Slow Photography

GETTING THERE: After sailing to Long Island, Bahamas in February 2018, we rowed our dinghy .4 miles (650 meters) east from the anchorage to a sponge fisherman's area ashore at Gray's Bight settlement, Long Island. First called Yuma by the Arawaks, and later named Fernandina by Columbus, Long Island is 180 miles southeast of Nassau.  Explore the Shrimp Hole and see the shrimp bodies reflected by the undersurface, an experience like floating in space, in this video:                 Play   Video "Exploring the Shrimp Hole, A Salty Paws Adventure" THE SHRIMP HOLE: We'd been previously to Long Island's famous Deans Blue Hole, one of the world's deepest at 663 feet. However, swimming in the shrimp hole was surreal. To get there, you can drive South from Thompson Bay. Since we were anchored, we landed a dinghy and took a short walk across the Queen's Highway and through the grounds of Saint Mary's Spanish c...

Two Gods Jim Austin Jimages " When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow."   ~   Anais Nin The truths we hold as self-evident can make us strong. Yet, we can easily carry them to extremes. When our truths about our creative process emerge from darker places, they may hinder our curiosity. To open our vision to other novel vistas, we may need to let go of what we hold tight. In an old Anglican church, shadow and sunlight patterns danced on a wall around the decaying windows. Clouds floated across the sun. I wondered if the essence of this illumination could be expressed in a picture.  Watching these rays of light and shadows move across the wall, I slowed  down to steady my mind and the camera. Colors were vivid. Greens and yellows emerged from the darker hues. I noticed the broken shutter with vines growing in, as if through an eye. Mother nature came in one tendril at ...

Do you ever look back at your old photographs ?   I l ooked over some portraits that I took ten years ag o ; they are terrible. I wonder, “Who took these.” At times the flash is over-powered. The skin tones in some are off ( I will spare you from looking at them here).     My old photos seem noisy . Some are not truly sharp. I t ell myself that I have better gear now with a better signal to noise ratio, but this is an excuse. No high - tech camera has ever helped a photographer have something to say. It seemed clear: I will never photograph anything today that looks as good as it should to me tomorrow.         There's another thing about the old photos. I was directing the subjects a lot more. Th is gave me a false sense of control. In more recent images, I am letting go of control. Better images come when I let the subject generate the photograph. I can hang back, and wait for a subjec...

I have a passion for Polaroid.  Photographing with an SX-70 Alpha and the Polaroid 180 cameras,  these images were made from instant prints. First, manipulated Time-ZERO SX-70 film was a beautiful way to slow the process. How is it an example of slow photography?  Glad you asked. Slow Down SX-70 Time Zero Manipulation, Jimages Clown and Polaroid Print, Jimages The Scream, Jimages Curiosity is a Creative Gift. Jimages. Girls who Play in Plaid, Jimages Sliding with my Brother, Jimages After an SX-70 print came out of the camera, it can be altered over a couple of days. This is done gradually. The idea is to match technique with subject. In 1976, I began doing SX-70 manipulations with my first SX-70 Instant Folding Alpha-1 Land Camera in Denver. The kids and clown above were photographed in Denver's parks, and the highway workers on Interstate I-70 in Colorado. Then, I added a Polaroid 180 camera. Folks who see i...