Musing: January 2014
Photography, a Universal Language
On the eve of 2014 I have finished processing the last of the 6 boxes of 5×7 film I shot this year. In the morning I’ll start on the (approximately) hundred sheets of 8×10 and fifty of 5 x 12 film still to process, but I’m encouraged to see images I want to print later this winter. It was busy year with workshops in Alabama, North Dakota, Montana, on the Erie Canal and two trips to China to teach platinum printing. I was fortunate to be able to arrange time for my own work around each workshop, which accounts for the backlog of film to process.
I was reminded this year that photography is an international language. On my first trip to China I didn’t speak any Mandarin and though a few of the students spoke some English, we communicated primarily through a translator. Much of our communication was based on the images being printed. For my second trip I prepared by taking Mandarin lessons, which in spite of my tutor’s best efforts still left me very reliant on a translator. I met my tutor, Wang Nanfei, at the Penobscot School in Rockland (ME) and through her connected with her husband, a photographer and ex pat living and working in Beijing.
I worked for ALPA China, a photographic equipment and supply business in Beijing. During my second trip I set aside time to photograph. Wang, Jumbo, Bai and Maggie (the last two translators) from ALPA took me to Cheng De, a World Cultural Site northeast of Beijing, where we worked together for three days. I also made a couple of day trips with Charles Dukes (Nanfei’s husband) to western Beijing. In between these two trips I had a few days in Beijing to photograph on my own.
I started by walking about a half mile from my hotel to a nearby park. I love city parks and this one was beautifully designed and laid out in the Japanese style. The first morning I took my digital camera and strolled around to get the feel of the place. It was crowded with people “taking their morning exercise”. I walked past one gentleman playing his flute and motioned if I could make his picture. Without stopping he nodded and immediately played “Happy Birthday” for me followed by a Christmas carol. We laughed and nodded at each other and I walked on. I felt this park had lots of potential so I returned to my hotel to get my 5×7. With the 5×7 on a tripod I was far more noticeable, to say the least. On several occasions I came out from under the dark cloth to find a small crowd watching what I was doing. I gestured to them to look under the dark cloth and those that did came out looking surprised and would make gestures about the image being upside down.
I got bolder and took my 5×7 camera further afield, walking to a huge park about a mile from my hotel. I set up my camera, but this time I was on the sidewalk, not in the park itself. Again, a small crown gathered. Coming out from under the dark cloth I was approached by another photographer. I recognized him because of his camera bag. He spoke more English than I did Mandarin, and between us we were able to explain to the crowd what I was doing and share the image on the ground glass. He shot images of me working and sent them by email that evening. I continued working in the park until I ran out of film and returned to the hotel.
While working in Cheng De an older woman and her husband approached me as I was setting up to make an image. They watched politely for a short while but were clearly interested in what I was doing, so I gestured to let them look under the dark cloth. The man refused but the woman enthusiastically took the dark cloth and with practice threw it over her head and the camera. She stayed under for several minutes. When she came out we gestured to each other about the image. From my very limited understanding I learned that she had studied photography 40 years earlier and had started with a view camera. I could see she enjoyed looking at the world upside down again.
View cameras are universal curiosities. The presence of a camera on a tripod causes people to stare, to be curious, to want to know what is going on. In essence, my 5×7 view camera helped bridged a huge cultural divide, allowing me to connect with people I didn’t know and might not have had contact with in any other way. When I set up the view camera people noticed me. When I explored the parks with a small digital camera, I was far less noticeable. I frequently get the same reaction in the US, but in China the camera provided a bridge for me to cross a cultural barrier even though I lacked the ability to speak the language.
I am grateful to my friends at ALPA China for arranging my two trips this past year, for letting me share my love for platinum printing, and for taking me to their special locations to photograph. As I lock myself into my darkroom to process more film this New Year’s day I will get to revisit all of the places I was fortunate to set up my view camera and count my blessings for the rich experiences I enjoyed in 2013.
I wish you all a Healthy, Happy and Productive 2014.
Tillman