ottok

Good for life!

2008-10-12T20:21:32Z

From inside a place at this small Georgia town. I just held down the shutter and the exposure turned out okay, helped that I was cross-processing. Camera: Diana+ using Fuji Provia 400F, cross processed News: I have 14 images in the group show, Neo-Nostalgia, up from Sept. 22 - Dec. 31, 2008 at City Issue in Atlanta, GA. Opening Oct. 16, 7-9 pm. View front of show card. Song of the day: "7-11" by The Postmarks Poem of the day: "O ME! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish; Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d; Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me; Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined; The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." - Walt Whitman, "O Me! O Life!" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#783a5c';}

(en)gulfed

2008-10-09T22:09:22Z

Another from this rural Georgia town. Camera: Diana+ using Fuji Provia 400F, cross processed News: I have 14 images in the group show, Neo-Nostalgia, up from Sept. 22 - Dec. 31, 2008 at City Issue in Atlanta, GA. Opening Oct. 16, 7-9 pm. View front of show card. Song of the day: "Embrace Me" by Greg Laswell Poem of the day: "ENCHANTRESS, touch no more that strain! I know not what it may contain, But in my breast such mood it wakes My very spirit almost breaks. Thoughts come from out some hidden realm Whose dim memorials overwhelm, Still bring not back the things I lost,— Still bringing all the pain they cost." - John Albee, "Music and Memory" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#b0b5bd';}

Blocked memory

2008-10-05T21:08:20Z

On to something new...well, not that new as I haven't shot much lately due to not feeling that great. But right at the beginning of this all, I went to a small rural Georgia town with some friends to see what we could shoot. I didn't shoot much, but here ya go. Camera: Diana+ using Fuji Provia 400F, cross processed News: I have 14 images in the group show, Neo-Nostalgia, up from Sept. 22 - Dec. 31, 2008 at City Issue in Atlanta, GA. Opening Oct. 16, 7-9 pm. View front of show card. Song of the day: "Vampires in Blue Dresses" by Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos Poem of the day: "SITTING in his rocker waiting for your tea, Gazing from his window, this is what you see: A cat that snaps at flies; a track leading down By log-built shanties gray and brown; The corner of a barn, and tangled lines of fence Of rough-hewn pickets standing dense; The ghost of a tree on a dull, wet day; And the blanket fog where lies the bay. But when he’s seen the last of you, Sitting in his rocker, what’s his view? (For there he sits, day in, day out, Nursing his leg—and his dreams, no doubt.) The snow-slide up behind the gaard; The farm beside old Trondjem fjord; Daughters seven with their cold blue eyes, And the great pine where his father lies; The boat that brought him over the sea; And the toothless woman who makes his tea. (Their picture, framed on the rough log wall, Proves she had teeth when he was tall.) He sees the balsam thick on the hill, And all he’s cleared with a stubborn will. And last he sees the full-grown son For whom he hoards what he has won. You saw little worth the strife: What he sees is one man’s life." - Joseph Warren Beach, "The View at Gunderson’s" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#7d8490';}

A moment

2008-09-29T21:14:08Z

This didn't quite turn out like I hoped...I couldn't quite get the composition that I wanted due to the background elements. On the medical front: still no answers, but I'm on my fourth specialist and he seems to dedicated to figuring out what is happening instead of trying to say it's psychological when they don't know know the answer. Doctors can't seem to handle not knowing the answer and then just want to blame the patient. That's been really frustrating when I've been in so much pain, discomfort, and just plain exhausting for the last two months now. It's so relieving to have a doctor to seem dedicated to helping me and working with me. Okay, I'll shut up now. Camera: Hasselblad 501CM with 80mm CF lens using Fuji PRO160S color film Song of the day: "Nothing But the Sky" by Ivy Poem of the day: "PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work— I am the grass; I cover all. And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work." - Carl Sandburg, "Grass" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#8b907a';}

roots 2

2008-09-26T09:04:54Z

More simplicity. Still no answers on the medical front and yet another specialist on Monday. Sorry for not visiting but the majority of the time that I feel like spending online I have to dedicate to work right now. Camera: Hasselblad 501CM with 80mm CF lens using Fuji PRO160S color film Song of the day: "Not Dead Yet" by The Weepies Poem of the day: "ROOTS and leaves themselves alone are these; Scents brought to men and women from the wild woods, and from the pond-side, Breast-sorrel and pinks of love—fingers that wind around tighter than vines, Gushes from the throats of birds, hid in the foliage of trees, as the sun is risen; Breezes of land and love—breezes set from living shores out to you on the living sea—to you, O sailors! Frost-mellow’d berries, and Third-month twigs, offer’d fresh to young persons wandering out in the fields when the winter breaks up, Love-buds, put before you and within you, whoever you are, Buds to be unfolded on the old terms; If you bring the warmth of the sun to them, they will open, and bring form, color, perfume, to you; If you become the aliment and the wet, they will become flowers, fruits, tall blanches and trees." - Walt Whitman, "Roots and Leaves Themselves Alone" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#85985f';}

A symbol of change

2008-09-22T22:00:08Z

Another from the park. Still no word on the diagnosis. Just mainly a lot of what it is not. Camera: Hasselblad 501CM with 80mm CF lens using Fuji PRO160S color film Song of the day: "Simple Life" by The Weepies Poem of the day: "THE loppèd tree in time may grow again, Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower; The sorest wight may find release of pain, The driest soil suck in some moist'ning shower; Times go by turns and chances change by course, From foul to fair, from better hap to worse. The sea of Fortune doth not ever flow, She draws her favours to the lowest ebb; Her tides hath equal times to come and go, Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web; No joy so great but runneth to an end, No hap so hard but may in fine amend. Not always fall of leaf nor ever spring, No endless night yet not eternal day; The saddest birds a season find to sing, The roughest storm a calm may soon allay: Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all, That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall. A chance may win that by mischance was lost; The net that holds no great, takes little fish; In some things all, in all things none are crost, Few all they need, but none have all they wish; Unmeddled joys here to no man befall: Who least, hath some; who most, hath never all." - Robert Southwell, "Times go by Turns" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#768f6c';}

roots 1

2008-09-17T22:37:06Z

Now for something really simple. I wasn't feeling good (if you've been following the site you know why -- well, they still don't know why, but you know what I mean), but wanted to get out of the house and shoot something, anything. So I went to the park right down the road and just shot a roll practically right outside the car as I didn't feel like walking around. Camera: Hasselblad 501CM with 80mm CF lens using Fuji PRO160S color film Song of the day: "River Card" by Atlas Sound Poem of the day: "GO and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past hours are, Or who cleft the Devil’s foot; Teach me to hear mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy’s stinging, Or find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind. If thou be’st born to strange sights, Things invisible go see, Ride ten thousand days and nights, Till age snow white hairs on thee. Thou at thy return wilt tell me All strange wonders that befell thee, And swear, No where Lives a woman true and fair. If thou find’st one, let me know, Such a pilgrimage were sweet; Yet do not, I would not go, Though at next door we should meet. Though she were true when you met her, And last till you write your letter, Yet she Will be False, ere I come, to two or three." - John Donne, "Song" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#95a879';}

Step by step

2008-09-14T21:47:51Z

The stairwell in one of the buildings at the mental institute and the final image that I'll post here. Still no new news yet on the health front. Had more tests this past Friday. Camera: Pentax 67 with 55mm SMC Pentax lens using Fuji PRO400H film Song of the day: "April" by Nathan Moomaw Poem of the day: "O WORLD! O Life! O Time! On whose last steps I climb, Trembling at that where I had stood before; When will return the glory of your prime? No more—oh, never more! Out of the day and night A joy has taken flight: Fresh spring, and summer, and winter hoar Move my faint heart with grief, but with delight No more—oh, never more!" - P. B. Shelley, "A Lament" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#a7a6a1';}

A simple glimpse of hope

2008-09-11T21:53:24Z

I think this will be one of the last photos of the mental institute, maybe one more after this. I still need to work on some more photos and I haven't really been shooting too much lately either due to my health problems...so the pickings are slim. :( No real updates on the health front except more tests to try to figure out what's going on. Camera: Pentax 67 with 55mm SMC Pentax lens using Fuji PRO160S film Song of the day: "Nobody Knows Me At All" by The Weepies Poem of the day: "HOPE is a subtle glutton; He feeds upon the fair; And yet, inspected closely, What abstinence is there! His is the halcyon table That never seats but one, And whatsoever is consumed The same amounts remain." - Emily Dickinson, "Hope is a subtle glutton" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#d1d3cd';}

The artful ceiling

2008-09-08T05:01:11Z

I showed this ceiling from the mental institute, but with cross processed film. I also shot it with B&W film. I would already be done with this location, but I just haven't felt like working on anything else. I might have something else ready soon -- we'll see. Health update: this was a rough weekend. I went to a store to pick up some things and my legs started hurting so much I thought I would have to get one of those electric cart things just to get around. Today I go to get the results of the spinal MRI and hope that I get some real answers. Camera: Hasselblad 501CM with 80mm CF lens using Rollei Retro 400 B&W film, developed in Rodinal 1:50 News: I have a couple of pieces in the Velcro Show at the Composition Gallery, August 30 - September 14, 2008. Song of the day: "Suicide Blonde" by The Weepies Poem of the day: "THERE was a time in former years— While my roof-tree was his— When I should have been distressed by fears At such a night as this. I should have murmured anxiously, “The pricking rain strikes cold; His road is bare of hedge or tree, And he is getting old.” But now the fitful chimney-roar, The drone of Thorncombe trees, The Froom in flood upon the moor, The mud of Mellstock Leaze, The candle slanting sooty wick’d, The thuds upon the thatch, The eaves-drops on the window flicked, The clacking garden-hatch, And what they mean to wayfarers, I scarcely heed or mind; He has won that storm-tight roof of hers Which Earth grants all her kind." - Thomas Hardy, "She Hears the Storm" if(changeBackground==1){document.bgColor='#c6c6c6';}