This afternoon I had an entirely different topic I intended to write about and then through the magic of a blog to which I subscribe came images from a photographer that I found fascinating so I am going in a different direction. The photographer is Edward Burtynsky. The photographs are wonderful and I am interested in his subject matter as much as his skill and technique. I have been rereading Susan Sontag’s book “On Photography”, still a great read. I love the beauty of her writing style. Funny how things work, synchronicity and all that jazz. From a group of slides my husband took before we were married (1981) and among the several I had not seen I discovered a photo of me with THE camera, my first 4 x 5. A treasure that I bought from a friend, Jim Gibson  and used for many years. I still credit that camera for giving me the eyes that I have now when framing a composition.  Yes, the days of the ground glass that gave you an image you saw up side down. A marvelous way to see. I still have the negatives from those days and always think I will scan them one day, but so far I never have time.

Since working with the encaustic medium, my interest in photography has continued to make a resurgence and I find now that I once again enjoy photography as a hobby and the photos from that hobby make their way into paintings. It is so much easier now with the Iphone, the digital camera, photoshop all the modern technology that has transformed photography. Not to say that I don’t sometimes miss the darkroom, developing film and making prints because I do. All nighters in the darkroom will never be replaced by sitting in front of a computer…cleaner and faster maybe? Don’t get me wrong, I love the new technology in almost every form. Just having a tiny little nostalgia moment, it’ll pass.

Betty’s Creek Road