Exhibition - Midland Arts and Antiques Market, Indianapolis

The Exhibition is up thanks to the hard work of Satch and the staff at Midland Arts and Antiques Market.

Now that the exhibition is up, Greg from Midland will design and install the furniture, accessories, art and antiques that will make up the center of the exhibit area. Midland is going to look great for the New Year and for Super Bowl visitors. Be sure to make a trip downtown to check it out.

Thanks to Satch who designed and installed the exhibit

Here's a quick video preview of the exhibit: (making these videos still pretty much terrify me, but it is part of the project so I press on!)

Ron - Video

Ron discusses his prints.

Ron - "Societal Instincts," Hand Written Original

This is the original hand-written poem that started the Truth From Perceptions Project.

Copyright 2011, Edward Henry Satchwill III
Reprinted by Permission

Ron - Finalizing Exhibit Design

Ron - Printing

I have finished the printing for the exhibition at Midland.  I will be putting together the final order of the hanging over the next few days.

There is still much to do, printing of signs, artists' statements and the like.

Ron - Photograph From Along the National Road

This is one of my favorite photographs that I made as a part of Truth From Perceptions.

The door of the business has handwritten hours for every day of the week. No fancy sign here, not even one telling us what the business is. Obviously the locals know.

 The windows of the building have been bricked in at different times. The contrast of the air conditioner bringing in fresh air and the exhaust fan that jettisons the stale air from a seemingly closed off space adds to the mystery of the business.

 This business, in my mind, is a perfect metaphor for the financial and economic crisis that the small towns and their people are facing.

Mike and Ron - Discussion 4

Mike's and Ron's Books

Scroll down, in the left margin you will find links to Mike's and Ron's books on Blurb.

Ron-Truth From Perceptions Printing

I've begun the final printing for the Truth From Perceptions portion of my exhibit.  There will be two sizes of prints - approx. 11"x17" and 6"x9."

I talked to my nephew, Edward Henry Satchwill III, last evening and he will be writing a piece for the Truth From Perceptions portion of the exhibit.  This will close the circle.  His poem was the main inspiration behind this project and now after seeing the photographs contained in the exhibition he will write about those photographs.

Ron - Polaroid Work Printed

I am making progress toward the opening of the exhibition.  This afternoon I completed printing the Polaroid work.  Satch and I are quite pleased with the results.

And, for the Truth From Perceptions Project I have edited 110 photographs down to 45 for the exhibition.  Making over 500 negatives over seven months has been a challenge that I have truly relished.  I feel that it is imperative that I make a book that presents the entire scope, at this point in time, of Truth From Perceptions.

Currently I am designing the layout of the exhibit and doing some additional writing as well.

Thank you for continuing to check out our blog.  And I would like to give a special shout out to the people from overseas that have taken the time to look at our work.

Examining a Fuji Negative

Press Release

Here's a link to the press release (pdf) for the exhitbition: http://www.box.com/s/3gobx49t5dn20bitus79

Ron - More Photographs and Thoughts

Well, I thought I was done with making photographs before the upcoming exhibition.  But on Wednesday a few things presented themselves and I had to pay attention.  At times when I least expect it, a photograph presents itself.

The fact that I am entering a new chapter in my photography, and as I am in the midst of editing for our upcoming exhibit, my view of photography continues to clarify.  And, what I  experienced this past week validates what I have been thinking and feeling.

When I am photographing I feel and sense the spirit of what I am seeing.  The "design" of the subject or scene (natural or manmade, intentional or incidental) becomes an integral of the final composition.  I examine and present nature's and/or man's mark, the combination of which is often society's response to my subject.  The resulting photograph shows the condition and existence of the subject within a context, literal or metaphorical.  That being said, trying to recreate my feelings and perception through a lens and onto film via this machine, the camera, is incredibly difficult and at times more than frustrating.

As I imply in my artist statement, which I will post directly below Satch's photograph, I photograph within the environment that I know or find myself in - the world in which I live.  I do not find it necessary to travel to a locale to make photographs that present something exotic, unfamiliar or detached from my day to day existence.  Rather I endeavor to delve into my surroundings within the scope of where I live my life.

When I first read Edward Henry Satchwill III's poem "Societal Instincts" I became more acutely aware of what I was trying to say with my photography and the "Truth From Perceptions" concept was born.  (Full disclosure - Edward Henry Satchwill III is my nephew.  His poetry continually provides inspiration, and I thank him for that.)

My future photography will continue to be informed by these ideas.  As I enter a new chapter both photographically and in my life, which will be discussed in detail at a later date, these ideas and concepts will continue to inform and guide my work.

Ron with his Polaroid Camera, Photograph by Satch, 11/23/2011

You can read the poem "Societal Instincts" at this previous post.

My Artist Statement:

I aspire to discover and reveal the spiritual essence and truth of my environment.  For me, photography is a vital element of life; it is esoteric and abstract, yet temporal and existent.

Anything at any time can be subject matter.  Often I make images as a reaction to the environment in which I find myself or to something that I observe by looking beyond the obvious characteristics and form of a subject, either instantly or over a period of time.

11/23/2011

Digital Postcard for the Exhibition

Indy Star Article and Press Release

Here's the link to the Indy Star online article about 2 Photographers Works In Progress, written by Karen Stroup.

And here is the press release for the exhibition:

For Immediate Release November 30, 2011

From Ron Kern, ronkernphoto@gmail.com, 317-507-7888

Exhibition - 2 Photographers Works In Progress, Ron Kern and Mike Stroup

December 31, 2011 through February 7, 2012

Artists Reception - Friday January 6, 2012, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Midland Arts and Antiques Market

907 East Michigan Street

Indianapolis, Indiana 46202

Hours:  Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.

http://2PhotographersWorksInProgress.net

http://midlandathome.com

Carmel resident Ron Kern has been making photographs and studying the art of photography for over twenty five years.  Recently Ron, while examining the contemporary state of photography, realized that, because of the proliferation of billions of images across the internet all vying for our attention, the public’s perception of photography had begun to take on a disposable nature.  

Ron Kern - “As I thought more and more about the current state of photography I felt that I needed to do my little part to bring attention to the fact that photography still has a rightful place in the fine art of self-expression.  As I tried to imagine a better way to show what the art of photography was all about the idea of 2 Photographers Works In Progress was born.  I invited my long time friend and colleague Mike Stroup to join the project.

2 Photographers Works In Progress offers fine art photography enthusiasts a look into the creative process before, during, and after a photography exhibit goes up.  Visit 2PhotographersWorksInProgress.net to see how fine art photographers Ron Kern and Mike Stroup think through the challenges of developing their respective visions for their photography and to learn more about the inner motivations of both photographers for the works they create.

“We want to engage people who like to follow fine art photography to participate with us as we both work through the creative process and challenges to get to where we need to be to assemble our work for this exhibit,” says Kern. “The web offered us an opportunity to provide people with a glimpse into how both Mike and I use the camera to create art.”

Kern and Stroup have been on the Indianapolis fine art photography scene for over 25 years and have shown their work locally, statewide, and nationally.  “This is the first time, though, that we have explored the potential of the web to invite others to join us both before and during the exhibit and after the exhibit to learn how our work with our cameras is never-ending,” says Stroup.

Midland Arts and Antiques, located near the center of downtown Indianapolis, features over 200 independent art and antique dealers from around the Midwest.

Revisiting Ron's Essay

Now would be a good time to revisit the idea of and the concept behind 2 Photographers Works In Progress. Click this link to go directly to the blog post that contains Ron's essay.

Mike Discusses His Hartford City Project

(At the beginning of the video Mike and Ron do a bad SNL Weekend Update Chevy Chase impression, well, mostly Ron)

Video - Ron Discusses Recent Polaroid Work

More Polaroid Work

I've pretty much wrapped up making Polaroid photographs for this portion of the project.  There are several more ideas percolating.  Satch and I might work together on a couple of them.

Here are three photographs from the ongoing Polaroid work/process in progress.  I am very happy with these and will be doing more of this work.  It has been rewarding showing this work online directly after discovering and making these images.  Thanks for checking them out.

Sign and Billboard

Cement Machine

Grain Elevator and Delivery Truck

Mike- Post VIII

                                                                      -- THE MALL --

Probably built in the mid to the late 1960's, the Muncie Mall offered the chance for people in the surrounding towns to drive a short distance and have numerous stores and shops to chose from. Located about 16 miles to the north of the Mall, the people of Hartford City were no different. While our Mom never owned a car, we would ride with friends to the mall to buy our new school clothes. Saving a few dollars on a pair of shoes, and a couple of bucks on pants or a shirt was important at the time. But you know, I don't think we realized what would happen. Maybe it's only human nature, but I don't think we understood the changes that would take place, in Indiana and all across the country. Month after month, as several years pass, and it adds up. Or, for the downtown businesses, it didn't. Of course, they gradually began to close. The last photo above is where the JC Penny store once had been.

Digital Exhibit Card

Click to Enlarge

Mike- Post VII

Not there— Remember the character, George Bailey, in the Frank Capra film, “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  George gets the chance that many of us don’t get to see what our lives would be like and how others would be like if we were not there.  But what do you do with the knowledge of knowing that something “was” there but is “not there” any longer?  And what does it mean to be “not there?”  If you remember something that “was” there that no longer “is not,” does that mean it is “still there?”  I want people to stop and think beyond the literal when they see my photographs to imagine or remember what used to be but is not there now.  With each passing day, we chip away at the canvas of time and place and people and layer after layer is not there the next day, replaced by some thing or someone else.  I believe time is dynamic and dimensional and that to look at my photographs is to take a step back into time with me to enjoy the memories I have of a precious small town that is now not there.

Ron - Work Flow

I get many questions about how I make my photographs so I thought that I'd briefly outline my workflow for the Truth From Perceptions project and my past processes.

In the past, in another photographic life, I developed my film and worked in the wet darkroom.  I did do all of the necessary testing for the Zone System for both T-Max and Tri-X films.  Also, I used Polaroid Type 55 positive/negative film for most of my 4"x5" work.  For printing I used a Selectol Soft and Dektol developer combination and occasionally used Weston's Amidol developer, depending upon the type of work I was doing.  I used two different enlargers, one for medium format and one for large format.  My paper of choice was Oriental Seagull, variable contrast.  I also worked with the "historic process" of Van Dyke Brown printing.

Today I have eschewed the wet darkroom in favor of the digital darkroom, but I still photograph using film.  The reasons for this are very straight forward.  Maintaining a wet darkroom and printing on silver photographic paper is very expensive.  As I do not consistently make prints of any great quantity the cost of having to replenish chemicals became prohibitive.  And the cost of silver paper is not cheap.  Working into a final print involved many sheets of paper that would drive up the cost.

Seeing a fine print made in the wet darkroom still makes my heart race and I do miss making those prints.  But, if this was the only way to make photographs I would no longer be making pictures.

iMac and Scanner

The digital darkroom has enabled me to continue my work and the quality of prints make from a high quality inkjet printer on photographic-like paper rivals, I said rivals, silver prints.

All of that being said, I still photograph using film.  I have the control that I want for making images when using film.  I still use the Zone System when making exposures and I find that film has a latitude, scale and feel that I don't see when I look at digital photographs.



The video below shows the camera and light meter that I am using for Truth From Perceptions.  After making exposures I have a lab, typically Roberts Camera, develop the film.  For the Truth From Perceptions project I am using Kodak BW400CN.  I have found that this film has a nice long scale and a fine grain structure.  At normal development it accurately reflects the metering that was done at the time of exposure.  The film is developed using the C-41 process so film development is quite affordable.

After film processing I scan the film using a flatbed scanner with 24 bit color settings at a resolution that will provide the size of prints that I desire.  I use Adobe Photoshop Elements on an iMac as the digital darkroom.  I adjust brightness and contrast and dodge and burn as required to make the expressive print that reflects what I visualized when I tripped the shutter.  I do slightly adjust the sharpness of the photograph only to ensure that the digital file will accurately print.  And, I fix all of the dust marks.  The one thing from the wet darkroom I do not miss one bit is print spotting.

Printer

My final prints are made using an Epson inkjet printer and are printed out of a RIP.  In an exhibition in January of this year at the Harrison Center for the Arts! in Indianapolis I exhibited 16"x20" prints of my Indiana Small Towns project and many people took for granted that the photographs were silver prints.  They did look great and I was quite pleased with the results.

So, there you have it in a big nutshell, my past processes and an overview of my current workflow.

Ron - Polaroid Work

I continue to explore the use of Fuji instant film and an old Polaroid camera. At this point I am thinking that this method may be very important in my future photography. Here are some recent photographs (click on the photographs to enlarge):

Kewanna, IN

Kewanna, Indiana

Hamilton County, Indiana

I am especially happy with the Kewanna Water Tower and Hamilton County photographs.  In the HamCo photograph I was able to convey the surreal scale of the scene by using a combination of foreground, the main subject and the distant background.  The quality of the negative adds to the mystery.  I just happened to come upon this scene while driving to dinner and, needless to say, we were late for dinner.

Video - Discussion 1

Mike and Ron discuss the current state of photography and their project, 2 Photographers Works In Progress. Video by Satch.

Mike- Post VI

Gone – When I go back to my small town, I feel that the town that I see is not the town that I remember.  That town is gone. Businesses are gone, retail stores are gone, drug stores are gone.  “Out of sight, out of mind,” may be true.  Deceptively powerful is the impact of place on our memories and once the places are gone, what happens to the memory?  Once you are gone, does the memory then die?  Or does it live on through others?  “Gone” is a pretty powerful term in that it suggests “no more.”  I could have made the choice through my photographs to match photos of buildings the “way they used to be” with “they way they are today.”  But that would be too easy.  Instead, I have climbed into the deeper abyss that challenges us all to keep our memories alive through the people we love today.  My images confront the reality of that potential loss of memory of things we hold most dear.  It is up to us to show and talk about those memories for them to continue on after we are gone.

Mehling's Drug store - This was one of two or three drugstores that had been on the square at one time.  Mehling's was about a ten minute walk from the high school that has been torn down for many years.  The old brick school building had gradually deteriorated over time and apparently, it was decided that a new school building was in order.  I had gone to the old high school and was in the first graduating class of the new school.  I recall seeing small pieces of plaster fall from the ceiling and mice scurrying around the old building. 

For many years, Mehling's had a lunch counter and booths where teenagers and other townspeople would come to eat the typical cheeseburgers, fries, and sodas.  About 1968 or 1969, all of that was removed and was the last of its kind in the downtown.  Probably in 1969 or so, I started to work there part-time.  I would basically keep the store and the rear stock areas cleaned up and would also take newly arrived merchandise to stock the shelves.  The pharmacist and owner was Mr. Pat Mehling.  The store manager was Mr. Sam Hollis.  You don't get any more "Andy of Mayberry" than with a name like Sam Hollis. 

For several years after that time period, new businesses were built at the north edge of town.  A Marsh grocery store and a nearby fast food restaurant were built on the site where in the 1950s and 1960s had been the Jones Dairy.  Our next door neighbor, Mr. Bob Jones (who would head the cast in my version of Hartford City's Mayberry), had delivered milk in the city from that dairy.  As with the changing times in many small towns in our country, Mr. Mehling could hold out no longer and eventually sold out his business and went to work for Marsh as their in-store pharmacist. 

Here are images of the building along with the old and faded sign that would slowly turn during the day in the place that once was Mehling's Drug store.  A knick-nack store has occupied this space for many years.  From cheeseburgers and conversation to cheap figurines --- go figure.

Ron - Polaroid Work and Truth From Perceptions

Self Portrait

I am exploring making images using Polaroid cameras (a Polaroid 420 and a Spectra 2) with Fuji and Impossible Project instant materials.

In the past, Polaroid Type 55 Pos/Neg 4"x5" was my workhorse film.  That film has been discontinued for quite some time.

I am excited about the possibilities that I am seeing.  With regard to the instant photograph, do I simply have this photograph as the single original or do I scan it and enlarge it through digital printing?  These are a couple of questions that I haven't answered yet.  Making books of these images is another possibility.

So, here are some recent "Polaroid" photographs and a video by Satch.

9-29-2011

9-29-2011

I have completed the first phase of Truth From Perceptions. There are about 135 photographs from which to cull the exhibit. I have made over 500 negatives during the last nine months. Now the editing begins. In some cases I will be presenting differing perspectives and "contact prints" that will show the process by which I came to the final image.


This project has caused my thinking about my photography to be more focused and I foresee big changes coming. Final decisions and discussion about these changes will come after the exhibit.

Mike- Post V

Montgomery Wards



Montgomery Wards




Mehling's Drug Store



Forgotten – No one wants to be forgotten.  “Remember me” is a poignant and timeless request made by many.  The same goes with places.  In this time of fabricated throw-away buildings and look-a-like structures, there is something wonderful about an old building that has been standing for over a century.  And yet, and yet, there is such little regard for the weathered buildings of the past that stand either deserted in the center of once was my bustling small town.  Long forgotten are the summer nights on the courthouse square where families would gather to enjoy the county fair.  The sounds of rides, the smells of fair food, and the displays, exhibits, and souvenirs all nestled together in the heart of our small downtown for an unforgettable county fair.  Or, was it unforgettable?  As you stand on the courthouse square today, you would never know.  Again, it’s the disconnect between the present and the past that my photographs attempt to capture to make the point that it is our memories which tend to blur the reality of the past with the present.  It’s almost like I wish I could step through the photographic image back into the time that is preserved through my memories to see the small town once again that I remember.

Ron - Michigan this Week

Satch and I had an excellent visit to New Buffalo and Union Pier on Wed - Friday.  We delivered Satch's new work to Craig Smith Gallery at the historic Gordon Beach Inn.  A portion of Satch's work will be headed to Craig's space in Oak Park where he will be presenting an exhibit of new work by Harry Borgman, whose work Satch and I adore.

On Thursday evening we had dinner with Craig and Harry at Timothy's, also at the Gordon Beach Inn, which was great fun.  It is always good to visit with Harry.

We also had time to explore and make photographs.  We ended up in this pretty wild place.  Hopefully I will have photographs to share soon on the 2 Photgraphers Facebook page and here on the blog.

Ron - The Wall Series

Wall Series, Triptych, Truth From Perceptions (click on all photographs to enlarge)

So, it's a wall.  It's just a wall, right?  Why would anybody bother to photograph a wall?  I'll try to explain.

• Interesting - just after I wrote the sentence above "Self Righteous Wall" by Ryan Bingham began to play on the stereo.  Yes it was a total fluke.  This was the first time that I had listened to that album! •

When I first came upon the wall that is in the series of photographs and in the accompanying video, I visually experienced the the elements and materials that shaped the wall's form and construction as well as the erosion of its face.  The light played across the wall revealing the reflectivity of its surface textures.

View of the wall in context with surrounding buildings

Upon closer observation I began to see the wall's history and evidence of contemporary visitors.

I realized that a building used to exist where I was standing as evidenced by the outline of the old interior staircase on the whitewashed cement wall.  Drilled holes and other imperfections revealed no longer existent structural elements.  Time was taking a toll on the cement wall and the underlying brick structure.  Parts of the cement wall that was littered with random marks, gashes and spalls had fallen away from the brick.

Visitors to the wall had made their mark, or marks, either by simply scratching into or painting the wall leaving evidence of their calling or proclaiming their devotion to another.  Others took the time to etch shapes into the surface using the wall as a sort of an outdoor sketch book.

Metering for the last photograph in the slide show

So, in front of me was this wonderful wall, a facade full of abstractions, history, personal messages, expressive doodles, textures, shapes, forms, shadows and highlights.  At this point it was my mission to discover, conceptualize and visualize the various elements in the wall and present them, and what I felt about them, through my photography.

I have visited the wall several times.  Each time my understanding and view of the wall became more refined.  Seeing more clearly I was able to progressively make better photographs.  Photographing the wall has been a work in progress.  In this post I'm presenting a slide show of what I feel are the best photographs of the wall in the order that they were made.

This series of photographs is closely connected with Alfred Stieglitz' concept of Equivalence which was also practiced by Minor White, Aaron Siskind and Harry Callahan, all photographers whose work I greatly admire.  The subject of Equivalence has been written about extensively so I will not delve too in too deeply with this post.  

Within Minor White's 1963 essay, Equivalence:  The Perennial Trend, there are these two passages:  

"...in practice Equivalency is the ability to use the visual world as the plastic material for the photographer's expressive purposes.

When a photographer presents us with what to him is an Equivalent, he is telling us in effect, "I had a feeling about something and here is my metaphor of that feeling."

These two passages do a good job conveying the concept of the series of wall photographs that are a part of my project "Truth From Perceptions."  Photographs such as these do defy a simple description although I have made an effort in this post to detail the inspiration for making them.

Making the first photograph of the Triptych

Here is a short video of when I recently visited the wall:

Here is the slide show of images from The Wall Series, in the order that they were made:

Click here to go to the Flickr page of "Truth From Perceptions" where you can view the "Wall Series."


(Candid photographs by Satch)

Mike - Blog IV

The subject matter of this work in progress has so far reflected on my life growing up in a small town.  I have tried to be somewhat brief in describing my background and family in various activities.  The main focus of these blogs and the images provided will be to communicate how I have felt on the times that I have returned to the town.

None of my family has lived there for quite some time as my mother passed away in the early 1990s.  There have not been any childhood or school friends that I have had any contact with, basically since I left at the age of 20 when I was going to college. 

There has been very little reason to visit the town other than sometimes passing through on the way to other cities in northern Indiana.  Several years ago, one of my two brothers had contacted me to tell me that our neighbor who was a very close friend to our family while we were growing up had passed away.  I went to his calling to visit with his family and share memories.  Our neighbor was "Mr. Middle America."  He was everything you could think of that represented the best of the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 

On the way home, I stopped to see my best friend from Hartford City who lived in an even smaller town close by.  Later that year, he was killed in a car accident.

And I returned once again to my hometown to speak at my best friend's funeral.

These thoughts and reflections are primarily of a personal nature.  However, most of this blog will also deal with the changes in the city itself in the past thirty to forty years.  Like many small towns across our country, Hartford City enjoyed a boom and growth in the years after World War II.  New houses at the edge of town were built, industry and businesses on all four streets around the Courthouse flourished.  I recall that for many years, much of the county fair was held on these four streets, with all the games, concessions, and some rides lighting up the night sky. 

As we now know those times that we thought would last forever, did not.

Mike - Post - III

403 E Kickapoo St.

403 E Kickapoo St.

As Ron has indicated, computer problems have prevented me from posting.

To continue, being raised in a small 2 bedroom house in a neighborhood full of other kids was fun. Mom was divorced when I was young, and it was sometimes a struggle to provide for her sons. We always had used bikes, never new! As the old saying goes, we were never hungry, and always clean.

The old house, long since removed, was rented at a very low rate.

At the start of most every school year, she would walk us uptown to J.C. Penny or Mongomery Wards to get us some new school clothes. We would stop and get some groceries on the way home.