NM, 1941 by Ansel Adams (straight print)

Every photographer has their own personal Moonrise, whether it is actually a moonrise or a completely different subject matter. Moonrise has come to be defined as a photographer's iconic image... the image that he or she becomes known for. I have been told that my Moonrise is Whaler's Cove, Pt. Lobos,CA 1984. But, I actually have a real Moonrise.

Ansel Adams had other Moonrises, too... Moonrise from Glacier Point, Yosemite NP, CA,

Moonrise from Glacier Point, Yosemite NP, CA, 1953? by Ansel Adams

Autumn Moon, the High Sierra from Glacier Point, Yosemite NP, CA, 1948 by Ansel Adams

In 1989 I spent a month in California, renting a house in Carmel so I could photograph and immerse myself in the rich photographic history of this beautiful place. A college friend of mine, Alan Grossman, flew out with me as he had a wedding to go to in Palo Alto the next week. So that first week we went to Yosemite. Neither of us had ever been there before and we were awe-struck. You drive around the loop in the Valley and all you can do is look straight up, and not in front of you where you should be, and say Oh, my God! It is truly one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Towards the end of our stay we had heard there would be a good moonrise and that Glacier Pt. was the place to be. So Alan and I photographed in the Valley during the morning and after lunch headed up to Glacier Pt. so we could stake out our spot. Of course, there were many other photographers there with the same idea.

As it started to get dark (and cold) we were set up and I was able to make the image below.

Moonrise, Glacier Pt., Yosemite NP, CA, 1989 by Richard M. Coda (final print)

After I came home 3 weeks later I developed the film. There was so much range in the negative that I could never print it. See my earlier post about how digital saved this image. Below is the original straight scan from the negative. I can truly appreciate the work Ansel Adams put into his Moonrise now because I've been there. Even digitally, there is a lot of work on this image. Gratefully, it only has to be done once, and not 600-700 times like Ansel had to do!

Moonrise, Glacier Pt., Yosemite NP, CA, 1989 by Richard M. Coda (straight print)

Inspirations #23: Edward Weston - Cypress

When one is visiting the California coast one cannot ignore the cypress trees that make this rugged land their home. The cypress was one of Edward Weston's favorite subjects. I believe he felt a connection with these tenacious conifers, often gnarled in this part of the world from eons of wind. He photographed them equally well as both part of the larger landscape and intimately.

This image of cypress roots has an abstract quality to it, reminding me of flames and even a mountainside or cooled lava flow.

Cypress Root, Pt. Lobos, CA, 1929 by Edward Weston

My father was a printer, and when I was young he would take me to the paper company when he ordered paper. I was fascinated by the entire process, including how paper was made on a commercial scale. I remember receiving a poster of this process from his salesman at the warehouse on the life cycle of a tree (for paper-making purposes, of course). There was an illustration of a redwood with a time line depicting the life of this giant which included the birth of Christ. This fascinated me how something could live that long. And the key to deciphering this was the rings. Rings... also the source of grain.

The image below was taken in the Allan Memorial Grove at Pt. Lobos, most probably in the same area Weston photographed his roots in 1929.

Cypress Grain, Pt. Lobos, CA, 1986 by Richard M. Coda

This image, in addition to being inspired by Weston, was also the result of an image I made on Ellis Island two years earlier of a piece of very weathered plywood. I would love to continue a series on this theme of grain... the life story of trees.

Grain, Ellis Island, NY, 1984 by Richard M. Coda

Inspirations #22: Ansel Adams "Redwoods"

Redwoods are hard... oh, and hard to photograph, too.

It is very hard to find a place where you can get far away enough to encompass the sheer size of a redwood. Ansel Adams was able to find such a place in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in northwestern California.

Redwoods, Bull Flat Creek, CA, 1960 by Ansel Adams

I was not as fortunate to have the time and resources to travel all over California, so instead, during a 1987 trip to Carmel, I finally had the right lighting conditions to photograph this stand of Eucalyptus trees at the junction of Palo Colorado Rd. and Hwy 1 in Big Sur. These trees are beautiful and fragrant, but no match for coast Redwoods.

Highway 1 and Palo Colorado Rd., Big Sur, CA, 1987, by Richard M. Coda

Many people drive past this stand of trees every year, but few, if any, stop to appreciate their simple beauty. I consider myself lucky to have been one of the few.

My first attempt to photograph a redwood resulted (IMHO) in a mediocre image. Others have told me they like this image but I just think that it doesn't "feel" like an image of the greatest [size] of all Flora.

Redwood, Big Basin State Park, CA, 1987 by Richard M. Coda

Inspirations #21: Minor White, Part 1

Minor White (1908-1976) was a contemporary of Ansel Adams. He was also a poet and much of his life centered around the spiritual and mystical. He took Alfred Steiglitz's "Equivalents" to the next level, creating imagery that in effect became a mirror of the photographer himself. Aside from his prolific photographic career he also served as the editor of the influential Aperture magazine and as curator of the George Eastman House in Rochester.

When I was younger I attempted to wrap my brain around his theories, but the realities of life always got in the way. Subconsciously, however, I think Minor White's writings and images left a deep impression on me. I have always thought that images should be able to stand on their own, without text, cute titles or captions, although Minor White employed these, and unlike today where "emerging" artists dictate to the viewer what they are trying to say to the viewer, and that images are, indeed, a reflection (mirror) of the person creating them. I'll let the psychologists try to figure me out, though... I don't have the time or desire.

Moon & Wall Encrustations, Pultneyville, NY, 1964, Minor White

Opus 40, Saugerties, NY, 1988, Richard M. Coda

Urban Removal, Portland, OR, 1939, Minor White

Untitled, Brockville, Ontario, Canada, 1986, Richard M. Coda

I have been inspired by Minor White many times. This is the first part of a series on his inspirations. Look for more in future posts.