Full frame

Rainy weekends are a wonderful excuse to stay in and print all day! Yesterday morning I woke early and decided to get my darkroom into shape. We had been using an old, crappy, bowed particle board desk for far too long as the tray table. NO MORE! It felt so damn good to kick the the life out of that desk once and for all!! I cleaned out the area, organized the chemicals and tools that are in heavy rotation, heaved the old and organized the spare parts for a friend looking to build her own darkroom.

In a house of three printers, we have triple the stuff necessary for a working print studio. As a birthday gift, Craig built me a new stainless steel work table. Unlike the old, the new one stands much higher! I can finally agitate prints on my feet with no stoop in my back! Thrilling for this old granny. This probably reads boring or nerdy but my print game has completely changed thanks to my new table.

Last night I printed up a storm while it rained buckets outside. Filled three orders and experimented with new techniques and new-to-me paper. My local camera shop had sold out of their pearl-finish photo paper so I settled for glossy and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Prints took about three times as long to dry with a slight curl, but the contrast came out so snappy. Le yum, I love me some snappy contrast.

Here is one 9x12" print I shot and hand printed full frame for a good friend. To me this looks straight out of the sixties with her leg slung over the saddle, laced boot wagging, little rubber boots and engineer stripes happily accepting some mama love.

Life is good.

Mama love on Westminster. 9x12" print // Canon EOS 3 //  Delta 100 pro

Goldfinch two-step

Lenny's portrait. Expired 220 NPC 160. Winnipeg, MB.

Sometimes things change simply because the time has come, an inner moment is reached for reasons one cannot explain--whether grief takes six months or six decades or, as in our case, eight years. Something latent in the body awakens. Sorghum seeds can lie dormant for six thousand years and then stir themselves! It happens all the time in nature; we should not be surprised when it happens in human nature.

* excerpt from Anne Michaels' The Winter Vault / page 60 / a weathered favorite of mine

Joan's spirit has passed to the other side. Free bird. She would have approved of the memorial service held in her honour methinks. Beautiful flowers, hundreds of super fans, raisin buns, not to mention her two sons' delivery of their tribute to their mom which caused the entire congregation to erupt countless times. Contagious laughter at a funeral. True to Joan form, even in death. Up until the moment a gentleman with an enormous singing voice took to the stage to bellow out How Great Thou Art, I was in disbelief that a woman of such vitality and laughter could be gone so swiftly. Must it be? Muss es sein? It must be! Es muss sein! Then when those first bars of that hymn (long embedded within me) came, so did the tears of acknowledgment; for her pain is finished. While my sorrow is a drop in the bucket--comparatively--it is strange to be back in this place.

Nightly, I have been laying my home projects and busyness to rest to retire for the last light of evening in what has quickly become my favorite room in the house, the sun porch. In the spirit of Joan, Linda and Marj--three great fallen matriarchs--three beeswax candles remain alight until bedtime. Fire restores.

There has been plenty of good too. May and June, my favorite months, the Hopefuls I call them, have arrived. Productivity rises, Lilacs bloom and fade as the next round of flora emerges to take over the neighborhood (peonies!), the light lingers, clothes come off, socks lay long forgotten. I have been shooting photos again, after a stretch of repose. I am trying to pick up my big camera more to actively capture the magic hour at home. The other day while home alone, I was sitting in my porch with my Kiev in my lap when a sauntering man caught my eye. It had been quite some time since I shot a stranger's portrait so I sauntered down the walk to meet him. I asked for his name and he replied, Lenny. I replied, Hey Lenny, you don't have to hide your beer, it makes the shot. Oh no, I couldn't, he said. After explaining I only had one frame left on my roll, I asked for his portrait and this is what he gave. Then he sauntered southbound on Victor, shirt tails flapping in the wind.

Summer is in.
Here is a look in.

* Kiev 60 // expired 220 NPC 160

Heavy canopy

Lovely mystery blossoms of Montreal 2011. Nikon F3 // Kodak 400 vanilla 

In times of personal grief, frustration and angst, I continue to find myself self soothing with solitude, candlelight and stillness. Two dear women in my life are fighting for their lives at the moment. While one is dying slowly and painfully surrounded by love, the other is experiencing pain on the opposite end of the spectrum (in good health) as she wades away from love towards total independence; both are fighting hard as the strong women we have always known them to be.

With the house empty of it's usual hustle and bustle, I sat alone in the stillness of my front porch last night, thinking of my loved ones who are experiencing deep physical and emotional pain at present time. Sending out energy and deep love into the wind running fingers through the new green canopy above, that is all one can do in solitude. I love you Joan, I love you Erin.

Two wise women once told me on separate occasions that the moment you allow yourself to feel energized by wind on your skin, you are free. Perhaps that means little to some, though absorbing the concept at the time shifted my perception in the power of the elements and continues to amaze me each time I tune in. Air, Water, Earth, Fire. I draw energy from these elements especially in times of crisis. While we will all pass away sooner or later, the reality of anticipating the end to a very spirited life is a heavy one.

It is never easy to let go of love, even when the time is nigh.

Praise's portrait

Praise's portrait. Winnipeg, MB / Olympus 35-SP // Portra 400

MP for TC

Thank you to Kenneth, Natalie (and Emma) for sharing their beautiful studio space with us!

Here lies a colorful spread of some of my favorite looks from the Tony Chestnut SS14 campaign. Nice mix of 35mm and 120 for good measure. This was a magical collaboration of talent, a complete joy to capture model Akos Knowles in Jill's beautiful hand crafted spring wear and a lovely introduction to editorial photography (well, my own take on editorial photography :)). Enjoy!

Visit Tony Chestnut's online shop HERE and website HERE to order today!


Margot Pollo for Tony Chestnut

Kiev 60 // 120 Portra 400 / Ektar 100
Nikon F3 // ibid

Rooster

Rooster's portrait.  Kiev 60 // Delta 400 Pro

Shelly Chronicles: Maxipad on wheels

On the road with Lisa and Shelly.

Tamale.

Officer Margot could kill a man with those legs.

Yooooooowho Lil Fox.

Mark Rogers to the rescue.

I asked for this portrait and this is what he gave.

Tina's nonstop serenade suited us fine. Doll by Winnipeg artist Suzie Smith :)

Who gave these two assclowns permission to leave the province? WE DID. And we had a flippen' ball while we were at it. Friendly Manitoba to Worst-Case-Ontario. Four days of chaos, sing alongs, roaring fires and much laughter. Dear old Shelly, Lisa's '75 Ford Funcraft took a few necessary breathers on the side of the 17 highway but we were always rescued in no time by beautiful characters willing to have their portraits taken after the old gal roared back to life. This trip was hysterical and necessary for two friends reunited after many moons apart. Youdon'tevenkna

* Kiev 60 TTL // 220 expired NPC 160

History lessons

We have come a long way / Photo. Lisa King / Near Dryden, Ontario / May 2014

A beautiful place to burn.

Leaving one's mark where one can.

Today's lesson: FUN with Mr. Wendt

Classic King.

This was the place for me.

A hundred year old schoolhouse sits atop a hill in the middle of the bush, perfectly preserved. Time has made it's mark, sure, but charm remains. When Lisa and I rolled up to Johnny Mac's, the new treeplant HQ nestled in the bush just outside of Dryden, Ontario to the northeast, I bee-lined for this very schoolhouse sitting on the edge of the property. Sharp intake of breath upon entering. Soul soaring. Instant peace. The door was unlocked and I stood in awe for many minutes as the smell of time overcame me. Word's cannot express the feeling. I shot many, many rolls in this place though one of them seems to have fallen through the cracks. While enjoying my solitude in the beautiful space, a young man slipped in unnoticed. He made his presence known with a modest clearing of the throat. I was sitting at a desk, a paper mache apple to my right, writing a letter to Simon when I noticed him. We introduced ourselves. He turned out to be the grandson of the Johnny Mac, John McArthur--the owner of the old one room schoolhouse and the very land it sits upon. Nick, the young man, grew up in those very woods I had just roamed and he was about to embark upon his first season as a treeplanter. (He is most likely rookie planting as I type on this warm Saturday, windows throw open). He kindly shot my portrait with the apple balanced on my head in lucky slanted light. I shot a portrait of him standing at the blackboard, pointing to a message he penned ten years prior to our meeting. It read: Dear Grandpa John, Can I own this school later on? It's amazing. I can't remember the rest from memory now, as the photos we shot of each other were lost in the shuffle. I couldn't help but feel I had stood in that schoolhouse before. Not in this lifetime, but another.

* Kiev 60 / 220 expired NPC 160

Soft handouts

There is something to these photographs of Maya surrounded by bush dogs that I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps it is the presence of softness in this dear woman captured unaware. Ease, idleness and gentleness in a woman filled to the brim with fire, passion and power. Perhaps it is the slight difference in each hound or maybe it is their own ease around Maya. Lead dog. Whatever it is, I like it. What a pleasure to hoof around a muddy bush camp with a camera at ready, free to shoot whomever and whatever struck my fancy as busy bodies prepared for yet another season of hard work in the bush.

* Kiev 60 / 120 Delta 100 Pro

Milk toast

Jackson is in finest form early in the morning, as he happily announces to his mama and I that our coffee is noticeably HOT (silent T) and that he is ready for his daily cheese ration by banging on the fridge and hooting until he is totally satisfied. (That kid would eat cheese all the live long day if left to his own devices). I will cherish these self timer shots of us, chicken haired and fresh faced.

Jackson Samuel - 12 months, two weeks old
Megan Dawn - 28 years, 3 weeks old

* Olympus - 35 SP / Portra 400