Buried treasure

When I put down my Holga years ago and quit the darkroom coop, I had 8 rolls of undeveloped film that I just stuck in a kitchen drawer and left to be dealt with later (I'm not sure what my plan was, but waiting 7 or so years to process them probably wasn't the plan). Even though they sat there for years I kind of knew what some of them were-- other rolls were totally a mystery.

Over the past few weeks I've processed the film and found that I have a few images I really like! They're from the rolls I had a vague memory of shooting... a night out in East Austin celebrating Dia de los Muertos.

Here are two I like so far:

I've looked at these two images over and over and figured out (in my opinion, that is), that the first one is graphically more interesting but the second one is a better photo. I tend to like images that tell a story, or suggest that something is going on even if it's a mystery. The Mariachis are just standing there looking cool. The guy with the flowing ribbon staff is looking creepy and there's the figure in the background adding a layer to it. Plus, there's motion in the ribbon that evokes a certain kind of response that the straight up portrait of the Mariachis doesn't offer.

Between the time that I was shooting "for art" and my current situation of wanting to do art but also wanting to make images that will sell (to support my art), I'm finding that I quickly see the distinction in my work, and where it may have bothered me before, it doesn't now. I hope that's not a bad thing. Maybe I should create a label for my blog posts titled "selling out". ha ha! What I'm saying is, a shot of 3 guys dressed up like Mariachi players is nothing all that special, but it's an image most people are going to be attracted to (or is it just me and my special love of Mariachi men?). Now to put this to the test... I'm setting up a booth next week for SXSW and will see what happens (squirm). 

Important question: why didn't the friends of the Mariachi guy in the middle tell him that his make up is really more The Joker than Dia de los Muertos? ha ha ha!!! I love it. 

The other rolls of film had some images I took at a party that I have ZERO recollection of (no, not because of any sort of substance... I just have a selectively bad memory!). People were wearing wigs and though I recognized a few, others looked like strangers! What the heck was going on?

The other recent thing I brought back was a painted portrait for the Dia de los Muertos show I was part of in the mid 1990s at the Mexic-Arte Museum. I had to take apart the metal frame (shrine) I had made to go around the image, and in doing so had to put the photo through some man handling. Fortunately Photoshop can help in such situations. Here's the image-- it's a creepy one!

Other than printing and pouring over negatives both past and present, I've been doing a lot of online research about how to show at art fairs. I'm overwhelmed. Basically, I'm having to do what I did in my purse business and start from the bottom, be brave, and allow time for learning and growing. This is hard for someone who wants everything to be perfect right NOW.

Reviewing the past

The other night I had a total heart attack when I realized my negatives... ALL my negatives... were not where I thought they were. I knew I had a couple notebooks full of Holga negatives from 1990- 2003, but they were nowhere to be found. I turned the house upside down and finally found them buried in a closet where I keep a lot of my fabric for sewing. whew!!

I've been going through the negatives, pulling out the ones that are worthy of re-printing and finding some lost gems. I use the word "gem" lightly-- as in, images that are appealing enough to print and try to sell.

For example:

It's not a wildly unique image, but it has its appeal. I will forever love old stores, buildings, and things that are remnants of the past, and I know many others feel the same way.

Another negative I whipped out to print is this one:

This may be a photo I only print via my inkjet printer because it was hard to print in the darkroom. The top part of the negative is bullet proof and the bottom is super thin. I had to use a contrast filter to pull out any details in the bottom but by doing so had to sacrifice a little detail in the top (like the windshield!). Dodging, burning, etc... too much work for a so-so image. But I do like it for the sheer fact that I know it'll make some people smile (like it does for me!).

I have a lot of work I'd like to post but my scanner broke down today. A new one is on order. I can't wait! I'm sure it'll be so much better than my 13 year old Epson.