History of Nature and Landscape Photography, The Beginnings

Sir Henry Fox Talbot; early 1840’s

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Photography has had a preoccupation with nature almost from the very beginning. In fact, it was probably a preoccupation with nature that led to photography in the first place. The Pencil of Nature was a photobook published in the mid-1840’s by Sir Henry Fox Talbot, who was the first to successfully develop a reproducible negative.

Interlude: Saint Louis Art Museum

I first began working at the Saint Louis Art Museum in January of 2003.  Over the years, the Museum has introduced me to many great friends and has offered me a practical education beyond the scope of anything that I learned in college.  At SLAM, I’ve worked as a Gallery Attendant, the Photography and Image Rights Manager, a Preparator, and as a Security Officer.  I cannot imagine a more well-rounded glimpse into how Museums operate than this.

Interlude: PFSTL Top Ten, #8. Downtown

Photo Flood Saint Louis turns four this August.  This post is a continuation of a countdown to commemorate this exciting milestone.

The Downtown neighborhood is every bit the soul of the St. Louis region.  It encapsulates the city’s origins, and includes its best known testaments to culture, business, government, and society.  The world’s first skyscraper, the once longest arch bridge in the world, and the world’s tallest monument live here.  Our relationship to the mighty Mississippi River is embodied here.

With all of that considered, it is no wonder that I began Photo Flood Saint Louis with a visit Downtown, and for the first two anniversaries of the group, we returned there.  These images come from our second venture into the neighborhood; one year after founding.

Lenses

Fuji X Mount:

1. 7artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye
2. Rokinon 12mm f/2
3. Fujinon 16mm f/2.8 WR
4. Fujinon 23mm f/2 WR
5. Fujinon 35mm f/2 WR
6. 7artisans 35mm f/1.2
7. Fujinon 50mm f/2 WR
8. Yashica Yashinon-DX 50mm f/1.7 (adapted from m42)
9. Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 (adapted from m42)
10. Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 STM
11. Fujinon 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8

Nikon F-Mount:

1. Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G DX
2. Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G
3. Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D
4. Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
5. Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G
6. Nikkor 35-135mm f/3.5-4.5 AF (non-D)
7. Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G
8. Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX
9. Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX
10. Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AIS
11. Nikon 50mm f/1.8E
12. Sigma 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 and 100-200mm f/4.5 (manual focus)
13. Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX (version 1)
14. Tokina 80-200mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro (manual focus)

 

Cameras

Fujifilm:

1. Fuji X-E3
2. Fuji X-T20
3. Fuji GFX 100s

Nikon:

1. Nikon D7200
2. Nikon D3200
3. Nikon D300
4. Nikon D200
5. Nikon D50
6. Nikon N80
7. Nikon N65
8. Nikon N6006 and N8008s
9. Nikon EM

Other:

1. Starting Out in Photography, What Options Exist in 2018

On Photography

Writing about photography, mostly in terms of its relationship to art and experience.

1. Chicken or the Egg?
2. Define: Photography
3. Film Pace
4. Flaws of Perception
5. Hitchcock’s Rear Window and the “Spectacle” in Photography
6. Photography and the Merits of Change
7. St. Louis and the History of Photography
8. Results of an Experiment, “The Neutrality of Information”
9. The Photography Experience
10. The Photographic Series
11. Photography is No Monolith
12. History of Nature and Landscape Photography, The Beginnings
13. History of Nature and Landscape Photography, Transition to Artform

Film Pace

Spend enough time with film photographers in the digital age, and you will inevitably hear someone say, “I shoot film to slow down” or “I shoot film because it encourages me to stop and think before I take a picture”. I call this assertion “film pace”, and it is usually untrue.

College For Kids, part 1

For two weeks at the beginning of August, St. Louis Community College at Meramec was transformed into the College for Kids. Offering K-8 classes for gifted students, the courses ranged dramatically from chess instruction to animal demonstrations. As far as I could tell, I was the only educator representing photography this year, which explained the roughly 64 kids that came through my classroom. My three classes were Alternative Photography (1st week), Funography (2nd week), and The Photographic Series (2nd week). The experience was completely exhausting, but fun nonetheless.

Results after the jump–>

St. Louis Shoots: Contemporary Street Photographers from St. Louis

Currently up at the International Photography Hall of Fame is an exhibition that I curated called, St. Louis Shoots: Contemporary Street Photographers from St. Louis. The exhibition will be on display until April 27, 2014, and the Museum’s hours are as follows:

M-Tu: closed
W-Th: 11a-6p
F-Su: 11a-4p

Anna Kuperberg’s South Side Exhibition

In case you missed it, here are my installation shots for the Anna Kuperberg’s South Side exhibition at the International Photography Hall of Fame. The show ran from February 7, 2014 to March 7, 2014. If you would still like to see some of Anna’s work in person, a portion of the South Side images are included in my new exhibition at IPHF, entitled, St. Louis Shoots: Contemporary Street Photographers from St. Louis (up through April 27, 2014).