my boss is boss of all boss's

a small portion of the front of some kind of car repair place on Jackson Street, Monroe... there are all sorts of Bible verses written all over the building. this is serious folk art, folks!

shot with my new Casio Exilim- 7 MP digital [w/zoom] ... while driving! i finally decided i needed a digital zoom [after Prague!]- but should have stopped, got out, and really shot it... but plan on shooting this building over [and the whole funky area] with my toy plastic -and maybe a good SLR w/various zeiss lenses- & maybe my Rollei TLR- and Leica rangefinder this week. gotta get it while it's still standing!
[c]2007 doug duffey

my own walden- shot w/fuji pack film

i got my Fuji pack [Polaroid peel-apart type] film yesterday- i ordered about 5 packs to try out- [and a lot more other film] but will be using it 'sparingly'- as i will with the rest of my Polaroid peel-apart- until i get a chance to make a road trip and do some shooting. below is my 1st test shot: a shot of my pond, shot mid-day- when it was waaaaay too bright- w/my polaroid 210 Land camera.
[c]2007 doug duffey

jackson street

some local color- in b&w- shot when i was going to my doctor appointment the other day.

jackson street [and the south grand area] used to be a really nice area- as did the whole south side of monroe... which is now a ghetto! there are still beautiful tree lined streets and lots with trees- really beautiful lots. there are some great old houses which have been left/ ruined by renters/ and eventually abandoned due to people fleeing to the suburbs- and further- to try and escape the crack heads and crime. a typical tale of most typical American cities.

i don't know why monroe doesn't do what new orleans once DID: people with vision [and money]went in, bought, and renovated the old houses [the whole neighborhoods- one block at a time] and reclaimed the neighborhoods! there are some real antique jewels [old historic houses] scattered throughout the area that could probably be bought for damned near nothing... and saved. there again... somebody's got to start!

abandoned house- jackson street- monroe, louisiana 8.2007

old house-jackson street- monroe, louisiana 8.2007

man sprawled on front steps-jackson street- monroe, louisiana 8.2007

[c]2007 doug duffey

PRAHA REDUX

various shots made with vintage and toy film cameras- prague [july 2007]

i really love these 2 last blurred ones ... i need to do a whole series of only blurred pix

[c]2007 doug duffey

brucke/schaufenster -buren a/aare, schweiz

shot on the way home from bern w/a casio exilim; edited in photoshop

brucke [bridge]- buren a/aare, schweiz

schaufenster [show window]- buren a/aare, schweiz

[c]2007 doug duffey

inspiration translated

before and after seeing the "expressionism from the mountains" exhibit in Bern yesterday, i shot some photos of the billboards on the street... tonight i messed around with them [and many more] in Photoshop and voila: the fotos look like woodcuts [of which there were many in the exhibit] ... inspiration translated.



[c]2007 doug duffey

bern- blur is beautiful

i went to bern today- to go to an exhibit at the kunstmuseum. en route i stopped at some 2nd hand shops and found yet another praktica slr + lenses, and of course had to buy it. i didn't make any fotos with it [no battery] ... but instead shot some stuff on the street and in the museum with my "keychain" toy & casio digi cameras... blur is beautiful

street/bern- shot w/ vision quest keychain digital toy camera

woodcut/ bern kunstmuseum- shot w/ vision quest keychain digital toy camera

business suits/bern- shot with casio digital camera

[c]2007 doug duffey

shoot the television!

i shot the television [sounds like elvis!] last night w/the vision quest key chain [toy] digital camera... of some german documentary on the DDR... i like the reflection of the lamp -in color- floating in the "vortex" in the background of the top one. i liked the blurred images in the one below...speaking of blurred: the old saying is [of nude photos] "if it's in focus it's pornography; if it's out of focus it's art" --- i ran across fotos online by german photographer thomas ruff, which really blur that line!

i shot the pic [below] w/ the casio the night before last: a shot of the tv in my bedroom, showing some B&D scene from a porn clip/ad. you don't see this on normal cable in america!

[c]2007 doug duffey

DD IN PRAGUE X JT

these shots [made by jacqueline trachsel] are of me in prague. the top one is of me with one of my old stand-by toy plastic cameras - a vivitar panorama 35mm- which i use all the time. fool proof. no battery/no focus. the panorama pix come out really cool. but the overall quality is usally great when i use Ilford xp-2 [the best]- or even kodak BW400 CN

the shot below was made in the "old town square" of prague, where we were having coffee at an outdoor cafe [grand cafe praha]. i was up and making fotos between sips and puffs off my fag. jackie shot me with her pentax digital. hi tech shooting no tech!

below: me in action with the Polaroid 210 Land camera- holding the 'foto' in my mouth until i could count 30 seconds, then peel it apart. people sometimes came up to talk to me about the camera, which made me lose count and which made me crazy! i also have the casio digital around my neck; a vivitar plastic camera in each shirt pocket; an agfa isola [medium format film camera] in my shorts pocket, film in the other one; and 3 heavy slr cameras in the black bag... no wonder i look so BIG... and... no wonder i've been having shoulder pain ever since i got back. i wagged all those cameras everywhere, every day.

i wrote a whole rant in my travel-ology blog about how i lost [temporarily] ALL 539 of my digital fotos, when the 1GB memory card crapped out the last night in prague. i'm really glad i made almost every shot i took with about 5 different cameras. now, i have a gallon sized plastic bag full of film to have processed [color, slide and BW c-41] and many standard BW rolls to process myself.

[c]2007 doug duffey

film... at last

i lucked out this evening at the Migros and actually found b&w Ilford film. i was in shock, because the last time here all i could find was color Kodak film. everything here has gone digital; film is rare, and usually very expensive. i couldnt believe a double pack of ilford 125 [36 exposures] was only 11.40 CHF. that's pretty cheap. i might need to go buy it all!

i also got some rechargeable batteries and charger for the mini keychain Vision Quest digi cam, which gobbles batteries to the tune of one battery for about 15 little snapshots; if the battery goes, the fotos go. very stupid. i made some shots w/it from the inside car, rain pouring down, when coming home from the Migros this evening. they came out blurry w/reflections, but cool.

a hill, the train tracks, and in the distance some of the town, a weird ball thing, electric wires, mountains, reflections

the bridge over the train track, viaduct above

i brought my small casio exlim digital to blog with... but for some weird reason it's battery is also going down at an abnormally rapid pace. possible the change in power? below: a shot taken of me using the casio [shot by jacqueline] of me with my new 2nd hand shop Kowa slr [testing it out], old polaroid land 210 [a polaroid 'print' drying in hand-and the film back in the other] and [unseen] 2 plastic toy cams in my pants pockets... by the Aare, in Buren- a few days ago.

[c]2007 doug duffey

billboard collages, new old cameras etc

i brought my little casio digital camera with me to Switzerland this trip; mainly so i could foto blog. normally i use it only for snapshots etc. still do. i hit the thrift shop my 2nd day here and bought MORE cameras. it's a mania. i got another polaroid for 5chf, and cool KOWA slr for 30chf, another agfa 120 film camera, and two small agfa/zeiss rangefinders... however, as they are all film cameras, and i haven't tested them. i also have my plastic vivitars with me, but haven't finished any rolls or had any film prcoessed yet. i also have the polaroid land 210 but havent scanned the shots i did, which came out great!

i keep shooting with the casio, since i have a 1GB card i can and do make a gazillion fotos. i prefer film to digital... but... the casio is fine for quick street shots and such. i also shot some billboard collages with it--- these were done yesterday. [i also shot the same thing with the KOWA, on a test roll of 200asa]

pieterlen, switzerland 2007

close ups of sections of a wall [in pieterlen, switzerland] where billboards/posters have been stapled, torn down, stapled over, ad infinitum. in . i love this kind of thing. shot w/ casio exilim digital.

pieterlen-2 2007

[c]2007 doug duffey

vista quest-live and learn

well, the tiny digital camera ruined my 128MB memory card, it eats AAA batteries, and when i tried to download the fotos i thought i'd gotten [which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't] last night the battery got hot as hell [which probably fried the card!]

oh well... live and learn. 20$ blown on an experiment. ---- they say a picture is worth a thousand words... some worth many thousands of dollars... did i even get my 20 bucks worth [plus that 128 MB wasn't cheap back when i bought it] with anything i shot w/this key-chain digital camera? it seemed to quit working after i put the card in [which maybe i shouldn't have done?- but it said it would handle it]

well, just as i wrote that and was totally discouraged, i gave the cam one last shot [no pun intended] -i shot @ the tv and got this pilot with a reflection of the lamp on/in his head... so... now, the game is back on...
and with that... this arty self portrait. "say goodnight, Gracie"

[c]2007 doug duffey

vista quest

bosworth street, winnsboro louisiana
[c]2007 doug duffey

i bought a tiny vista quest digital camera at wal-mart. it's as small as a cigarette lighter- like a spy cam or something. anyway... while in winnsboro this week i made some shots, of which almost none came out. i shot these today while driving in the rain... in the lower one everything looks warped and there's a reflection of something [i think the back of a polaroid] on the dashboard... but i like it. they were in color... but i photoshopped them to b&w, which i like better.

bosworth street, winnsboro louisiana

[c]2007 doug duffey

polaroid road trip

"christ apostolic rib shack" delhi, louisiana [c]2007 doug duffey

to go to my gig saturday, in tallulah, i decided to drive highway 80 [instead of taking the interstate] to shoot whatever i found. i found a wealth of subject matter; more than i'd expected.

there was nobody out, the towns were almost deserted; it was weird... i actually stood in the middle of the railroad track in downtown rayville and saw almost nobody... but it was also hot as hell, so that was a factor.

i carried my polaroid land 210, polaroid spirit, canon ae-1, nikon slr, kiev 60, and 3 vivitar plastic cameras. i must've gotten in and out of the car 50 times, and wagged about 4 cameras for every shot... however, i focused on the 210 and got some incredible stuff. this may be my new camera of choice. the polaroid 664 film with the old land camera made some great fotos... most of them look OLD, which is very cool.

i haven't scanned the fotos yet, they each need to be scanned in color [even if they are B&W] to get all the tones.... above is a funny one: the "christ apostolic rib shack" in delhi, louisiana. i plan to do a gallery of them, instead of just a few here.

[c]2007 doug duffey

polaroid spirit- self portrait

i hit the local goodwill yesterday and found a broken polaroid SPIRIT camera... and since i'm into spirits, i bought it. the top part [flash mechanism] had been broken off, and there was a plastic band of wires sticking up, which used to connect to the flash. i opened it and noticed film inside; but it was so old that the battery in the film pack was kaput, therefore the camera wouldn't work. i figured, "what the hell?... it's only 3$; maybe i can make it work... or, if not, design some kind of pinhole camera out of it." i thought it might get some interesting fx w/o the flash attachment. besides, i don't like the modern Polaroids that automatically flash when you make a shot in low light... so:

i took it home and cut the 'sticking out' wire band part off with scissors. i dug around in the trash and found/got out an empty 600 film pack i'd used yesterday. i then took the film pack out of the camera, and in the closet, slowly/carefully, slid every 'film' out of the old pack...then slid them into the newer one, thinking the battery in the newer pack would be fresh and 'work' the camera... and i'd possibly get some shots out of the old film.

it worked! i pushed the button, the shutter clicked/whirred, and the film spat out. but the film was so old i got nothing but brown prints... [which will look good all lined up together, matted and framed].... but at least i knew the camera worked.

i put in a fresh pack of 600 color film and shot a frame of my bedside table, which was very 'low light'- 40 watt compact fluorescent bulb- but, it came out interesting... a bit blurry... and the colors were "off"... i put it in photoshop and grayscaled/equalized it, but found the original 'weird' color is nicer. then i decided to try a self portrait using the same low lighting. i kneeled on the floor and pointed the camera at my face- click whir spit- and out came a shot which was almost too dark to see on the original color print- very dark. so, i scanned it @ 800 dpi - then grayscaled, equalized, contrasted it in PS and got what [i think] is a very cool shot. it reminds me old very old photos... which i like!


NOW i have 3 polaroid "600 film" cameras: impulse, sun, and spirit; and two OLD 210 'automatic' land cameras [which use peel apart film] - and 15 packs of b&w 664 to use w/the 210 for here and europe... so i am expecting some mysterious and exciting shots.

[c]2007 doug duffey

polaroid mania

okay... i've lost my mind. i got out my old polaroid 210 land camera [actually it was my parents from the 60s or so] and decided to use it after seeing some of my old shots i'd done [back in the day] scanned and printed. i ordered B&W 664 polaroid film from nyc- and was elated when it arrived. i tore open the film pack and loaded the camera. BUT i shot several snaps that came out pitch black, [though one was rather interesting but not what i had been pointing at!!!!] panic. i fiddled around, found the old manual, and discovered the camera uses a battery!...duh! they are not readily available. so, i went online and ordered the battery... and decided to noit mess with the camera again until they [i got 2] came. they came today... and the fun began.... sort of...

for one thing, the camera has 2 settings.... 3000 or 75. i didn't know which to use. [i'd forgotten all this since the 70s!] i went online but nobody/nothing specified. also...i had no real info on how long to let the prints 'develop' before you pull them apart. so. after getting some very weird, screwed up [but arty] shots like these 2 below :i went back online and searched. i never found out anything about the setting except that 3000 was for flash [and i was shooting outside in broad daylight] ... so tried 3000 and got a black square; the polaroid site said wait 30 seconds before peeling the film apart... so, i set the camera on 75 and shot a pic of the tv... i waited 30 seconds and peeled the film apart... et voila.... une miracle! my first clear [sort of] shot... with the Land 210 in 30 years!
so, 2 boxes of film gone... all trials... and errors.... but "by jove i think i've got it!" i hear that fuji b&w pack film is superior to polaroid [who is phasing film out, left and right]-so my next order will be probably be Fuji ...
i have 4 packs of 664 left and just ordered 10 more for my European trip [before i heard about the fuji] so... this should be a fun & interesting "instant" summer...

p.s. i've been scanning the originals at 800dpi- and have even been scanning the backings which make for some "abstract art" when diddled with in photoshop. the possibilities are endless...

[c]2007 doug duffey

downtown cemetery test shots

was out shooting/testing with several new 2nd hand cameras... AND my old stand-bys [my vivitar plastic panoramic camera] - i keep 2 w/me- [1 with 100ASA the other w 400ASA]- the shot above is with the vivitar... using ilford xp-2 [400 asa] -this was NOT a test w/this camera. i love it; it always works; no knobs to twiddle, no f/stops or shutter speeds, or batteries... nada... simply open it's little eye and shoot. you have a choice of regular size shot, or panorama. i usually get the best shots ever with it [or one of them... i have maybe 5, and buy them wheresoever i find one... usually goodwill for 50 cents!]... now just why did i buy that Leica... Rollei... etc.?

i recently found an old 'kodak pony 135' [made in 1950- the year i was born] i've had forever- and figured out how to use it a few days ago [had thought it was broken but like my old agfas' needed the barrel pulled out before the shutter would work] - it's pretty complicated and has to be set etc and a lever moved before you can advance the next frame, etc. but great for double exposures, i'm thinking. this was shot w/the pony using kodak Bw400CN [400 asa]

this last shot was done with a Minolta Hi-Matic 7s [of which i have about 3 or 4, now]- which i saw and bought in an "antique mall" the other day... [this was shot using color -a rarity for me- Fuji 100 asa]- but because it had no battery in it, the camera's built-in light meter didn't work... so, i just diddled with what i thought were the right f/stops and shutter speeds... yawn... the shots came out very grainy... i put in a battery as soon as i got home!

btw... had all this film scanned and put on cd at my local drug store yesterday...

[c]2007 doug duffey

scanning polaroids

self portrait mid 1960s/Polaroid- after Photoshop clean up

i've been on a Polaroid scanning binge after discovering some very interesting bits in some i'd scanned from the 1960s recently: things like other people reflected in someone's sunglasses etc. things which weren't noticed until i scanned/saved them and saw them on dvd- very "Blow-up" [movie] like stuff!

so... i've been going back through all my old fotos and foto albums; taking out the Polaroids to re-scan at hi resolution. i never realized just how many Polaroids i shot over the years! i have a whole Polaroid-documentary of the 1960s [and even until now!]

i recently found color P film on sale at Walgreen's [buy one pack get one free] and snapped up several packs, but just ordered black and white [like i used in the 60s] to explore further. the B&W has more of an edge than the color. i especially like it when accidents happen, like this double exposure below. HOW did that happen/ most P cameras spit the foto out, pronto; this must've been an older model... need to dig it out! i'm waaaaaaaaay into double exposures!

self portrait/beach/double exposure/ 1970s- Polaroid scanned; NO photoshop on this one!

edmund williamson and i discussed doing an exhibit of 1960s art: his paintings my fotos... so stay tuned! it could happen...

[c]2007 doug duffey

gede/painting on alley fence/new orleans

this was shot at the same time as the day of the dead/voodoo ceremony foto in an earlier post- shot a few years ago in new orleans. this painting was on a fence in the alley [in the By-water] where the ceremony was held. it is supposedly a depiction of the voodoo god Gede.

[c]2007 doug duffey

venice and trieste

i can't remember where i shot this top pic- maybe venice, maybe trieste- it's on the actual negatives [wherever they are] - as said in an earlier post, i have hundreds of these kinds of shots, which i really like. i'm never quite sure if they should be posted as foto or art...

this was shot in trieste, italy; i'm a big fan of Kurt Schwitters, and some of the billboards and signs i shoot remind me of his work.

[c]2007 doug duffey