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Full Circle

Has going digital changed my work?  Yes and no. Yes, because working with Fuji’s XT-2 and X-Pro 2 cameras has allowed me to return to my photojournalism roots. These cameras feel like the 35mm cameras I used before I began exclusively working with large format cameras. No, because I use the medium format GFX very much like I used my view cameras, working slowly and with a tripod.

Jody Johnstone pauses in the unloading of the anagama kiln.

My distinction is mostly mental. When I first got the Fuji X series cameras I used them like my view cameras because I was still photographing with my view cameras. When the Fuji GFX became the replacement for my view cameras, I didn’t quite know what to do with the smaller Fuji X series. It took me a while to get my head around the idea that I could be a photojournalist again. This knowledge was liberating and allowed me to re-engage with other artists in ways I hadn’t done in years.

 

A variety of plates andpots and bowls lie on the ground .

Recently I photographed potters unloading an Anagama kiln firing. The kiln is loaded and fired up using a mixture of hardwoods, cedar, pine, and poplar. The temperature slowly rises to about 2500 F and then is maintained for the duration of the burn. For eight days the group shares responsibility keeping the fire going and uses six to seven cords of wood.  The kiln then cools for eight days. The relatively low heat and fly ash from the wood fire and the unpredictability of the flame path provide unexpected but beautiful results on the surface of the pots.

Jody and _____ talk about the way the heat and ash affected the glaze on this pot.

Jody Johnstone and Simon Van Der Ven knew of my interest in the process and asked if I wanted to photograph the unloading of a recent firing. I was delighted to be able to say yes, having freed myself from preconceived notions about what my work was (large format) and how it had to look (platinum prints). I could be part of the event, able to photograph more deftly and contribute by sharing the photographs with the other artists.

A blish pots sits on the ground with ash from teh kiln still clinging to it.

This feeling of giving back a print when people allow me to photograph is deeply satisfying. Working with large format film, it would be months or years before I might return prints to them. With these digital cameras, I can work and share quickly with relatively low expense. It is mostly my time, shooting for a couple of hours, editing for another few hours and then giving the results to friends who shared part of their life with me.

Siem holds a small green pot covered with dimples

 

I look forward to continuing this split personality as a photographer. I can be an artist with the Fuji GFX and journalist with the smaller Fuji XT2 and X Pro 2. It is exhilarating to participate in something and then give back to those participating in the event in such a relatively easy way. It was something I missed when working only with my large format cameras but I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until working with the digital cameras allowed its return.

Eight layers of pots of a wide variety of shapes and sizes sit on eight shelves waiting to be taken out of the kiln.

tillman

 

For More about Anagama Kilns

https://southernspaces.org/2008/montevallos-anagama

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