Fran DeRespinis Photography

A photography trope, or at least a motif that is often criticized and dismissed, is having photos of clouds that reveal faces of humans or other animals. Or, the photographer is not conscious that viewer’s might “see faces” and be rewarded with sniggers and chortles rather than the nods of approval one had hoped for.

This is not that. This is both an intentional and “accidental” depiction of the beings that reside in the sky when served up in a similar manner as the Gemini City architecture through duplication and alignment of the images in the series. This natural architecture reveals a story, perhaps a warning, a reckoning. The viewer is invited to see what they want to see, and to interpret as they may.

Covid-19 came along and my street photography came to a screeching halt. Even if I do go out to shoot, things have changed so dramatically that I decided to look at my photographic archives for inspiration or to rework some older images I had never processed before.

While I was reviewing some of my architectural work, specifically taller buildings, I thought of a dream I had as a young boy. Everything in it was a double. All the people were twins, the buildings were doubles, just about everything in sight was in twos, even the actions of the people. If someone wanted something, they asked for it twice. It was so crazy that I mentioned it to my mother who laughed and said it was probably because I was a Gemini. I never forgot that.

I also had a youthful love affair with science fiction books and films. That, and my childhood dream, led to these images that you see here - a wonderful diversion during these pandemic times.

Fellow photography friends have told me that a better approach to Covid-inspired photographs was to photograph the horror of it, the pains experienced. But, I preferred approaching this work by considering what Marina Abramovic has said about art during difficult times:

“I was also thinking how interesting it is that in war, when everybody was making art that reflected what happened, Henri Matisse was painting flowers. I finally understand that. The way to fight is not to reflect horror and put your spirit down. It’s to create something with beauty that gives you hope.”

It’s getting dark out there…

Floating…

I learned to swim when I was 10 years old. It remains my dreamscape, where I float and dream, submerge and dream, drift and dream.

It would be pretentious of me to make claim to being part of the long tradition of artists whose wives or partners were their influential muses. Among these greats are Steiglitz, Manet, Steichen, Man Ray, Mapplethorpe.

Nevertheless, Trish is my greatest influence, and because I always have a camera with me (no, not referring to my phone), I often have the opportunity to take a photograph of her. This selection is simply some of my favorites, as they display her various looks and moods.

Like Marcel Duchamp, I am fascinated with transition, change, and movement. My photographs, taken in New York City and Washington, DC, pay homage to Duchamp and his determination to go his own way, discovering something entirely his own - a sense of movement through a series of successive descending positions.

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About the inspiration:

Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French-American painter, sculptor, and conceptual artist . Along with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, he helped define revolutionary developments in the opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting and sculpture.

In his early work, he emulated the compositions and brushstrokes of Cézanne, but in Paris he came in contact with avant-garde writers and poets, and his painting shifted to incorporate elements of the fragmented style of Cubism, though not a Cubist himself. This influence, and his interest in the photographic sequences of Eadweard Muybridge, resulted in his best-known painting, "Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2”.

Duchamp tried to show the work at the Salon des Indepéndants in Paris, but the title, inscribed on the canvas (NU DESCENDANT UN ESCALIER”), was objected to and he withdrew his submission. When it was shown at the Armory Show in New York in 1913, the work gained critical opposition and his name and reputation became forever associated with this painting.

By World War I, he rejected the work of many of his fellow artists (such as Henri Matisse) as "retinal" art - art he believed was intended only to engage the eye. Instead, Duchamp wanted art to serve the mind rather than be purely visual and commercial.

Eventually, he left painting behind, becoming a cult figure among the avant-garde, both in Europe and the USA. He is seen as perhaps the most important figure to affect the shift towards conceptual art and changed what we think about art and what art can be in the 20th century.

Some like to refer to it as wabi sabi, the Japanese aesthetic that centers on three truths: :

Nothing is permanent


Nothing is finished


Nothing is perfect

For me, it’s about how an image makes you feel.

The viewer should feel the work, not just see it.

Among street photographers, it’s considered a neophytic error to photograph people’s backs as it shows or implies that the photographer lacks confidence and experience. Though I agree, I found it to be a lot of fun to be viewing people who are also in the act of doing some viewing. Most of these are in art galleries, a great place to both view and be viewed!

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it” is an often-heard refrain by one of photography’s masters, Ansel Adams. You press the shutter and use darkroom techniques to make the final result, a paper print. In today’s digital era, that same process is used, but with software such as Photoshop or Lightroom to make the photographic print or online digital representation.

Edwin Land (1909-91), American scientist and inventor, had a different perspective. Best known for his invention of in-camera instant photography, Land brought the “take” to the forefront of photography, and the rest is history. His crowning achievement was Polaroid SX-70 film and cameras, which created instant, square, color photographs. The SX-70 was extremely successful in the marketplace, with famous artists such as David Hockney, Walker Evans, Andy Warhol, and even Ansel Adams using this magical instrument to create their art.

This gallery comprises Polaroid SX-70 images I took in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

I shoot in color when I think the image is about the color. Old school idea, but it works for me.

I primarily shoot on the street, and when on the street, I primarily seek out the inhabitants of the street. Locals, passersby, shoppers, tourists, anyone and everywhere.

It doesn’t make any difference what camera is used by the photographer. Perhaps it does to gear-acquisition-minded photographers.

Nevertheless, this gallery comprises images taken with one camera, my favorite street camera, the Leica Q. Just because…

These infrared images were photographed with a Nikon Dƒ digital camera with its sensor converted to record 590 nm infrared bandwidth. The sensor only records this limited bandwidth of light.

Note that 590nm images demand a significant amount of post-processing to realize the color rendition preferred by the photographer. It can be a daunting task and is not recommended for those who want instant gratification.

These B&W images were either photographed with a Nikon Dƒ digital camera (590 nm), with the images converted to monochrome in post-processing, or with a Fuji X100T camera converted to 860 nm deep black and white infrared bandwidth. Each of these camera’s sensors record only 590nm or 860nm bandwidths of light, respectively. A few of the images are altered using a sepia “filter” in post-processing.

I took these photos while earning my Master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Photography was a great supplement to my studies, especially photographing children. Most of these photos were taken in the North End of Boston. The kids, of course, are Italian-Americans. The photographer with his Polaroid camera was charging one dollar a photo. The gentleman with his sign was a fixture at Harvard Square.

I was shooting 35mm film Kodachrome 25 slide film, my favorite transparency film at the time. It was slow at ASA 25, but rendered beautifully. At the time, I also used a Mamyia C330 twin-lens reflex camera that produced, 6x6 (2 1/4 square) images. It was usually loaded with black and white Tri-X film. I still have that wonderful C330.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow

It's cloud illusions I recall

I really don't know clouds at all

Joni Mitchell

Obviously, September 11, 2001 changed everything. As a New Yorker, it certainly shattered my life in ways that still haunt me. I had visited the WTC many times, both with my high school students and on my own. I now treasure these photos even though they are hardly “high art”. I value them because I was there. I took them. I remember. Never forget.

Love comes in all forms.

And, love is all there is…