Danger Doyle
Mojave, August 2024
Many years ago I was a rock climber. I was pretty good, but always knew the most dangerous time while climbing was once you finished the accent. After a climb when you literally feel on top of the world, you drop your guard, and that’s when accidents tend to happen, and you fall to your death..
For the past month I have been heading out once a week early A.M to shoot the sunrise in the desert. As I have been going through a junk yard phase, I headed for another one I remembered from my Fridays Rainshadow project. (I should point out that you really need to know where you are going in the desert if its dark.) After a two hour drive I pulled up on the side of the road, mounted the camera on a tripod, and made my way across the desert towards the junkyard, confident I knew where I was going. I had not been out of the car more than a few minutes when I heard a rustle in the brittle bush and a low growl in the distance. At first I thought it might be a coyote, which would have been fine (a lone coyote is harmless), but then I realized it must be a guard dog, or should I say guard dogs. Rather than soil myself or try and make friends, I basically ran faster than the wind, the two dogs now barking and chasing me through the desert. Thankfully I had left the truck door unlocked (for such events) and managed to get inside with my camera. The barking stopped, but I could see the eyes of the beasts waiting for their breakfast, and they were not poodles..
I have been to the desert enough times to know that if somewhere doesn’t have a fence, it most likely has dogs on the premises, especially at night. But I got too cocky, just like the climber that fell off the cliff. But all was not lost and I managed to grab a few shots later of a gas station, the irony being that last time I photographed one at sunrise I was bitten by a dog.
A moment before dawn.
A large part of my Fridays Rainshadow project was made early in the morning. Leaving the house around 3.00am, I would drive to the desert ready for first light. I have been repeating the process, all be it with a different photographic agenda and content, but it still feels good to get out early before the world wakes up.
First light can be tricky to work as once that suns up, its basically over, at least it is for me. But those moments just before dawn are magical..
Dawn of the Dinosaurs..
Mojave, July 2024
There’s just something about a scrapyard in the desert that keeps me coming back for more. Over the years I have discovered the best ones and recently have been heading out under cover of darkness in order to photograph at first light. It’s a little bit like the dawn of the dinosaurs with a manor of wrecks that often resemble large metal beasts.
Perhaps over time I will develop some meaningful concept, but for now I’m quite happy photographing these man-made creations within a natural landscape, which, as it happens, is something I have always done.
Winslow Arizona
Christmas Day, Winslow Arizona 2023
After a stint in Middle America I made this image in Winslow Arizona on a the way back to California. It was Christmas Day 2023 and the morning light was magical. I was reminded of Stephen Shores, Winslow Arizona, whereupon he spent one day producing a body of work that was unedited and shown in the order the images were taken. Despite being a fan of Shore’s work, in particular American Surfaces, I was never a fan of the Winslow images made 40 years later, but it did leave an impression and the idea of a series made in one day. There may be an irony in not liking Shores series from Winslow, because this image (above) is one of my favorites.
Travels With The Bobby Dazzler
Mojave, Mojave Desert, CA. 2024
A good day in the desert this weekend with a very good friend The Dazzler, a writer who happens to be doing the essay for my upcoming book, Fridays Rainshadow.
Back in 2004 we spent time at the Salton Sea having adventures and produced Thursdays By The Sea. Not a lot had changed since; I was as bald then as I am now, The Dazzler perhaps a little wiser. It was just like old times and my only regret is that we did not do more in the last twenty years.
The last time we headed out together was on a road trip from LA to Marfa Texas. That was a good one..
Salton Sea, CA. 2004
Marfa, Tx. 2016
Choices.
There are many who would tell you that the midday sun is no time to make photographs. But of course, this is nonsense. Pioneers of color photography such as Stephen Shore, William Eggleston along with countless modern day photographers go out when the sun is bright and the sky is blue to produce wonderful work. (Despite myself claiming no one goes out on a bright sunny day and produces something challenging and unique!)
Maybe growing up in the north of England where the sun rarely shines is the reason I will either go out first light, last light, or whenever there is a storm on the horizon. (Or maybe its just too hot!)
Photography is always about choices; Of light, of lens, of subject. So on and so forth. But these should always be the photographers and not the authors.
I went, I saw, I came back, and seen.
Sometimes you see something in the middle of the day and then go back and do it at a time more suitable. In this case it was a junk in the desert shot in the early hours of the morning. The image you see here is pretty much as I imagined, which is good, and better than surprise, but at the same time a bit of an anticlimax..
Despite the image having no adjustments, it screams digital to me, but I guess that’s because it is… There is a color separation and shadow detail just not obtainable with film.
It’s not me, its you..
My work is often a contradiction in that I photograph reality, but it often looks staged and at times surreal.
I do not manipulate, saturate, or obliterate an image into something that does not exist. In this digital-age, few people question why my images look a certain way as they assume its all done in Photoshop. But twenty years ago things were a little different; What you shot was what you got and people responded very differently to my work.
The thing is, I haven’t changed a thing and continue to make work in the same manner I always have.
When going out with my camera its always the same. Its always about the light…
Photography is not a selfless act.
Sometimes its just nice to go out and make photographs, for no reason other than the enjoyment of seeing and recording.
I once heard a young girl say something was very ‘instagrammable’ and in this instance (above) I would agree, sadly.
Photography has always been a selfish act, especially in the days of social media, why? because no matter what the content, the photograph is always about the photographer.
Good Night
Market Liquor, Mojave, 2024
Twenty years ago I made images at night using an 8/10” view camera. Using such a beast was most challenging, with even the slightest breeze capable of ruining an image due to the bellows flapping in the wind. Add to this the exceptionally long exposures and limitations a large format brings and people would often ask why, until that is, they seen a large print. If you got it right with large format, nothing came close in terms of quality and detail.
These days things are different. Cameras are a fraction of the weight, with sensor sizes so big, and ISO functions so super-dooper that exposure times are reduced dramatically and night work becomes far less challenging. One thing that hasn’t changed is focusing in low light, in fact its more difficult, especially with a digital viewer. But there will always be some challenge.
When all said and done, the technical side is much easier with digital. But it won’t make a bad image into a good one as some would have you believe..
I was in discussion with my very good friend and writer for the upcoming Fridays Rainshadow essay due out early next year if all goes according to plan. The first essay he wrote for me was for Thursdays by The Sea, back in 2006 and we reminisced about the days when we would do trips together and then meet up later that week to look at prints and talk about our art over coffee. It was a precious thing and something that we will get back to now the wheels have been set in motion.
The image above was the last one I made for the Thursdays by The Sea project and the last time we ventured to the Salton Sea together. Just two Brits abroad wondering what the light was above the lamp.
What to do.
Sometimes we are faced with moral dilemma in photography. I say sometimes, but even that is rare. Back in August 2005 I was in Georgia USA when I got a call from my agent in London telling me there had been a flood in New Orleans and could I go and photograph the aftermath with my 8/10 camera. My first thoughts were that it would make for an interesting project and it was only a days drive. But after seeing the news that evening I just wasn’t comfortable photographing the devastation. Over 1300 Americans had lost their lives homes in what was to be one of America’s worst natural disasters. I was not a documentary photographer, neither did I have a connection to the place (unlike my hometown in England which flooded at the same time which I would have photographed had I been able), and therefore felt no obligation to make photographs, especially with a large format camera which would be something else entirely. I still question today whether all the photographers that flocked to New Orleans in the coming months with there big cameras felt any kind of remorse when they sold their big art prints and books.
I thought nothing at the time of photographing a recent desert fire (see last post) which just happened to start when I was driving around looking for things to photograph. As I pulled off the road and got out of the car, I was suddenly joined by several others who wanted to witness the flames tearing across the ground. Some people took pictures using their phones, others stood chatting while the flames got closer. It was an odd situation, but one I felt compiled to photograph. It was only when I got back in the car that my wife told me I was an idiot and shouldn’t be photographing such things. “What about peoples houses, what about the animals. “ She said. She was right, but thankfully no one lost their home and no animals where roasted.
As I have been photographing the desert for years, I had no issue of adding the event to my series, in fact from a social and environmental view point, the work is a good fit. The point is, I had reason to record the event.
At the end of the day, what we choose to photograph is on us. Whatever the situation, making a photograph is never wrong if all we do is record.
Whats that coming over the hill?
What started as a leisurely day out became a bit of a photo mission after seeing smoke in the sky. I still question whether I should of stood chatting with a bystander as the flames got higher and swept through the valley, but I doubt I could of extinguished the fire on my own. But I could photograph it..
Despite obtaining a new fancy digital camera recently, there’s still room for a bit of black and white film photography with my exhausted panoramic. This was a single exposure, and a pretty straight forward print. It was all about the light in this one, but I did have to work out my exposure, set the focus, aperture and shutter speed all by myself..
Cameras and dating.
And so after much deliberation I took the plunge and acquired a new camera. It’s been a good ten years since I last purchased a work camera, so this was a bit of a big deal for me.
For a photographer, a new camera is a bit like a new relationship. You start by asking around and check out a few different models. You look at a few websites until you see something you like. You make a date and decide whether you want to commit. And then, hopefully spend years in a relationship before trading in for a newer model.
What to do.
I spent the past week in a downward spiral over what to do about my now deceased Leica M6 and Digital medium format camera. Both cameras have served me well, each giving years of service and reliability. The digital camera lasted more than a decade, but was never the same after a bump last year and then the shutter packed up along with the focusing thingy. The M6 demise was a slow one whereupon the shutter kept sticking and then failed completely resulting in labor costs that exceeded the value of the camera. Choosing a camera is a total minefield and something I would rather not deal with taking up way too much time. Reviews are often biased and we all have our preferences so there’s no point in asking someone else. The digital aspect has been the worst with all it’s megapixel nonsense claiming that bigger is better, but from experience I know this is far from true, especially with a medium format censor where the pixels are more evenly dispensed. If I wanted an huge file I would shoot film and scan it (image above shot on film, scanned to produce a 2gb file and printed to 12 feet). Then there is the nostalgia aspect where I imagine myself parading around the desert with some old vintage camera which may look nice, but like a classic car, will break down and leave you for dead.
So for now I will let the amateurs spend money on nice looking cameras they will rarely use while I look for something sensible for the next ten years..
Urban Safari.
Flamingos, Las Vegas 2004
Going through a box of old manuscripts, photographs and journals, I found a couple of dummy books I had made some time ago. There was a period when I made a few projects with the intention of finding a publisher, which I either gave up on, or shelved for another time for various reasons. Urban Safari was one of these. The book was made up of four bodies of work, Urban landscapes (Urban Sprawl), The Salton Sea (Thursdays by The Sea), Night images (Night Vision) and Seascapes (By Coastal) which all boiled down to a 10 year retrospect. Not only does the book have a great title and a fine edit, each project has an essay written by four different writers. I honestly cannot remember what happened, but my guess is that it was just too expensive to produce (180 pages), and possibly too early on in my career for anyone to give a stuff..
The ones that got away..
A strong contender, but not in the final edit. Or maybe it should be..
Book edits are often a fickle mistress, at least for me. Unlike an exhibition, which lives for a while before taken down, or hopefully sold, a book is permanent, which, often fills me with fear. How you feel about an image one day, can change the next, so its not something that can be done quickly.
After printing around 400 images for my Fridays Rainshadow project, I spent six months looking and living with the images, each time removing a few (and sometimes adding a few) until I got down to 100. Originally I was set on a final of 80 images, but this was just too many on one subject (the desert). After a few more months and several sleepless nights, I eventually ended up with 50 images. I then spent this past week go over and over the edit making sure there were no fillers or images that were in there that didn’t fit. The whole editing process has taken about a year, but has left me with a project I am really happy with. Having said that, I may need to have just one more look.
A recent internet outage gave me the opportunity to catch up on a little printing and planning future work which I like to do with handwritten notes, sketches and clippings. Young people of course think of a notebook as a digital tablet, but good luck with that out in the field or when the power goes out.
Despite having what I would consider good photography plans, I know it will never be what I first imagined. Photography is a medium full of surprises, some good, some not so good. But in the end, you never really know.