Washburn Library Show Hung

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Les

On Tuesday, Becky and I hung my pictures in the Washburn Public Library. When we were done, we took time to stand back and appreciate/critic.

Seeing my work displayed in a public space was a revelation. I realized that the pictures had taken on a life of their own. Now, they will be viewed and experienced by strangers that I will never meet.

When I wrote my artist’s statement for the show, I knew intellectually what I was setting in motion, but not emotionally. With my pictures on formal display the emotional reality solidified.

Over last weekend, as I worked on the statement, Becky was my muse. When I thought I had a reasonable draft I read it to her. I had just gotten through the first paragraph when she interrupted me with, “And I want to thank my mother, my director, my accountant, my gardener …” mimicking an Oscars acceptance speech. At another point she snored. I got the point and threw it away and started over. She was right, I was being pretentious and boring. In the end, I wrote the shortest artists statement that I think that I’ve seen and, perhaps, the most direct.

Here it is:

Photography is an integral part of who I am.

I can’t walk down a street without seeing the color, texture, beauty,
and drama of the world around me. Whether it is someone waiting for a
bus or the light filtering through the trees, I see history,
relationships and composition.

I see stories.

My photography and image making is an attempt to communicate with you,
the viewer, some of what I see and experience. My pictures provide
visual clues but you provide the emotional and intellectual content.

In this way, I provide pictures for your stories.

After seeing how my images responded to the spaces in the library, I made five more of the larger 13 x 19 prints to add to the show: three are new and two replace smaller
8.5 x 11 versions. I’ll get them from the framer by Monday and hang them on Tuesday.

I’m working with Frame Ups, a local framing company. They have two shops, one not far from my house and the other in Saint Paul. The folks there have been very helpful.
Their web is http://www.frameups.net/ .  If you need matting and framing, please check them out.

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Photo Show to Open March 1

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Les

It is coming together very nicely!

I’ve got most of the prints finished and being matted and mounted.

The show is at the Washburn Public Library. It’s a lovely place and has three distinct areas, each with its own light environment: semi-circular periodical reading room, children’s library, and main library space. I’m hanging three sets of photos so that each area has it’s own theme. One set focuses on the steamboat Minnehaha, another on France, and the third is a mix, primarily of Brazil.

I’ll be displaying about 15 images at the Washburn Public Library for the month of March. The particulars are:

Location:  Washburn Public Library
           5244 Lyndale Ave. S.
           Minneapolis , 55419
Hours:     Sunday and Monday - Closed
           Tuesday and Thursday - 12-8
           Wednesday, Friday and Saturday - 10-6.

I’ll be hanging the photos on Tuesday, 03/01.

If you are in the Twin Cities, please stop by the Washburn library and check it out.
If you can’t make it, still go to your public library and look around.
Our public libraries need all of our support.

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Snow Day and Progress on Library Show

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Les 
Station Master, Wayzata Station,
Wayzata Historical Society,
09/06/2010

I’m looking out my office window and watching the first wave of another major winter storm engulf Minneapolis. Heavy snow blows horizontally along the street. The bare pavement, cleared by the recent February thaw, is already hidden under the sterile white of winter’s return.

It’s a good day to savor a cup or two of coffee and take stock of the week.

The show for the Washburn Public Library is coming together nicely. I’ve printed most of the images and delivered them and the frames to a local frame shop where the matting and assembly will occur. It is a spendy way to prepare but, for this once, it takes the pressure off and allows me to focus on what I do best: photography and writing. Jim Earley, who is a good friend and a noted life coach, is fond of saying that a person should spend their energy wisely: focus on what you do best, it’s the value added that earns your living, and delegate the less productive tasks to someone else who can do them better and faster.

In the future, when deadlines aren’t pressing, I will do some of my own matting and framing for the simple pleasure of using my hands.

I hang the show, March 1st and it will be on display through out the month.

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Preparing for Show

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Les

I’ve been busy preparing for my month-long show at the Washburn Public Library. The library has three spaces, each with it’s own unique lighting environment. I’ve been to the library twice to evaluate the spaces and to see how my my photos look in the various lighting. I’m displaying a mix of 8.5″ x 11″ and 13″ x 19″ format prints.

I’m working on three themes, one for each space: Steamboat Minnehaha, Impressions of Brazil, and Impressions of France. The image that accompanies this post shows one of the volunteers, a certified boiler engineer, standing beside the triple reciprocal steam engine that powers the Minnehaha.

I do most of my digital lab work at home, using Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 and then take the files to the Minneapolis Photo Center for final tweaking and then printing. MPC is an incredible resource. As a member, I have access to a top notch digital lab with MAC systems, large format Epson pro digital pigment ink printers, cold mounting equipment, film scanners, and much more. MPC also offers a wet lab for silver -based photography, wonderful studio space, and all the necessary supplies.

MPC also provides a place where the photographic community gathers for lectures, workshops, and gallery shows. When I go to work in the MPC digital lab I am almost certain to meet and chat with other professional photographers and artists.

Another valuable MPC resource is Tom Arndt’s F-Stop Group. Arndt, a noted photographer, facilitates a monthly meeting in which twenty to thirty photographers gather to show recent work and critic each other. The comments are respectful and thoughtful. In addition, Tom often has a guest speaker who provides insight into some aspect of the art and profession of photography.

My show at the Washburn library is to some degree a result of my membership in MPC.

For info about the Minneapolis Photo Center — http://www.mplsphotocenter.com/

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Winterized

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Les

In front of the boat barn that houses the steamboat Minnehaha, there is a parking lot full of old machinery. Jammed check to jowl, vintage olive drab World War II trucks, a red crane, and other iron ghosts sit beneath the overcast sky. They wear multicolored coats of faded paint and rust, trimmed with rounded collars of white snow, the royal ermine of winter.

I was told that in spite of their apparent ruined condition most were functional. I can vouch for one of the trucks, the one with the word WINTERIZED on its grill. It is the workhorse that pulled the boat trailer used to remove the Minnehaha from the water last September and will return her to the lake in May.

This photo is my first attempt at HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. HDR is a method that combines multiple images, with different exposures, into a single image with an expanded range of tonality. It can provide extremely fine detail in the shadows, mid tones and highlights along with a richness of color, tone, and texture that can take your breath away.

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Minnehaha: Inspecting the Boiler

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Les

In the warm shadows of the boat barn, the steamboat Minnehaha rests in the cradle of her five axle trailer. A skirt of plastic sheeting surrounds her from the waterline down.

The boat barn is three stories tall. At one end is the electric door that slides up into the rafters. Now the door is closed, protecting the boat from the cold white world outside. A few work lamps imitate the hidden sun. The space is rich in shadows.

John, one of the volunteers that spend their Saturday mornings preparing the Minnehaha for the coming season, greets me as I climb the stairs to the horse shoe shaped landing that provides access to the boat’s deck and cabin. John’s been a volunteer for 18 years, his skills as a plumber have been welcome.

He gives me a tour of the boat and a quick education about the steam engine that powers her. The engine is a  triple expansion type. It uses three cylinders of different diameters (7″, 12″ and 17″) to ring as much power out of the steam from the boiler as is possible. The steam leaves the boiler at a pressure of 180 psi (pounds per square inch) and enters the engine’s first and smallest cylinder. There the steam first drives the piston down and then through some clever 19th century engineering drives the piston back up. This delivers two powerful strokes to the drive shaft that turns the propeller.

The steam then goes to the second cylinder. Because of the work done in the first cylinder, the steam has less pressure, i.e. energy, and is unable to repeat the same effort in a cylinder of equal size. That is why the second cylinder has a larger diameter. Again the double stroke occurs. In the third and largest cylinder, the steam, now down to about 35 psi, is coaxed to deliver its last bit of work.

I learned later that this was the same type of engine that powered the Titanic.

A bit later, John and another volunteer, Fred, discuss work that must be done on the boiler. They hang over the railings, on either side of the engine pit, and look at the open boiler door: some bolts need to be replaced, the fire bricks have been replaced, etc. Literally the nuts and bolts of maintaining a steam engine.

This is a photo of Fred looking into the boiler.

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