In Honor of Fiddlers' Conventions

Mid-August is always an exciting time in the Twin County, VA area (Grayson, Carroll, Galax). Two fiddlers conventions are held in this area every year in August. First up is the Galax Fiddlers Convention, which is the 2nd full weekend in August. The following week is the Fries Fiddlers Convention. It is sponsored by the Fries Volunteer Fire Department - they are as hard a working group of people as you will ever meet.

To celebrate the fiddlers' conventions, I would like to share a photo I produced decades ago. This is a scan of a photo I made at the Galax Fiddlers' Convention in 1979 or so. 

This thing, this object, has an existence of its own outside of the moment in time which it represents. It's a two-dimensional, monochrome representation of a four-dimensional, polychromatic slice of time and space. That moment, that place, is unique. There never was a moment and place like that before this moment, and there will never will be again. But here is this object which represents that moment and it has taken on a life of its own. I made the exposure and then printed the print 40 years ago - birthed it from the developer as though I were a midwife delivering a baby. The print was a possession of mine. It physically went with me in various moves from house to house.

I didn't know the people in the photo when I made the exposure. It was an interesting moment, so I took the picture. 

Two years ago, I scanned the photo and posted it on Facebook. Someone commented on the photo and asked if I knew the people in the photo. I did not, but someone later commented and identified the subjects. The banjo player is Harold Hausenfluck. The spectators are Gail Gillespie and David Forbes.

Once I digitized the photo (in 2004) and uploaded it to Facebook (in 2015), it took on a different kind of existence. Instead of being in a pile of my old photographs, it is now shared electronically world-wide. Social media has introduced some unpleasantness to our world, but it has capacity for good. This photograph is an example of the good. It reminds us of a time when things were different - a time when music was delivered by 8-track tapes, a time when the subjects (and the photographer) were 40 years younger.

Some things haven't changed. People still flock to the fiddlers' conventions to listen to the music which has resonated through the Blue Ridge for generations. Another generation or two has passed since this photo was made, however. This photograph represents a lesson in how things change and how things remain the same.

Look Again!

"I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." - Photographer Diane Arbus

Arbus was onto something when she wrote this shortly before her death in 1971. She sought unusual people. She exposed her audience to diversity you wouldn't see in everyday life. I encourage you to do an internet search for her images.

The idea behind her quote informs my images, but in a different way. I specialize in capturing the beauty of the mountains of Virginia. We drive by the gorgeous sights offered to us ever day and do not really see what's there.

Whether it's a small scene of a wildflower alongside the road, or a different view of a landscape - my work exposes a view not otherwise seen.

Early Spring Color

I have always thought mid-April was a depressing time in Virginia. Chance of snow has passed. It is not yet time for flowering trees (mountains of Virginia are about three weeks behind Piedmont of NC), It has always seemed to me that there was not much growth other than briar leaves coming out and very low undergrowth in the woods.  

I went out today hoping to catch fiddleheads coming out of the ground (see my 5/12/17 blog). Because of the late Spring, they aren't out. 

I went out to one of my favorite spots and found plenty of color! It just reminds me that when you look closely, there's always something beautiful to find in nature.

Exhibit at Chestnut Creek School of the Arts

If you are in Galax, or would like an excuse to visit Galax, go by the Chestnut Creek School of the Arts. Going on now (through May 4, 2018) is a great exhibit by local photographers. Over 25 artists (included yours-truly) have submitted work for this show.

The show ends with a reception on May 4th from 4:30-6 p.m.

Most of the images are work from the Twin County area (Grayson and Carroll Counties and the City of Galax, VA).

Chestnut Creek School of the Arts is a wonderful asset for Grayson/Carroll/Galax. For over 10 years, the school has been providing instruction in the performing arts and the visual arts. Check it out! 

https://www.chestnutcreekarts.org

Digital vs film

It occurred to me that there is one fundamental difference between digital photography and film photography. Granted, the final products from both media can be indistinguishable to the human eye. But there is a deeper, more essential difference.

With digital photography, the light that strikes the sensor of a camera is interpreted by the sensor and the associated computer, which then write that interpretation to a file. Therefore, the image is indirectly produced by light. The processor produces the image - not the light.

With film photography, the light causes a chemical change in the emulsion. That is, the photons cause a physical change at the subatomic level in the chemical structure of the film. This change is then chemically processed and made permanent. When the print is made with silver halide paper, the photons projected through the negative and onto to the printing paper cause a physical change in the emulsion of the paper. Interpretation by the artist is at the macro level - by choosing focus point and exposure among other things.

When considered from this angle, digital photography is more akin to drawing or painting than film photography. With drawing, the light strikes the sensor (the eye) and the processor (the brain) interprets the image and writes output to the hand. The processor is creating the image.  The light is not directly creating the image.

Obviously, more interpretation occurs in drawing and painting than in digital photography. The interpretation occurring in digital photography is enforced by stricter rules. I think this is a matter of degree, however. This idea warrants further consideration.

School Days

Here is a picture of a school bus sitting out in front of Fries School ("Fries is pronounced "freeze", by the way). It's not a high school now, but this is where I went to high school. People used to tell me when I was in school that those would be the best days of my life. While that hasn't proved to be true, they were great days. I have a lot of fond memories from Fries High School and I met some great people there.

I was in high school at a more innocent time, to be sure. I can't say for sure that it was a better time, but it certainly was more innocent. I didn't have a car when I was in high school, so I would start out walking anywhere I went. Usually, someone would stop and pick me up, so I didn't have to walk far. 

Richie Pack and I would eat lunch off campus either at Bud Nichols Store of at the drive-in in Blairtown (I can't remember the name of it). It wasn't a long walk to downtown Fries or Blairtown.

I worked for the school system as a janitor. I would stay after school and clean up the cafeteria. We had a jukebox in the cafeteria, so I can remember playing The Rolling Stones on the jukebox while I worked. I would start out walking after work (and usually get a ride home). I later worked at Providence School. It was closer to home. I would ride the bus to Providence, then Greg Rutherford and I would clean the classrooms and the cafeteria. I would then walk home after work.

Fries has changed since the 70s. But it is still one of the best places I have ever been.

Fiddleheads

Most people are familiar with the beautiful fern which is common in Virginia and Carolina. The plants thrive in the lush undergrowth of forests and they like shady, moist areas.

What you may not know about the fern, is what it looks like when it is producing in the spring. The beautiful, lush plant that most of us are familiar with is only part of the life cycle of the fern. They die back in the winter, turning yellow, red, or brown and wilt down to the ground. But in the spring, there sprouts forth from the ground this alien looking little thing. The sprouts are called fiddleheads. They are curled up fronds of the fern plant and they slowly unfurl, over a week or so after they come out of the ground.

The first time I remember seeing fiddleheads was in the late 70s when I was in the woods in front of my parents' house doing a photowalk. I didn't know what these things were coming up out of the ground. When I developed the film and did a print, they reminded me of a group of people talking and yammering at each other.

So enjoy the gallery of fiddlehead pictures, as well as pictures of ferns in their decayed state and at their full growth. I've even included a scan of the negative from the 70s that sparked my original interest.

Most of the below pictures were made in the Fries, VA area. Scroll down to see the full gallery.

Clito

There is a place near Fries, VA called Clito. It's along a road, about 3 miles long and a more beautiful place on planet Earth you will not find. My earliest memories are of this place and it draws me to itself every time I am in Virginia!

Elk Creek and Knob Fork Branch run along this gravel road. They are both beautiful and pristine streams. 

Some of my earliest memories are about Clito and I have strong memories from every time of my life tied to this place. I learned about nature and wildlife by observation in this preserve. Feeling the horny heads nibbling at my toes while swimming at the swimming hole, or watching the tadpoles turn into frogs in a mudhole along side the road one spring, or watching the graceful flight of one of the herons who have lived on the creek - these and many more memories and observations come to me as I think about this wonderful place.

You can see a photo of the swimming hole in the gallery below. There's a rock slide that has water flowing over it (photo taken 4/1/17). You must hit a window in the summer to use the rock slide - the water is just too cold to go swimming in before June 1st. But by the middle of June, the water level of the creek has dropped such that the water is no longer flowing over the rock.

So do yourself a favor this summer. Go to this little slice of heaven on Earth. Don't worry, you will get used to the cold water in a few minutes and the horny head nibbles don't hurt. See you at the swimming hole!