Archive for July, 2009

Odin Stone: Plates 20 – 23

Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Tillman Crane - Odin Stone Plate 20: Bell Pull, St. Magnus Church, Birsay, Orkney, 2003

Odin Stone Plate 20: Bell Pull, St. Magnus Church, Birsay, Orkney, 2003

Plate 20: Bell Pull, St. Magnus Church, Birsay, Orkney, 2003

This church stands on the site of, what was most likely, the first cathedral in Orkney. Built in 1064 by Earl Thorifinn, it was the “Bishop’s Cathedral” and therefore, the religious center of the Orkney Islands. During this time, Orkney was growing as a strategic center between Norway, Denmark and Britain and the Norwegian King felt threatened by the growing power of the Orkney earls. In 1098 the King of Norway invaded Orkney and the earls (Erlend and Paul) were killed and their sons (Magnus Erlendson and Hakon Paulson) taken to Norway to serve the king. At eighteen, Magnus became famous for refusing to fight in battle when the Norwegian king attacked Anglesey, England. Forced into exile until the King died, he returned to Orkney to claim his inheritance of half of the Orkney Islands. An uneasy joint rule lasted only a few years with his cousin before Magnus was attacked and killed in 1117 on Hakon’s orders. Magnus’ body was taken to the Bishop’s Cathedral at Birsay and buried. Soon after Magnus was buried, miracles began to be witnessed in the area and pilgrims traveled to the church for healing and absolution. Magnus was canonized in 1135, and a few years later his remains were moved to the new Cathedral in Kirkwall, which still stands today. His bones were found interred in a column during early 20th century restoration of the Cathedral. St. Magnus became the patron saint of Orkney and his name graces many locations throughout the archipelago.

The small St. Magnus Church is under the care of St. Magnus Church Birsay Trust. This bell pull is in the alcove and I photographed it many times over several years. I loved its simplicity and elegance. The light coming in from the window to its right gives the image a sense of dimension with a turning edge on the handle. For me it is one of those simply beautiful and beautifully simple images.

Tillman Crane - Odin Stone Plate 21: Orkney Library and Archive, Kirkwall, Orkney, 2006

Odin Stone Plate 21: Orkney Library and Archive, Kirkwall, Orkney, 2006

Plate 21: Orkney Library and Archive, Kirkwall, Orkney, 2006

The Orkney Library and Archive is home to both the central library for the Orkney Islands and the Orkney Archive, which is on the second floor. The library was founded in 1683 and moved into this latest building in 2003. The library holds 80,000 items, Internet connections as well as all the services of any modern library. The Archive on the second floor houses a photographic archive, family history materials, local history materials as well as an extensive sound and film collection. It is the place to go to when studying the history or the Orkney Islands.

This new, modern building was being completed during my first visit to Orkney in 2002. Over the following years I became a member of the library, using its services for Internet and research. (I still carry my Orkney Library card in my wallet in anticipation of my next trip.) I wonder about the thoughts about these “stones” as they are clearly concrete fabrications but remind me of round stones washed up on a beach. Their presence makes the plaza in front of the library purely pedestrian and gives a quirky presence to the front of the library. When I paired this image with Plate 22 the two images made a visual sense to me though separately they are very different from each other.

Tillman Crane - Wall, Broch of Burroughston, Shapinsay, Orkney, 2007

Odin Stone Plate 22: Wall, Broch of Burroughston, Shapinsay, Orkney, 2007

Plate 22: Wall, Broch of Burroughston, Shapinsay, Orkney, 2007

A broch (rhymes with loch) is a type of wide round stone tower, dating from the Iron Age, which was large enough to serve as a fortified home. Similar ruins can be seen in various places throughout the Orkney Islands. This   broch in Shapinsay (one of the inner islands of the archipelago) was excavated in 1862 and had fallen into ruin but has since been repaired and cleaned up. This typical broch site faces the sea and is surrounded by good agricultural land. The doorway and interior of this site are well preserved with an interior set up similar to that of the more famous Mine Howe site on Mainland Orkney. The round wall of the broch survives to a height of approximately four feet and in some places the wall is almost four feet thick. My question was “Who put this round stone in the wall and why?” Was it the Iron Age occupant of the site adding mystery and protective symbolism to the walls of their home?  Was it placed between the rectangles by the first team of archeologists who uncovered the ruins and rebuilt the site in the mid-19th century or perhaps simply a touch of artistic whimsy when the site was later restored in the latter part of the 20th century? Although I have no idea “why” the rock is there, I love that it is and played with the serendipity of its placement with the pinhole camera. When I paired this image with the image from the front of the Orkney Library, the shared geometry made them good choices to play off of each other.

Tillman Crane - Odin Stone Plate 23: Yellowbird Studio, Chocolate Cottage, Birsay, Orkney, 2005

Odin Stone Plate 23: Yellowbird Studio, Chocolate Cottage, Birsay, Orkney, 2005

Plate 23: Yellowbird Studio, Chocolate Cottage, Birsay, Orkney, 2005

Yellowbird Studio is home to two artists, Jon Thompson and Leslie Murdock. In my travels I had noticed Jon painting in several places around mainland Orkney. My friends, Donald and Janet Stewart, convinced me a stop by the studio would be photographically worthwhile. After meeting with Jon and Leslie (both painters) I was given the run of their gallery and studio space for several hours. When Jon took me out back to his “portable” painting studio I knew I had found my image.   Jon had built an A-frame building on wheels that can be towed anywhere his car can go. This day it was is sitting behind the gallery and looking out over the wet Birsay headland. For me this image summed up being an artist in Orkney, figuring out a way to work with wonderful daylight, while keeping dry. In the Orkneys, if you waited for the weather you would never get any work done. On their website Lesley says that she “enjoys the challenge of trying to capture the magical Orkney light especially when the wind is blowing and changing the mood from minute to minute. Even what might feel the dullest of days Orkney always has some subtle interplay of light to inspire me.” I couldn’t have explained my feelings about photographing on Orkney any better.

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July 2009: 10 years or 10000 hours

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Dear Friends,

Transitions

Life isn’t a matter of milestones but of moments.
- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

June is a month for transitions. We move officially from spring to summer and in Maine, perhaps actually. It is the time of year when students of all ages graduate from elementary, middle, high schools and colleges.  In many ways it is the most recognized and formal time of the year for transitions. But not all transitions are noted by formal ceremonies, graduations or promotions. Most are, I think, more gradual and subtle. They creep up on us or we pass through them and then only later do we recognize a specific moment as a major transition point. It may be, as it was for our son, the point in time when he, a high school senior, took on the responsibility to get himself half way around the world for a semester abroad. Leaving his family at the airport gate and accepting the responsibility to make his connections, get where he was supposed to be, and be responsible for embracing his experience and having a wonderful time. Perhaps that was a greater transition than walking across the stage and being handed his diploma.

During a graduation speech this month, I listened as the speaker listed ten important life lessons for the students who were graduating from high school. The one that stood out for me was number seven on his list: “To do anything well takes time, either ten years or 10,000 hours of work and practice.”

As I sat there watching diplomas being handed out I began to think back across my career as a photographer. In my first incarnation I was a newspaper photographer. I worked for a daily newspaper, which printed five days a week in East Tennessee. I wasn’t trained as a journalist but they hired me and taught me what they needed from me as a photographer. They also gave me room to grow and develop as a photographer. It took about 10,000 hours (4 years of working 50 hours a week) to become a fairly good small town newspaper photographer.

The second incarnation for me as a photographer was as a teacher, first at the Maine Photographic Workshops and then at the Waterford School in Sandy Utah. In all I taught for twelve years but it took several years at MPW and a year or so at Waterford for me to become a fairly good teacher in each of those programs. Again, 10,000 hours to learn, practice and grow into my potential.

My third and current incarnation as a photographer is working for myself making the photographs I feel compelled to make, producing books and exhibitions. During each earlier stage of my photographic life I did my “personal” work while working, over and beyond, what I was being paid to do. I made those images for myself. Leaving the security of teaching for a salary at Waterford School allowed me to make my personal work my focus but required me to do it in a different way. I had to become more concerned about how (at what cost) the work was being produced and where it was going (to bring in income). It took several years of working for myself for me to begin to understand the responsibility that was required for me to make honest real work. What I required in order for my work to evolve and grow.I had to put the time in.

In each of these incarnations there was no bell ringing moment of clarity, no graduation where it became clear that I could be trusted with an important assignment or trusted to understand what teaching required beyond simple knowledge of the material, or where I felt comfortable with myself and my work. Yet in each situation there was a point when I looked back and realized that I was a different photographer, teacher or artist. At each stage there was a moment of transition, perhaps lost in the chaos of daily living, but a point at which I understood more deeply what I was trying to do. Today I am simply a different person, a different photographer than I was a ten years ago, or even a year ago. I feel more comfortable in my skin as a photographer. I don’t worry about what others think of my work, but simply own it as mine. It is what I do.

As you continue your work, photographic or otherwise, remember the “ten years or 10,000 hours” rule. Put in your time. Do your work. You may have graduations and formal transitions of one sort or another. If you continue to do your work, being true to what you need to be doing, then one day you will turn around and realize that you have made a huge transition. You may not have noticed the change because you are in the middle of it but to someone watching from a slight distance the change will be noticeable. As I watched Andrew walk from his childhood into his adulthood in the airport in Boston, so others will watch you make the transition from working on becoming a photographer to being a photographer. After this happens you may look back on the past 10,000 hours and see not how long it took, but how quick the time went. So go and practice, do your work.

Until next month,
Tillman

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