TOUCHSTONES

May, 2005

This handrail has a wonderful curving presence. It is the pathway that curves from the top of the hill down to the town center in Newton Stewart. Newton Stewart is the cultural center of the historic Machars region. The floating handrail at the left edge of the image just seems to hang in space. This pathway creates a unique sense of place. It is a remarkable “s” curve of a walkway. One nod to modernity is the handrail down the center. It neatly divides the pathway into two parts allowing foot traffic to move up and down. The line of the handrail moves from the light on the building at the bottom of the hill through the dark in the center back to the light at the top of the hill. I love places where I can make images with multiple vanishing points. For me this image is about moving from light to dark and back into light and the architectural sweep of this handrail.

I came upon this pathway on my way to evening tea my first night in Newton Stewart. After dinner I returned to the B&B, picked up my camera and walked back to see if I could make a photograph. I was able to set up the tripod at the very edge of the pathway. In order to get the full curving handrail on the ground glass I had to use the widest-angle lens (Schneider 120 mm) in my bag. The camera was set about waist high, leveled and essentially used as a point and shoot camera. The image was either going to work or it wasn’t.

As I lay in bed that night contemplating the image I knew I needed to return to the pathway. I needed to see it in the morning light and be sure I had put the camera in exactly the right place. Although I didn’t have the negative in hand to review I had the image in my mind’s eye and I felt that something wasn’t right. When I set the camera up the next morning I recognized what was wrong and solved some of the problems with the second image. The second image is the one that appears in TOUCHSTONES. The light is a little brighter at each end of the path and the floating handrail doesn’t encroach the edge of the frame.

At the end of each working session I try to make the time to sit and think about the images I’ve made. When I am on a working trip I set a goal of making so many photographs during the day. It forces me to see beyond the obvious. If I require myself to make at least 30 different images a day I have to work very hard to meet that goal. When I sit down after a working session, I can’t remember every photograph but the ones I do remember are usually the best, or are the “near misses”. These “near misses” are like a tickling in my mind’s eye. Often I know it isn’t “right” when I am making the first photograph but I can’t figure out what needs to be changed. During this reflection period the problem will (sometimes) present itself and if I am lucky I’ll recognize the solution. This is why I prefer to stay in an area for several days. I often need to return to a location to reinvestigate the image.

This is the basis for the Orkney Workshop in October. We will be on Mainland, Orkney for a week. Every evening we will meet and talk about the images that were made during the day’s work. Talking about them will reveal new possibilities. Because Orkney is a relatively small island we will be able to revisit locations time and time again. I believe that this is the way good work is made. Ansel had pre-visualization. Perhaps I have post-visualization.