As time goes by

After spending several days in bed this week, its time to face the world again. Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

I started the Alley series in the early 90’s, shooting 35mm chrome film with my Nikon. Many years, and many alley images later, I was finally able to afford to step up my gear. I bought my first 120mm Hasselblad. The quality of my images experienced a quantum leap. Suddenly they were doing what I wanted them to, which is to allow the viewer a feeling that he could step into the picture and enter one of the alternate realities of my Alleys.

On a trip to Montreal in 1998, I decided to re-shoot some of my favorite old shots. Although I liked the results, the originals consistently won.  What makes a great image is not just the bold, whack on the head of a first look at a picture. Like great music, a great photograph reveals its subtleties over time, after numerous viewings. These subtleties at the location are usually fleeting. Here today, gone tomorrow, or gone in one minute, or one second…

Here’s one of the originals and the re-shoot:

Alley no. 3, 1993, Montreal

Alley no. 43, 1998

The original incandescant street light had been replaced with sodium vapour, which I was not happy about, but the big dismay was the light in the right window was off. I didn’t take the shot… instead, the following morning I went to the factory, briefly explained what I was doing to the owner, and asked if he wouldn’t mind leaving that light on. He looked at me very suspiciously, “Why do you want me to leave a light on overnight in my factory?” Beginning to worry my request would not be welcomed; again I explained what I was doing. I showed him the original photo, and though he was still not impressed (and wouldn’t even take the picture as a gift!), he was curious as to which light could have been on. Together we realized that the only possibility was an old Molson beer clock whose fluorescent tubes had burned out years ago (flourescent lights turn green on film). With this realization, he warmed up. I offered to fix the clock for him, which I did, and returned that night. The clock had 2 tubes and I replaced both – I believe the 1993 clock had only one working tube. Unfortunately because of this and other factors, I was unable to recapture the green jewel of the original window. Several other changes, plus who knows… a change in the stars? led to further changes that chipped away at the quality of the original. Although the later shot is good, it lacks the subtle mystery and range of interpretations of the original.

I re-shot several of the old shots on that trip in ‘98. I’ll eventually post all of them.