Parallax / 2020 -2022

Often in the Spring (before the leaves appear) as I walk around my neighborhood in Portland, Maine, I am intrigued by the powerful tree shadow/shapes. A few years back, I shot one or two rolls of medium format color negative film, but was not satisfied with the results. The prints stubbornly read as: a section of a house with a tree shadow in it; which of course, it is. But it wasn’t the subject matter that intrigued me. I was after a more complex visual feeling that I was having when looking at the scene.

In late February, 2020 I decide to try photographing my shadow shapes again. I think maybe I’m looking up too much; and maybe the perspective is throwing it off. Therefore, I put a ladder in my car and go around the block. I shoot medium format color negative again. But this time I decide to shoot square, intuitively thinking a square may read as more abstract.

I drop off my roll at the local camera store and have the 12 images printed 4x4 inches with a white border. At home I lay out a sequence of nine that look well together. The photographs are still the same subject matter but, they read much more as a metaphor this time, especially in a sequence. I load another roll of film, and continue my neighborhood photographing. It’s now early March– yes, just before COVID-19.

My exposed 2nd roll of film is in my refrigerator, unprocessed for months. I have several former students, now friends, who volunteer to grocery shop and do errands for me. I feel very fortunate. I ask one friend if/when she goes to Photo Market, she would drop-off my film. “Sure,” she says “I’ll be going soon.” I put the film in an envelope and write explicit directions as to the size and paper I want. Months go by. Finally I get a call that my film is ready. I recognize the voice of the person who calls me as he’s worked at the store for awhile. It’s just about closing time when he calls. Uncharacteristically for me, I ask him where he lives— thinking if he lives near me maybe he’d drop my film off. I’m desperate to see this second roll!

About 45 minutes later, he leaves the package on my porch. I excitedly open the package and I’m quite disappointed, as they forgot the white borders. However, instantly, I forget all about that! and I immediately start making my composite photographs. With the borders gone, everything looks and feels much closer to how I was experiencing the shadows. It even took me a couple days to notice that they gave me 2 prints of one image—in the first composite above.

If you are curious, you can see the roots of this work realized in black and white photos from2 previous projects in the Montage/Experimental heading.