I thought this entry might be good as a copy of what I wrote him. It tells of my appreciation for the time he took to look at the work and the meaning behind why some photographs are in color and others in black and white, and what that means to me for the art form of photography.
Mike wrote…
Hi Scoopa (my high school. Nickname - I was the student reporter to the Boston Globe for sports and other info about out high school…getting “the scoop” on everything),
I looked at the Orange collection great shots. You have a way of getting great images.
There is something amazing about Black and White Photography.
though you lose the Natural glamour that color brings, but you capture other things
like the beauty of shading and light. Great Job.
Often times I wished that certain movies, that were filmed in Black and White
were in color ,but others that have that Classic look in black and white.
One such film is "Fort Apache" (John Ford Director) His shots in Monument Valley,
are terrific in the back and white. The recent movie" Lincoln " , was filmed in color
and tried to use natural lighting, I Wonder how this film would have fared in Black and White, more Matthew Brady-like - definitely.
Roger take care and Stay well.
Mike
Back to him...
"I really appreciate you going to my site and reacting to the photos. The site is not well known outside of a a few dozen people and I cannot afford the SEO marketing process to make it more widely seen around the world. But, it is an outlet for me that has meaning. Originally, I designed it as a place I could put my historical photographs…an archive that shows where I have been photographically for my friends and family to have forever. In the case they ever wanted to see what work I did long after I am dead, they have them all in one place.
Then, because of the ongoing theater work I do, it became a place to showcase that work and the actors’ work on these plays. It was also a place where actors and the theater community here in Minneapolis could go to see production photographs. Now it has grown to include my attempt at a photographic journal process…uploading new photos as often as I can to show what I do. The “Beyond the Arena” photo documentary project I did on actors is a 2-year project that I am desperately trying to raise money to have for a photo display at various places around town.
I was a journeyman photographer in Washington. I was the #2 guy behind Dirck Halstead (one of America’s great war and documentary photographers most people outside the world of photojournalism know nothing about) for the now-dead Gamma-Liaison Photo Agency in Paris. My Parisian editor at the time is still alive and we talk once a month. I also was the assistant to Mike Evans in his private work when he was the official Presidential photographer for Reagan…I actually almost got that job myself when Mike retired from it, but Nancy Reagan refused to give it to me when she found out I worked in the White House for Carter. But, my assignments in DC were backup ones that Dirck didn’t want. It gave me a good chance to do a wide range of things photographically. I loved it…but I didn’t make a lot of money at it.
I went to be the photo editor at the National Enquirer for four years in 1985…worst mistake of my life. Lots of reasons. And I didn’t do much photography…I had 400+ photographers around the world available to hire for stories we did. Hardest work I ever did and terrorizing because of the owner who was a reckless abuser of people etc. Long story.
Anyway…I lost my photographic career in the process. So it wasn’t until 2012 that I went back to it. First thing I did was the website. Now, in addition to the theater work (all volunteer because they have little money), I try to get paid gigs but it is incredibly hard these days when there are millions of photographers in the world with phone cameras. Anyway, I make a few images, work some self-starting stories, and try to stay current.
Thanks for taking an interest. You have a real sharp eye and get the ideas behind BW/color work. A lot of the approach has to do with subject matter and some films, even classics like Casablanca or Citizen Kane, would be less appealing in color. So, they were shot in BW then because it was the best method to do films cheaply even though color was available in the late 30s… Wizard of Oz was the first color blockbuster. Today, the film’s genre dictates the use of color or BW.
I like it for stills because BW is more objective… the color photograph is more subjective. Color brings with it a deep interpretation of a scene and renders it in the way people expect…the subject provides the context for the photograph because it is more literal about the subject. BW is more objective…it is nearly neutral in the context. In fact, I was taught by my mentor Homer Page (a NYC photographer in the 40s-60s that taught me how to see) that the BW image allows the viewer to bring their own color to the photograph, hence, they are more involved in the image, active in the way they view it, and this means they bring their own interpretation to the context of the image. A BW photo has colors the viewer thinks ought to be there and that way they are more connected to the subject matter of the image as the subject dictates, not the way they may feel or experience the image. I posted an image of some ornamental switch grass near a creek where I live today…color somehow makes the patterns stand out more and, because the context is very abstract to begin with, the color enhances the effect I want to create. The photo of the Canada Goose made the other day comes from the same creek, but the BW makes it more timeless and the subject (a mother sitting on the eggs) would be less poignant if it were in color. Anyway, that’s the way I view it.
The section I call “1+1=3” was Page’s way of teaching me how to see. It is like batting practice for me. When there are two separate but somehow related images of a subject, the view can then create a 3rd image in their mind of what the combination of the 2 might be…everyone is probably different, so there is an almost infinite range of possible 3rd pictures. It is hard to find them, but I posted another pair today of footprints (I think if it as “cement shows” and rabbit prints) from two different images and this is the essence of that process.
So… sorry to go on like that. But, I appreciate your involvement with the work.
I was trained in AIT to be a combat photographer even though I never saw combat. I was relegated, as a Reservist for 6 years, to making PR shots of generals at ceremonies! Boring shit. But, I had fun with it even though, in my early 20s when I did this, I didn’t go directly into photography as a career. If I had, I might not have been the #2 guy in DC!!
Thanks again.
Stay well.
Roger