Seligenstadt Synagogue in Wet Plate Collodion

Today, I made the image that will appear on the first page of my book (I think). The image shows the original steps of the Seligenstadt synagogue. These steps are the only thing left of the synagogue. It was burned on November 9/10, 1938 during Kristallnacht. If you think about the metaphor of stairs (especially ascending/descending) you'll get where I'm going with this.

The emptiness is what moves me the most when I'm making photographs where the mighty, vibrant synagogues once stood in these small villages. I'm almost trying to photograph what isn't there. It's very difficult to do. It's also very sad.  

A friend from Berlin, Jan, met us in Seligenstadt this morning. His mother lives there and his step-father has done an enormous amount of research on the Jewish community (that was) in Seligenstadt. 

After making a positive image and a negative image of the same scene (the steps), we (Summer, Jan and I) went for coffee and looked at the "stumbling stones" around the village. There was a significant Jewish community that lived in this village until 1938. It's the same story in all of these places. Jan had newspaper clippings from the Seligenstadt newspaper (from 1935) that showed a page of ads for office furniture, shoes and clothes, and in the middle of these "common ads" was another kind of ad that read, "The Jews are our misfortune" ("Die Juden sind unser Unglück"). Mind-blowing and very educational.

The last two images are the positive (8x10 Black Glass Ambrotype) and the negative (8x10). I'll make a POP print this week of of the negative.

Seligenstadt Synagogue Remains 
I wasn't sure about the light, being in a hole and surrounded with "red" and "yellow". 
"Where does the shadow of my hand fall?" 1100 hours, 4 second exposure. 
Pouring Collodion on an 8"x10" piece of black glass.  
Putting the "loaded" plate holder onto the camera.  
Processing the plate.

"Seligenstadt Synagogue Stairs" 8"x10" Black Glass Ambrotype (sold) 
8"x10" negative - Seligenstadt Synagogue Stairs. 
I'm going back to Seligenstadt next week. We're suppose to have a key to get into the Juden Friedhof (Jewish cemetery) - it was vandalized during Kristallnacht as well. Look for those images next week!

Thank you Summer and Jan. It was a great day. This is very important work, thanks for being a part of it.

Evolving Theory About Art

I recently started reading, "Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images" by Terry Barrett. It's an excellent book, I highly recommend reading it.  I've read it once or twice in the past, but it's one of those books that seem to change everytime you read it - you always find new and relevant insight.

Anyway, when I came across Allan Sekula's quote from "Dismantling Modernism" I was stunned. It was almost like I had thought that very thing but couldn't ever get it out (in written word). This quote sums up my theory about art and my purpose for making it. It's an evolution of understanding and it changes over time.

"Suppose we regard art as a mode of human communication, as a discourse anchored in concrete social relations, rather than a mystified, vaporous and ahistorical realm of purely affective expression and experience”.
Allan Sekula, “Dismantling Modernism” (1978)

Oh, and these are my new "Q" cards:

Quinn's new cards.

Time Goes So Fast… Make It Count!

Well, here we are beginning our third (read: 3rd) year in Germany. I can't believe it. Where does the time go? It must have something to do with the knowledge that our time is finite here. Wouldn't that apply to all human beings in relation to life? I digress.

Summer and I have been working hard on my video series called, "The Wet Plate Collodion Workshop DVD Series". I'm excited by all of this. I'll close this chapter of my life out with two new books, two DVDs, and a new web site. I'm going to try to launch, publish, produce all of those by the end of the year.  All of the proceeds from the sales of these books and DVDs will go into an account for Summer. She will be in college in a couple of years and we thought this would be a great way to get her some additional cash/tuition/car/etc. money. She is doing all of the editing on the DVDs and proof-reading/editing the books for me. She's working hard and earning her money.

I have two workshops planned for September and October. One in Vienna, Austria and another in The Netherlands. Those are confirmed.  I also have one tentative for Berlin in September and one hanging in October for Mallorca, Spain (an island west of Barcelona).  A lot of stuff and a lot of fun! That's how I like to roll ;-)  here's a frame exported from the video:

A screenshot from one of the videos in the series.

Next year, 2009, will be devoted completely to my personal work (other than a possible workshop in Finland). I'll be finished with all of the writing, teaching, and video making and will devote myself completely to my project. I still spend a fair amount of time working on my "Kristallnacht" project. It's difficult here and things move very, very slow.  I do have four images of the project showing in San Francisco right now. They are in a show called, "Into the Ether: Contemporary Collodion Work" at RayKo Gallery. I hear the crowd was large and impressed by the work. That makes me happy. However, the German people are the ones that need to see this work. And, moreover, think about it. I'm working on it.

 

Barcelona Wet Plate Workshops

I wanted to post an update on our Barcelona trip. I'm somewhat burned out writing here and on my forum, so I'm going to throw in a couple of links to the forum board. If you want to see more and read more, you can check these out:

Barcelona Wet Plate Collodion Workshop #1

Barcelona Wet Plate Collodion Workshop #2

We had a wonderful time in Spain. By far my favorite country in Europe. It's mostly due to the fact that people can be who they are and not be stared at or chastised for being different. That's a very different way of life from Germany. Maybe I am over-sensitive, but Germany is a difficult place to live at times.

16" x 20" Clear Glass Negative (Scanned) - The Jacobsons 
ATELIERETAGUARDIA Studio members, left to right; Israel, Ricard, Arcangela, Rebecca, Quinn, and Marti.

 

My Third Day In Germany


It's my third day in Germany and I am captivated and disoriented.

I need to document these feelings so they are always available to me. I know in time, this will become familiar and I need to be able to speak to the experiences (intimately) that our family and friends will experience the first few days, weeks or months here. I NEVER want to forget these feelings and emotions. I am alive again!

We are living in an apartment/hotel on Gorxheimer StraBe #7. It's right on the border of Mannheim near Ben Franklin Village, a U.S. military post.

Quinn in Mannheim on a very hot summer day.

It's so different here. Far from what I am familiar with. I find myself pondering the smallest things. The smells, sights, sounds, everything. It feels very different. If you find yourself bored and lamenting your life in your familiar rut, in other words if you are "rutified", move to a different country. Your senses will awaken and you will feel alive again, I guarantee it!

Nahrung: We went grocery shopping yesterday and we went up and down every aisle wondering what 90%+ of the products were. I have never seen so much sausage (no, not that kind of sausage) and pork products. Pork/ham products are called "Schinken" - there are more varieties than you can count. It sounds stereotypical, but it's true, Germans love their Schinken und Bier!
Quinn and Jeanne, July 23, 2006 - Mannheim, Geramny

Bier: Don't get me started! For a beer drinker, this is heaven. Very, very good beer that is very, very inexpensive. I can't believe I've been drinking that shite from Utah (well, I really haven't that much, but in theory I had no choice if I wanted a beer). It's no surprise to me that Germans can, and will, enjoy a Bier most anytime, day or night.

Wein: This was surprising to me too. I didn't expect the variety and quality of wine here. Again, very good and very inexpensive. We've been having Wein und Bier mit Abendessen every night.

Kaffee: The most tastiest, yummiest stuff I've had (well at least very similar to the Dutch coffee I love so very much). We bought a brand called "Jacobs" appropriate, no? It's strong, but very drinkable and wires you up nicely. I recently gave up coffee drinking but couldn't resist here. Europeans love their Kaffee in the morning and Wein und Bier at meals. As they say, "When in Rome..."

Milch: A new experience. I love this stuff! It's heated to a very high temp for a long time and it doesn't need to be refrigerated. It lasts for months! It's rich and creamy too. Great on cereal or in Kaffee! A popular Kaffee Creamer here is also very good and is fridge-free.
Milch, yummy, yummy milch.

I'm going to keep these posts short and sharp as possible. I'll post images with them and pick some highlights of the day.