f/8 and Be There

Posted on 29 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

“f/8 and Be There” – a famous quote attributed to Arthur “Weegee” Fellig, world famous New York photojournalist and street photographer most known for his works in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Allegedly, this was his response to an inquiry into his photographic techniques.

I took a different tack on this one line guide to photojournalism when I decided to purchase a smaller, quieter, altogether more discrete camera that I would be more likely to have with me at the “f/8 and be there” moment. Perhaps it was three different stories about people who got in trouble with the NDS when photographing at the wrong place in Kabul. Perhaps it was frequently passing signs at Kandahar Airfield that mentioned “no photography” and threatened “lethal force.” Maybe just the size and weight of the Olympus E-P1 with a fixed focal length lens and optical viewfinder will make it more likely to be with me when the E-500 would have been sitting in its case on a shelf.

The extra megapixels should mean that I can do some cropping after the fact and still have a high resolution image. Just like the old days with the Rollei when you were not necessarily composing things to create a square image. (I apologize to Fritz Henle, may he rest in peace.) I have developed faith in the Olympus automatic focusing when the right mode is selected. The image in an optical viewfinder is easier to work with than the viewfinder of any DSLR. If I work with a tripod I can turn on the LCD and pretend it’s a ground glass. Maybe I am just a retro kind of person. We’ll see in a few months whether the shift to an earlier era (think Leica M3) will have a positive effect on my photos.

Concrete Canvas

Posted on 29 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

Diego Rivera could have a field day here. In fact, several thousand mural artists could have full time work for a number of years with the sheer surface area of blank, grey spaces calling out for color and design.

In the ten months I spent in Kabul I only passed two or three locations where any use was made of the city’s vast mural spaces. To be honest, there may have been many more in those areas where the artist was less likely to be observed by someone who would object to images or text on the concrete facade.

The surface area available where I am living now, at the military side of Kandahar Airfield, is much smaller than that offered in Kabul. Most of the concrete blast walls are much lower as well since they are often protecting single story buildings. But I am starting to find some evidence of the creative attraction these surfaces have for anyone artistically inclined or who wants to make a public statement of some sort. Most any sort of decorative art has more appeal than the pedestrian posting of parking regulations as shown here.

I live in a modular building that is a short walk away from some of the early experiments with concrete as canvas. The simplest and least permanent use of the space is for a birthday message. Here the wall serves as an eye level blackboard for the foot traffic through the housing area.

The next variation of work with these materials is the quick sketch of the smiley icon.

Not far from this image are walls where stencils are used extensively. A few seem to be areas where the images are posted to help in later selection of color and composition.

The “Tag You’re It” stencil would seem to suggest the option of agitprop but the other designs are more typical of an image you might find in a college dorm room.

The next example started as “Beware of Zombies” and the eyelashes and “Females” text were added by way of commentary a few weeks later. This appears just outside a female housing unit.

This last one is the closest example to mural art that I have come across at KAF. I don’t know how long this has been up but there is some weathering noted. This is located a few spaces away from the ” . . . Zombies” image.

Put On Your Own Mask First, And Then Assist Others

Posted on 16 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

Anyone who loves words, whether poetry or prose, probably has a notebook or numerous scraps of paper with scribblings that make the start of a great essay or short story or poem. The oft repeated phrase, “Put on your own mask first and then assist others around you” is something I had been toying with for quite a while. It’s an obvious metaphor for having your own affairs in order before trying to help other people in the same situation. The metaphor extends to such wisdom as not being able to support peace if you are yourself not at peace. The phrase could also lead to some clever humour with references to Joseph Campbell.

Unhappily, I have lost the race to exploit this clever phrase. A quick search on Google turned up a number of similar prior uses. One of the most worthwhile was found on a YouTube video where David Lynch explained to a group at Maharishi University in 2007 that it was not selfish to first consider your own understanding and experience of compassion before you could bring compassion to your dealings with those around you. Here is the video at Vimeo;

http://vimeo.com/11190032

Maybe it’s not necessary to be the first with the turn of a clever phrase. I don’t think I could do better than David Lynch has done with this one. The “Put on your own mask first” page in my notebook can be discarded.

Mementos – Part 2

Posted on 15 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

“In fact I no longer value this kind of memento. I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted. There was a period, a long period, dating from my childhood until quite recently, when I thought I did. A period during which I believed that I could keep people fully present, keep them with me, by preserving their mementos, their “things,” their totems.”
– – – Joan Didion, Blue Nights

Another striking Joan Didion quote I ran across just after the recently completed task of getting the Afghanistan 1975 photos posted here. So, how many of the photographs constitute creative expression and how many are an attempt to “capture the moment” and preserve it as a keepsake or totem? Do the photographs have a current purpose or do they only represent an attachment to things past? Which of the things of the past should be preserved and which are better discarded?

I am without answers on these questions but I think the issues raised in the Joan Didion quote are significant.

Afghanistan 1975 – 01/13 – Paris

Posted on 12 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

Paris was the first stop on my second overland trip along the silk route. The trip two years before had been centered on India with Afghanistan as a country to be seen along the way. For his trip Afghanistan was the major destination. Unlike two years before the travel would not continue east to get back home. Kabul was to be the turning point for the return.

It has taken me thirty-seven years to get these photos into some sort of accessible form. These photos are the reason for this blog being started. I now think that a blog is not the best way to present such a large number of travel photos. But now the task is complete and I will have learned something from the effort, perhaps gained closure or come to understand what that word might mean. I can move on to other photos and self-assigned writing tasks. Now I have a blog as a natural outlet for those things that lend themselves to exposition in a blog.

Back to the 1975 trip and the photographs that ensued. In 1973 I took with me a compact 35 mm camera with automatic operation. I stopped working in Iran. I won’t mention the manufacturer because Canon has made a lot of other fine photo gear since then. This trip my camera was a Rollei 35 with a Zeiss lens and a Compur mechanical shutter. It had a light meter but it was not coupled to the shutter. If the meter failed I had plenty of latitude with the Kodachrome 64 I carried that would let me produce useful photos.

The first leg of the trip was Icelandic Airlines as it had been in 1973. The first European stay was in Paris. I purchased a Metro pass and did a photo tour of the city on foot from promising looking Metro stops. Paris produced many nice photographs. You don’t have to be Cartier-Bresson to bring back good photos from this city. Even if you don’t capture the decisive moment you have some nice pictures.

So we begin our trip in Paris with a collection of photographs of places that have been photographed thousands of times previously and from the time that photography was in its infancy.

0001 Paris 01 - Hotel California (Saint Germain)

Paris 01 – Hotel California (Saint Germain) Somewhere it is written that any set of travel photographs must include a photo taken through the hotel window of each hotel visited. This is such a photo from the Hotel California – – the one in the area of Saint Germain. I did check out and I did leave.

Paris 02 – Along the Seine 1

Paris 03 – La Tour Eiffel The photo includes the image of the quintessential French couple.

Paris 04 – Arc de Triomphe

Paris 05 – Place de la Madeleine – Under Construction

Paris 06 – Pont des Arts

Paris 07 – Along the Seine 2

Paris 08 – Notre Dame

Paris 09 – Notre Dame – Buttresses, keep ’em flying.

Paris 10 – Notre Dame

Paris 11 – Luxembourg Gardens

Paris 12 – Helicopter I never found out what was going on here but this helicopter managed to create a scene extracted from some sort of science fiction film.

The trip to the Musee d’Art Moderne produced some interesting images.

Paris – Musee d’Art Moderne 01

Paris – Musee d’Art Moderne 02

Paris – Musee d’Art Moderne 03

Paris – Musee d’Art Moderne 04

Paris – Musee d’Art Moderne 05

Afghanistan 1975 – 02/13 – Istanbul

Posted on 12 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

Istanbul is another photographer’s paradise. It is a vibrant, modern city that still retains architectural and cultural elements from civilizations past. It was the center of the Ottoman empire and, as Constantinople, made its mark on Christianity every bit as much as did Rome. Its connection with its past can be understood in the common reference to the mosque located near the Galata Bridge as “the New Mosque.” The mosque construction was completed in 1665.

Istanbul is really the starting point of the overland route to India. Here, at the juncture of Europe and Asia, travel becomes slower and far more interesting. The food becomes remarkably good as well. Istanbul is the place to start to acclimate the traveler to the style of life in Asia. It is a city where it is very easy to stay longer than you had planned.

Mesjid 01 – If you have an interest in Islamic architecture Istanbul should be near the top of your list of places to visit.

Mesjid 02

Istanbul offers unlimited opportunities for shopping.

Every hotel stay has to generate the photograph of the view from the hotel window.

You are close to fresh fish anywhere in the city.

I thought it remarkable to run into Jim McDonough in Istanbul. I had met him on the India overland trip two years previous. He is in the left of this photo where we, along with the Canadian travelers we had met, are sorting out the next leg of the journey.

The Turk seated on the left seems to be looking askance at the overland traveler who has paused for a photo opportunity.

Knife sharpening was readily available in any part of the city. Measuring you weight was another common sidewalk offering.

Diesel fueled vehicles coexist with horse power.

Mesjid 03

It’s hard to edit the photos from Istanbul into something that is a nice fit for a blog entry. Here are another ten photographs from the harbor area.

Harbor 01

Harbor 02

Harbor 03 – If your shoes need shining, that is another service readily available on any major street.

Harbor 04 – The ferry routes are inexpensive and a joy. The traveler does not need a route schedule. Any place you are taken to will be worth spending some time.

Harbor 05 – This photo from near the south end of the Galata Bridge shows the New Mosque, constructed between 1597 and 1665.

Harbor 06

Harbor 07 – The Galata Bridge is a floating bridge. This is one of the few bridges on which you can become sea sick.

Harbor 08

Harbor 09

Harbor 10

Afghanistan 1975 – 03/13 – Trains

Posted on 12 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

The route from Paris to Istanbul and most of the travel across Turkey was by train. In 1973 I was able to do the Istanbul to Trabzon connection by boat. Nice modes of travel – neither of which are available at my destination. Afghanistan is land locked and never managed to install much rail line.

My traveling companion on some of the last miles of the Paris to Istanbul train. After I had been fasting for most of the trip he offered me some of his Slivovitz. That made the next few hundred miles something of a blur.

The Turkish countryside as seen from the doorway of our train.

0065 Turkey-Iran - railway siding discussion

I don’t know what was being discussed here on the railway siding. The stops in the small towns along the way made for a pleasant break in the train travel.

The train through Turkey is not as restful as the boat on the Black Sea but it surely beats the bus ride.

Afghanistan 1975 – 04/13 – Bus/Iran

Posted on 12 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

No stopping for fellow travelers to buy carpets in Mashad as on the previous trip. Iran was transited quickly by bus, yielding few photographs.

It was Bill and Eric (as I recall) that were fellow radio people from Canada. Here, Bill poses with a Turkish farmer who passed by where we had stopped near the border with Iran.

There was a bit of jostling for position as we neared the Irani border. We all got off the bus while the driver did an off-road maneuver.

Here’s a look at the crowd headed to Iran on the overland route.

Amidst the sights of Teheran I chose to photograph this communications tower. Iran has been more technologically advanced than its neighbors for quite some time.

In 1975 in Iran you could say, “Pepsi please.” You had to be careful about using other words at the time. Mossadegh or SAVAK were words not to be used in public in the heyday of the Shah.

Afghanistan 1975 – 05/13 – Islam Qala

Posted on 12 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

We arrived in Afghanistan before anyone was ready to stamp our passports. Islam Qala was a pleasant place to wander about as the sun rose and it provided some nice photographs.

This is the classic jingle truck style but there are no jingles attached.

Islam Qala 02

Customs and Immigration

Islam Qala 04

Islam Qala 05

Afghanistan 1975 – 06/13 – Herat

Posted on 12 September 2012 by Mark Timpany

Herat is a good word to use to check the presence of auto-correcting spell checkers in your word processing application. Most of them would like you to use the word Heart. I guess the spell checkers were all set up before Herat got much mention in the West.

Herat 01

Herat 02

Herat 03

Herat 04

I have just one Herat photo that is not of the Citadel. The Herat Citadel has been recently restored and does not look the same any more. A visit to do before and after photographs would make a nice trip.

Alas Bamiyan

Afghanistan – 1973, 1975, and today

f/8 and Be There

Concrete Canvas

Put On Your Own Mask First, And Then Assist Others

Mementos – Part 2

Afghanistan 1975 – 01/13 – Paris

Afghanistan 1975 – 02/13 – Istanbul

Afghanistan 1975 – 03/13 – Trains

Afghanistan 1975 – 04/13 – Bus/Iran

Afghanistan 1975 – 05/13 – Islam Qala

Afghanistan 1975 – 06/13 – Herat