What About Clouds?

One of the first successful photographs I made when I was teaching myself how to be a photographer was a picture of a majestic cloud formation. The year was 1964. I had built a darkroom in a little room in the back of our garage. It was a small space with the challenge of three windows and two doors to seal from light leaks.

I had exaggerated the tones of the picture by using a red filter in combination with a polarizing filter-- the polarizer had the effect of adding neutral density since I was shooting directly into the sun. As you can see the sky was darkened dramatically and the clouds are brilliant. I made an 11 x 14 print in my modest garage darkroom and proudly showed to Harley Hayes, my mentor. He was so generous in his support. Mr. Hayes owned the local Record Shop/Photo Store and we spoke about photography all the time. He introduced me to the work of Ansel Adams. After seeing an exhibition of Adams work at the De Young Museum in San Francisco I was hooked. I bought a baby Speed Graphic camera (2 1/4" x 3 1/4" negatives) so I could use sheet film. Adding a 1˚ Pentax Spotmeter allowed me to pursue learning the Zone System, Adams' complex exposure/development system for controlling the contrast of the individual negative.

Mastering the Zone System was an enormous challenge for my abilities, so on Harley's advice I bought the Minor White book that was supposed to translate the technique for "the rest of us". White's book was equally impenetrable, so I wrote to him to ask when he was going to present his workshop on the West Coast. He kindly responded and said there would be no workshop that year, but to contact either Jack Welpott or Don Worth at San Francisco State College ("try Don first"). I did, and the rest is history; I moved my young family to San Francisco and completed the undergraduate and graduate programs with Don and Jack. I then supervised a college program in photography of my own for 25 years in St. Louis. I also taught the Zone System in advanced classes and distilled its secrets into a one page capsule.

The success I felt about this image carried me a long ways along the path of photodiscovery. I believe this was one of the images I used in graduate school seven years later when guest artist Henry Holmes Smith directed: "Bring me photographs that gave you permission to continue". It's interesting to consider those milestones from time to time.



















Images by Alfred Stieglitz above are listed as numbers 1838 (left) and 1836 (right) from the Phillips collection referenced below.


When studying photographic history I learned of the cloud photographs of Alfred Stieglitz, a series which he called "Equivalents". These images have been greatly touted by Beaumont Newhall and others, although I always thought they were too much of a stretch. Stieglitz was indeed an historical giant, but not for these pictures. (It seems like blasphemy to suggest this, and the failure of my appreciation for these images lies, no doubt, in my impoverished abilities.)

"In his cloud photographs, which he termed Equivalents, Stieglitz emphasized pure abstraction, adhering to the modern ideas of equivalence, holding that abstract forms, lines, and colors could represent corresponding inner states, emotions and ideas." Phillips Collection

When we moved to our farm a few years ago, I discovered that the end of the driveway was a great vantage point for seeing the sky above the adjacent cornfield. After living in the city for the past 33 years, it was a pleasant revelation to be able to witness the kaleidescope of cloud events that occur so frequently.

Unlike Stieglitz, I have no higher aspiration than simple documentation. For me its enough to be able to observe these phenomena, and a benefit of retirement to have the opportunity to photograph them.

B-2008

B-2010

B-2013

B-4155

B-4172

B-2005

B-4229

B-3436

B-4342

B-4374

The file numbers will have to suffice for the titles. I feel deficient when it comes to adding titles to images, particularly photographs which are what they are. I once came across a quote from Maxfield Parrish that describes the quandary perfectly. However, I forgot to write it down and I haven't been able to find it since. So I'll have to paraphrase: "I'm just no good at titles and have to rely on others to create them. I would name a series, 'A Lady with a Rose' and 'A Lady and a Gentleman with a Rose' and 'Yet Another Lady with a Rose'." Well, you get the idea. He said it better than that and I'm still looking for the quote.