Hopkinton State Park by Matt Faria

I'm lucky enough to know many talented people. I think my buddy Matt's photos of Hopkinton State Park certainly exemplify what I mean. Anyone who's photographed in New England during the winter knows that it's not easy. Flat skies wash out easily, particularly when a reflective layer of snow covers everything. Matt certainly found good light and took advantage of it.

Check out more of Matt's photos over on his Flickr page or his Tumblr where you can view them at larger sizes.

Street Photography with Robert M. Johnson

Worcester, Massachusetts in a small city about an hour west of Boston. It's a Rust Belt town, dominated by brick buildings from a previous industrial age. To give my western readers a reference point, Worcester is not unlike Tucson - an interesting and diverse community that isn't afraid to show it's age a little.

Robert M. Johnson is a street photographer who has captured images of life in Worcester and around the country for decades. My wife and I first became aware of his work years ago from an article in a local Worcester magazine. We lived in Worcester at the time, and so we shared our discovery with our friend Damien Gaudet. Damien is himself a talented photographer, so when Robert agreed to answer some questions for the blog, I asked Damien for some help. Damien composed a wonderful set of questions, so I decided to use them exactly as he wrote them.



Before I get to Damien's questions and Robert's replies, I'd like to take a quick moment to say a few words about Robert's work. Across the spectrum of photographic genres, few take a little equipment and as much skill as street photography. It's the art of capturing a moment as it exists, and Robert does this wonderfully. His subjects are intriguing and interesting people, usually in action, always a part of the environment they're interacting with. He ranges from street scenes to shots of television screens that capture iconic moments in history. Robert entitles nearly all his photographs "Street - Documentary," though, as a former Worcesterite and admirer of his work, I believe he could confidently entitle them "Life - Documentary." See more of Robert's photographs on his Flickr page or at his website, Fullframeimages.com.

Here are Damien's questions and Robert's responses. I'd like to thank both of them for their time and generosity, particularly Robert for sharing his art, his experience, and for inspiring us to capture life and share it with others.

Damien - Street photography is candid by nature, but do you set out wandering the city with any specific goals or is your process more organic, with you simply living your day to day life and capturing interesting moments as they happen around you?  What interests you enough to take the picture when you're out on the street?  Is it a face of a passerby, the context of the moment, or something else?

Robert - Street photography has known themes that are often repeated. By viewing hundreds or perhaps thousands of images you can almost pre-program your mind to react to a situation on a subconscious level. The trick is to be so prepared to shoot that it is almost an afterthought. The mental preparation I did back in my prime shooting days out numbered my time on the streets by far. I believe that the reflexes involved in Street photography are very close to that of an athlete. Pure hand, body and eye coordination. Those reflexes do fade over time and a different type of timing takes it's place. 

D - Do you have a preferred lens/camera setup that you use primarily?  Are you trying to keep a low profile with your equipment, or does an interaction with the subject who knows they're being photographed bring something to the image?

R - I have always been a one camera and lens guy. After much experimenting I found that keeping it simple was the best way to go. An SLR with a 50mm lens loaded with TRI-X and I was ready to hit the streets. I am not a shy person and relished the interaction involved in photographing strangers. Candid photography now is almost too easy. The interaction with your subjects can play a useful role in forming a powerful image.

D - Can you describe how your choice of equipment has evolved (or hasn't) over the years?  For example, have you embraced digital over film, or do you use both?  It seems like digital technology would make street photography much more immediate to share, but is that even one of your goals?

R - I think I'm up to my fifth digital camera now. I like the Panasonic LX3. Using it in the wide angle mode at 24mm is a challenge that I enjoy. I have taken to shooting from moving vehicles and that really adds to the random look of my work these days. It can produce some interesting images. It is real easy to shoot tons of crap; the secret is editing your work as it has always been.

D -You also photograph in color.  As someone who has described themselves as a black and white documentary photographer, what made you incorporate the use of color? 

I think I have always had a good eye for color. I added that specific reference to B&W when I put my first photography site up some ten years ago and it stuck. Google Black & White Street Photography and you should find me. 

D -Street photography has come under scrutiny in some parts of the world, especially the U.K., where photographers on the street have had equipment taken by the authorities and even been arrested.  Have you ever encountered a negative experience such as this, and has the response towards you while you're shooting changed since the 70's?  Also, what words of advice would you impart on aspiring street photographers today?  Especially within the context of heightened security and paranoia in our urban areas.

R - I sometimes take the new restrictions as a challenge and shoot from the hip at local stores. Last week I stopped to take pics outside of a power plant and expected visitors. It didn't happen but I thought about it on my way home. Street photographers are doing society a favor documenting everyday life, don't ever forget that!

D - Have you ever been interested in any other avenues of photography, such as traditional portraiture, fine art or commercial work?  If not, what do you get from your documentary images that those other categories wouldn't fulfill?  

R - My first intentions with photography was to take pretty images and get rich. After being exposed to the work of the masters those thoughts soon faded. Instead I chose to get good at a type of photography that for the most part has no monetary value! The best thing that ever happened to me through my photography is my 30 year marriage and three wonderful sons.

D - You have a substantial list of links on your website to other's work and organizations that support the arts.  Are there any photographers or artists that you look to for inspiration on a regular basis? 

R- I am always amazed with the quality of work that I encounter on Flickr. I have had some contacts with most of the sites and photographers that I have on my link page and can say that I respect all of them. (Here's a link to Robert's Flickr contacts page.)

Happy 206th, Mr. Hawthorne!

From the reverse of this postcard: The Old Manse was built in 1769. It was the home of Rev. William Emerson and Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote "Nature" there. Hawthorne brought his young bride here in 1842 and made this charming residence famous with his "Mosses from Old Manse."

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4th, 1804. His name at birth was actually "Hathorne" - he added the w later. He rented his most famous residence, "The Old Manse," from Ralph Waldo Emerson. He and his wife, Sofia, raised their family there. They could see the the North Bridge, an important battle site in the first fight of the Revolution, from their back window. In fact, the house's builder and original owner, Rev. William Emerson, watched the fight with his family from the house.

We don't think of gothicism as an American tradition, but a review of American literary history quickly reveals a long line of Gothic writers from Charles Brockden Brown, to Poe, to Hawthorne, to James, to Faulkner, to McCarthy. Hawthorne's Gothic presentations of Puritans and early America have come to define our popular understanding of our founding more than perhaps any other writers. Sort of unfortunate, as the Puritans' better traits - such as egalitarianism and emphasis on literacy and education - have been overshadowed by Hawthorne's pictures of austerity. Still, considering his impact on our national consciousness, it seems appropriate that Hawthorne was born on the 4th of July.

Homesick Yankee Ramblings Part 4 - Antiques and Country Stores

From reverse: "Black Lantern Antiques and Country Store Museum - Mohawk Trail - Charlemont, Mass 01339. Early Country Store Items. A nostalgic trip to the past. Old time favorites for all. Nina Noga, Curator"

Ok, I know that there are antique stores in Arizona, but for the most part, they sell things you get at flea markets in Massachusetts. The Arizonan version of the flea market, the swap meet, sells mostly fake Ed Hardy crap and lame cell phone covers. Therefore, I miss New England antique shops and country stores. To make matters worse, my brother visits them frequently and posts pictures of all the great stuff he finds on Flickr.

Country stores in the Northeast always smell like scented candles. They sell cool things like breadmaking kits in Ball jars, sticks of honey, and different kinds of fudge. I'm also a sucker for magnets, though country-theme cow flags aren't really my thing.

As for antique stores, every one is a museum filled with great stuff you can take home. New England antique stores have a lot of artifacts from the nineteenth and early twentieth century with the occasional older find thrown in. I tend to want to buy animal themed stuff or naturalist artifacts, though Erin uses her veto power to prevent taxidermy purchases. It's really fascinating to see what things have the power to move from consumer items to artifacts and how the objects shift roles when they move from the retail store to the antique shop. To become an "Antique" is probably like Heaven in object afterlife, while becoming "garbage" is Hell. After a hard life as a work object, the antique is retired, placed in a safe location and meticulously maintained. If objects commit mortal sins, like breaking or becoming obsolete too quickly, they're discarded, crushed, recycled, buried.

As I look around my house and wonder at how some of the old things I have made the transition, I also look at many of my new things and wonder what the future holds for them. The silver lining of this way of thinking is that it make me want to take care of my stuff; the toxic lining is that it predisposes me to being a hoarder.

Home Vs. Home

Not long ago, the Boston City Council voted to boycott Arizona. It is a strange move for a city to boycott a state. The idea is that the Boston City Council oppose the implications of SB1070 and the other ridiculous, racist laws AZ continues to pass, as they rightfully see such laws as discriminatory and promoting racial profiling. These are certainly not Bostonian ideals and, even in a year when Scott Brown could get Ted Kennedy's seat, the Massachusetts ethos remains largely progressive, well-educated, and, to put it bluntly, modern. You would never see the kind of legislative foolishness you see in Arizona in Massachusetts. 


Then, yesterday, I heard on the radio that the city of Worcester is also considering boycotting Arizona. My heart couldn't help breaking a little. I feel caught between Worcester and Tucson, two places I love and identify with. While I hate SB1070 and the other stupid laws as much as every thinking person possibly could (and should), I can't help but feel that boycotting Arizona is not the answer. I understand that it is morally unjustifiable to give money to a place that commits civil rights abuses, and I'm not saying that a boycott of Arizona will never be justified, but it's too soon.  A glance at the news in the Arizona Republic or AZ Daily Star immediately reveals that many, many, many Arizonans despise the laws that our ridiculous, bigoted legislature is passing as much as the rest of the country. 

I think most people remember a time in elementary school when the whole class was punished for the actions of one or few classmates. All the good students keenly felt the injustice and understood that it was the bad kids' fault, not their own, but what was the point?  The good kids couldn't control the bad kids. The result wasn't an overall class improvement, just a unnecessarily sour memory for some good students. If all we progressives in Arizona had to worry about was sour memories, I might support the boycott, but we have much more to contend with. Our schools are already failing. The state superintendent, Tom Horne, is a world-class idiot. He is also the single least qualified person for any position I have ever seen. I think just seeing a school from a distance would give you more insight into education than that man possesses. He is criminally unqualified for the job, but all anyone needs to do to get elected in Arizona is dislike Mexicans. 

If you don't live in Arizona, and you hate the racist laws passed here, come and march with us in Phoenix. Donate badly needed money to an Arizona school or educational program. Support organizations and legal efforts that aim to undo the terrible mistakes of our fascist legislature, but don't punish me and my wife and all those progressive men and women who live here.  Don't take money out of our already dying economy as that hinders our already beleaguered education system and God knows Arizona needs nothing more desperately than a decent education system.    

If, in the Fall, Arizonans elect more fascist pigs to state government positions and courts uphold these terrible, racist laws, boycott away.  Put please, at least say you're firing before you shoot.

Homesick Yankee Ramblings Part 3 - The Mohawk Trail

With all the rain and wildflowers out here in the desert, I got to thinking about taking the truck down the Apache Trail to see what's happening. From there my mind wandered back east, homeward, to Massachusetts and the Mohawk trail. There are innumerable scenic routes throughout the country named after Native Americans; the Apache Trail just east of Phoenix and then there's the Navajo Trail in the Four Corners area. The Mohawk Trail is a former Native American trade route in western Massachusetts that has become a famous scenic drive from Orange to Williamstown. One of the many notable features of the ride is this hairpin turn, but it follows a serpentine path for 65 miles.

This postcard, sent in 1929, is one of my most challenging paleographic experiments. I think it reads:
"Sun and fine snow up here. I like N. Adams very much. I went to K.P. Thursday night also long Sunday. Received fine reception. We are having a lot of cloudy weather weather (sic) I am right side of Mt. Greylock. Wish you all Happy New Year. H.P."
Sent to: Mr. & Mrs. Fred Gardner
            Court St.
            Whitman, Mass

Here's a great slide show with more photographs of more old Mohawk Trail Postcards and a rad book from 1875 entitled The Mohawk Trail; It's History and Course.

I'll get back that way sometime I suppose. I remember driving my red clunker Volvo on the Mohawk Trail, trying to coax it up the hills and the breaks screeching as I went down and the smell of the brakes burning. We moved out here and had a parallel experience as the truck's brakes smoldered down the Apache Trail - perhaps I'm the wrong person to advise driving these routes, but I maintain that you should get your brakes checked and go for one of these rides.

Homesick Yankee Rambling Part 2 - Worcester State Hospital

The remains of Worcester State Hospital's administration building sits and watches the hustle and bustle of Route 9 and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Built on the Kirkbride Model in 1877, it stood for over a hundred years before succumbing to a massive fire in 1991.

It's an iconic building in the area. I was really excited to find this postcard from 1904 that shows it with both wings intact. Kirkbride hospitals (named for their pioneer, Thomas Story Kirkbride) incorporate architectural design into a theory of psychiatric convalescence. Basically, the various wards were staggered in wings that moved diagonally back and away from a central administration building. The idea was that this design would allow the patients to see out the windows and have pleasant views and breezes. As their health improved, they would move toward the central administration building. The women's wings were often much longer than the men's wings, as it was mistakenly thought that women more often suffered from mental ailments. It was probably really just extreme boredom and depression from a society that left them horribly under-stimulated.

When we lived in Worcester, Erin and I visited the ruins of the hospital fairly often. It's a really impressive place. There were once many Kirkbride hospital in the Northeast and Midwest, but most have been destroyed. Some have been repurposed, which is great. About five years ago we took a road trip around the northeast and visited Kirkbride hospitals in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and, of course, Massachusetts. I'll post those pictures sometime when I'm homesick again, but for today, here are some more shots of Worcester State Hospital. To see inside, visit Opacity.

Homesick Yankee Ramblings

A quick scan of this blog reveals that I love Arizona, but I'm from Massachusetts. Many of the photographs and items around our house came out west with us. Every so often I get to looking at one of these things and I get a strong urge to go to where the photograph was taken. Such is the case with these chickadee photos.

There's a spot near the Quabbin Reservoir in the western part of central Massachusetts where birds will eat out of your hand during winter months. I don't want to reveal the exact location, but I will say that it's in an abandoned orchard a short ways into the woods. People have hung bird feeders around and keep them stocked with seed. If you bring some seed, just place it in your hand and wait a moment. Pretty soon a chickadee or titmouse or nuthatch will come along, perch on your fingers, select a good looking seed, and fly off.

I'm not entirely sure that I think its a good idea to encourage wild animals to lose their natural wariness of people. In the same orchard, deer wander about at a distance. They won't come too close, but they don't run away even when you get pretty close. Still, I want to visit this spot so badly and I wish it wasn't over two-thousand miles away.

We shot this on 35mm and developed it in closet I had converted into a darkroom. I used an antique Durst enlarger. It was a lot of fun. Can't help but missing my darkroom and my Worcester apartment.

I noticed that when I Geotagged this photo on Flickr it says this was "Taken in Enfield, Massachusetts." Enfield is no longer a populated town; it was flooded in the 1940's in the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. This picture was taken in a town that no longer exists. From this distance, its non-existence feels so true.

Southern New England Trunkline Trail

The Southern New England Trunkline Trail runs like a perferated line from Franklin, MA to the Connecticut state line. It follows the former path of the New York-New Haven-Hartford Railroad which stopped operating in 1968. It's a straight path from my in-laws house to my parents house - about 25 minutes on foot. I walked it pretty early in the morning. 17 degrees, felt like 10. My badass L.L. Bean coat kept me warm. I love Arizona, but I think my relationship with New England winters is on the mend.

It snowed Saturday into Sunday, so my wife, Erin, and I strapped on snowshoes and hiked the trail. Snowshoes are great.

My brother took this photograph. Here's his description of the photo:

"A stone arched bridge that crosses over the Southern New England Trunkline Trail on Wallum Lake Road in Douglas, Massachusetts. The trail occupies an abandoned railroad corridor. The company went bankrupt before the project could be completed, but the corridor was later designated as a trail after being purchased by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. Cutting through the Douglas State Forest, it's popular among equestrians."

Blacktone River Valley

Reverse Reads: "New Blackstone River Dam on South Main St., at Globe Bridge Woonsocket, R.I."

From the National Parks Service site:

"The Blackstone River runs from Worcester, MA to Providence, RI. Its waters powered the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, America's first successful textile mill. This creative spark began the nation's transformation from Farm to Factory. Today, the Blackstone River Valley is a special type of National Park - a living landscape containing thousands of natural and historic treasures."

I grew up on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border in a town called Uxbridge. I taught at the high school there for several years too. The Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor runs through Uxbridge. When I was young the river and canal were in the woods and full of garbage, but then they made it a National Heritage Corridor, cleaned it up, and made it a park.

The old tow path where the mules walked to pull barges down the canal is now a footpath. It's really pretty. I used to take my creative writing classes down there and we'd sit in a meadow between the Blackstone River and Blackstone Canal and work on sensory writing.

Here are some photos I took there several years back.



This is the Stanley Woolen Mill, one of many mills that got power from the Blackstone.

N.C. Wyeth and Henry David Thoreau - "Men of Concord"

I've been thinking a lot about the books I have at home in Massachusetts. I didn't bring most of them with me to Arizona because I was afraid they'd get ruined with all the moving. For example, I have a beautiful copy of Henry David Thoreau's "Men of Concord" illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. I'd seen Wyeth's illustrations before, but only recently did I realize that he's an American icon. Every time I visit my family I end up bringing a couple books back that I miss too much to part with. I think "Men of Concord" will be coming back this time. 

Worcester Postcards

Worcester County Massachusetts and the city of Worcester were our homes for most of our lives. I grew up in Uxbridge and my wife is from the neighboring town of Douglas. It's a great place to live. The first postcard shows the Worcester Town Hall, which is where we got our marriage license (yesterday was our anniversary, which is what prompted me to post this) and the second is of Bancroft Tower near Salisbury Street. 

The postcard was sent on May 25 1907 to:
Miss S. W. Austin
202 Harold Street,
Roxbury, Mass

The inscription reads:
"Glad to hear from you and that you can be about again. Expect to be at home soon. Am going to Worcester today. M.A.A." 

The stamp is a really interesting and commemorates Captain John Smith who founded Jamestown in 1607.

No Jackets in Mexico - 1956

The inscription reads:
"We are having a wonderful trip. I saw some jackets in Mexico but they were not like mine so I didn't get any. They were not pretty. Em."

The postcard was addressed to:

Mrs. George Authier
148 South Main St
Palmer, Massachusetts

I couldn't find too much on George Authier except what appears to be a list names of those buried in Bethany Road Cemetery. Those names included George W. Authier and Eva G. Reggiani Authier:

Authier, George W., b Oct 26, 1912, d Feb 13, 1981
Authier, Eva G. REGGIANI, b Dec 15, 1916, d Jan 31, 1996, w/o George (w/o=wife of)

I guess Em. was letting Eva know about the dearth of pretty jackets in Mexico.

Douglas, MA

Douglas Mail Carrier, originally uploaded by Svadilfari.

My brother, Sean, found these postcards and posted them to Flickr. They show Douglas, Massachusetts. I would assume that it's around the turn of the 20th century, but perhaps he could clarify that.

Douglas Train Station, originally uploaded by Svadilfari.

Douglas is located south of Worcester in central Massachusetts. It's where our mother grew up and where my family and Erin's family currently live.