Re: [Leica] Missed opportunities

["Gerry Walden" <gwpix@hotmail.com>]

That's a great lesson to us all Jim, and we all should do it but we don't 
(and I am as bad as every one else). The thing that grieves me even more is 
that with the rising use of digital cameras our grandchildren will not even 
find old negatives to print from. There will be no (or few) press archives 
and the next turn of the century will be devoid of many historical images 
because the disk will have been wiped because of storage problems.

Forgive me, I am just a boring old(ish) fart going on about things!

Gerry
www.gwpics.com



>From: Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>
>Reply-To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
>To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
>Subject: [Leica] Missed opportunities
>Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 12:01:36 -0800
>
>At 08:08 AM 12/6/2001 -0600, Walter S Delesandri wrote:
>
>>BTW, Sonny, our local 120 year old hardware store went out of business a
>>coupla years
>>ago....I meant to "document" it for several years before that, and 
>>DIDN'T!!!!
>>
>>Walt
>
>I live dead center in Silicon Valley. Stand on my roof and you can see
>National Semiconductor, AMD, Amdahl, Intel, etc. All within blocks, not 
>miles.
>
>One block from me is a five acre field called the "Corn Palace." It has
>been owned by a family for generations. Well over 100 years. Every year
>they plow it and plant corn. Some tomatoes, beans, etc., but at least four
>acres of corn. There is a well at the corner near my house and irrigation
>ditches are dug and the crops irrigated via the well and pump.
>
>This plot borders an express way on one side and residential on three
>sides. As I said, dead center Silicon Valley. They have a small open
>building (stand) at another corner where they sell their crops. And, of
>course, other fruits and vegetables.
>
>For years, I though of documenting the property and thought about taking
>one photograph each week from exactly the same spot. Sort of a
>chronological documentary. Going from dirt, to plowed, to planted rows,
>irrigation, to sprouting plants, to growing plants, to picked plants, to
>plowed under stalks, back to dirt.
>
>Five years ago, some developers talked the family into selling. The plans
>were made, the type of residences (single & multi family dwellings) were
>mapped out. I went to the planning commission meetings. A $1,500,000
>deposit was made. And then nothing happened. The Corn Palace sat as idle
>dirt and weeds for two years. I kept thinking that I was really stupid not
>to have taken my photographs. I've lived here for 33 years and there
>certainly was ample time to do it.
>
>Then we heard that the developers could not get funding and that the deal
>was off.
>
>The old guys (Joe & Ben) that own and work the ground, and sell in the
>stand, are in their 80's. Their kids actually do a lot of the heavy labor
>nowadays. I was telling all of this to my colleague (Angela - I've
>mentioned her before - Pentax 67II, R8 - and my swim workout partner) and
>she basically shamed me into getting motivated. So I did. Sort of like
>Sandy does to Ted!  :)
>
>Now, every Friday morning at 7am, I photograph the Corn Palace from exactly
>the same point. Actually, three different views at the same location, 12
>frames - a date card, 3 frames for each view, and a couple of spares. I
>started last March and in March 2002 I will have 52 weeks documented.
>
>I'm going to print 52 10x10 Ciba prints, make an album, and give it to Joe
>& Ben. But I won't stop photographing. I'm going to continue but from a
>different vantage point. And since what I'm doing will be known (it's been
>a secret so far) I'll photograph Joe & Ben, their sons, the stand, tractor,
>planting, weeding, etc.
>
>What was once a thought, a dream, is now a mission and a ritual. It will be
>difficult to stop. If I ever stop.
>
>This is one time that it didn't slip by. But I have Angela to thank for it.
>
>Sorry to hear that you missed it Walt.
>
>Jim
>
>--
>To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html


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