Things were way too stuffy for the young West Coast California photographers; they needed fresh air, wide-open spaces, cars, the Pacific Ocean, the desert, a dash of eroticism (except for Ansel), dramatic light, and most of all, freedom from the stifling East Coast crowd and their mind-numbing Pictorialist dregs. The date was November 15, 1932, exactly 79 years ago today. It marked the date that the f/64 photographers had their coming out exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Come to think of it, these West Coast photographers didn’t really care for much of anything that remotely smacked of the East Coast (well, except for maybe killer bagels and lox), and even named their Oakland gallery the “683,” mocking the Alfred Stieglitz New York “291″ gallery. Mocking is good, I like that. Sometimes all you’ve got left is spunk and a nearly empty box of film. These new photographers couldn’t stand the pretentiousness of the cramped New York scene and were brazen about it. Danged if they were going to let a bunch of haughty East Coasters define them, and after naming themselves “Group F/64,” they even came up with a manifesto. How’s that for audaciousness?

Imogen Cunningham, Plant Pattern, 1920's

I absolutely love this photograph by Imogen; it reminds me of a ferocious great white shark being hunted down by Killer Whales from my ancient homeland in Alaska. The paper with the mottled light has echoes of mountainous waves and the black values at the top echoes the drama of a night sky, which is a perfect metaphor for trying to survive in the worst depression America has ever witnessed. It feels ominous and predatory without being didactic, and the coolest part is simply naming it something as innocuous as “Plant Pattern.” Brilliant, simply brilliant. Especially when you realize that it was the 1920’s and other artists were pretending to make work with relevance as Imogen was quietly making a portfolio of photograhic prints that had this visual aesthetic; she was a master of light in addition to the artistry of her compositions. I can only imagine her figuring out the light for this photograph, because like many of her other works, the negative spaces and shadows were just as pivotal as the highlights and mid-tones. Her carefully crafted rim of highlights served to add weight to the negative spaces. This is where blacks were so important, and I’m sure she spent many hours in the darkroom emphasizing this look, it wasn’t accidental by any means. Imogen knows blacks.

Not only that, but Imogen studied chemistry in Dresden Germany and her key research had to do with improving the platinum printing process. Printing with a platinum handmade emulsion is part chemistry, part alchemy and in my opinion, part mojo. There is something extremely challenging about working in that media because so many things can go unexpectedly wrong, but when you get it on target, you end up with the most beautiful photographs with a tonality and range of values that today’s digital photographers can only dream of attaining.

Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham and Ansel Adams were the most well known of the original seven members. They were fierce about breaking out of the painterly, soft-focus romanticized Pictorialist style and presented their own visual aesthetic that was a reflection of the new modernist times.

Pepper Number 30, Edward Weston, 1930

Unfortunately, the modernist times also included the Great Depression, which was in full swing, with poverty and unemployment the norm for most of the country. This was an essential part of what informed the mindset for this f/64 group, that the average person would have to fight for social justice in the land. It’s part of what fueled the radical “Manifesto” part of their identity; it was both rebellious and assertive about hammering out a new paradigm for themselves.

Floating Nude, Edward Weston, 1939. Weston was starting to experiment with spacial values that were nearly surreal, but also wanted to hold onto the realism that Group f/64 developed.

They wanted a style that epitomized what big cameras and high quality lenses were capable of making; they wanted to stretch the capabilities of what photography could offer, including a look that had the entire photograph impeccably sharp from corner to corner with a tonal range that pulled as much out of their film as it could offer, which meant rich blacks, a full range of mid-tones and detail in the highlights.

Aspens, Northern New Mexico, Ansel Adams

In order to capture this new modernist look, they needed lenses that could stop down to f/64 in order to maximize sharpness, especially if camera movements were involved that minimized distortions, hence their name. They also needed to shoot with view cameras, generally either 4×5 or 8×10 if they could afford the larger more expensive film. Part of their photographic workflow included using the large camera that took a great deal of patience and meticulous handling in order to make the careful and studied compositions. They needed the large cameras because the larger film translated to less enlarger magnification, which in turn meant dramatically finer grained prints or almost eliminating film grain altogether.

Dunes, Oceano, Weston 1936

Agave, Imogen Cunningham, 1920's

Van Deren Coke, who used to be the Curator of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and then later a scholar at the University of New Mexico, described Cunningham’s photographs as “Her inherently sensuous subjects- large graceful flowers, elegant tapered leaves and rounded cacti- were transformed into formal compositions by her emphasis on close-up views, geometric detail and the tendency of shadows to appear as opaque silhouettes in photographs. Cunningham speaks to the beauty of pure geometry in nature… (From “Photography: A Facet of Modernism” P.36).

Van Deren Coke is one of my heroes because he helped establish the Photography Area at the University of New Mexico where I earned my Master of Fine Arts degree and also earned a Van Deren Coke Fellowship as a graduate student.

So how does this Group f/64 body of work stand the test of time 79 years later? Especially as we slip and slide around in the Postmodern zone, where anything goes? I’d say that Group f/64 set a nice standard for photographers and artists who want to break out of outdated conventions, aesthetics and ideas about the creative process. They made it just fine for photographers to let go of the old ways of thinking, especially in troubling times as we are in again with a large scale socio-economic depression of our own. I’m reminded that perhaps it is time for another manifesto that signifies a shift in the social strata of the land, and have it reflected in a new paradigm of art making.

All I really know is that as a photographer, I have an appreciation and gratitude for the beauty of the f/64 work. There came a time back in the late 1990’s where I needed to use a 4×5 camera in a studio with lights and everything. I couldn’t get the look I was looking for with scanned negatives, so I shot on 4×5 Polaroid film and made platinum prints from them because it had a wider tonal range, so I could squeeze out a few additional tones of black. It did the trick, so it was cool that I was able to pull this modernist stuff out of the hat like it was a magic rabbit or something.

Raven asks Pontiac, McNeil, 1998. Made with Polaroid type 55 negative film and a handmade platinum emulsion. I'll have to confess that I was looking for a modernist look with the hood ornament, because I really love that Group f/64 feel, especially when combined with the 19th century platinum printing process. It was a total hybrid.

Ordinarily, the story would end here, but since I’m an artist and photographer first, I thought I’d share what I’m doing with some of these f/64 modernist tools in 2011. I take that back, my Schneider lens only goes to f/45, but that’s plenty good enough for my plan. I just purchased a heck of a camera on eBay, a very cool Wista 4×5 rangefinder field camera. What’s cool about it is that it uses the large format film, but you can use a rangefinder for focusing, which makes it way faster for photographing people. I guess that means I’m not really an f/64 purist, but that’s okay I guess. I’m not the least bit worried about it,but am very excited at the idea of using a 4×5 camera again, because it has that beautiful f/64 look that digital cameras can’t quite squeeze out yet.

Wista RF 4x5 field camera for my next project.

But wait, you haven’t heard it all yet– I have ten boxes of Polaroid Type 55 negative film to use with this. Wow. For you photographic peasants who don’t know what this means, too dang bad, I’ll show the photos in a future entry. But for now, happy 79th year of having the f/64 photographers splash on the scene. Here’s to all of you, bottom’s up, man.

Story by Larry McNeil, Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.

(Edited from the March 9th entry)

What do this mystery photographer, Ansel Adams, Felix Bonfils and myself have in common?

Can you help me identify any of these people from Alaska in the 1960’s? These negatives were in a box of items I purchased at an auction in the early 1980’s, I did not make any of these photos.

I’m fairly certain that this photographer was a serious amateur as opposed to a professional photographer. It appeared that this was an estate auction of pre- 1960’s photographic gear. Included with the old and dusty photographic gear were a couple boxes of cool negatives, one of which turned out to be quite fascinating.

Most were large format 4×5 black & white negatives of various Alaska scenes, like the Fur Rendezvous celebration from the mid-1960’s. There is a fairly large collection of negatives from the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake of downtown Anchorage. The 1964 Earthquake negatives in particular are historic and high quality. These negatives are not as good as the Steve McCutcheon earthquake photographs, but are an interesting supplement to them.

There are some intriguing negatives made at an Ansel Adams workshop too, which tells me that in addition to maybe shooting a few assignments, this photographer was enthusiastic about photography for it’s own sake. There are what I would describe as meditative nature scenes of Yosemite.

Jackpot → Prize → Laurels → Laurence → Larry

It’s a bit amusing, but the Latin translation of laurel means from the laurel tree, or to be crowned with laurels, as victors. One could say that finding these negatives was kind of a jackpot, prize or a “Larry” kind of thing. Latin trivia for the day.

At any rate, the really cool box of negatives were nearly 9 inch x 11 inch glass plate negatives from what appeared to be Palestine of the late 1800’s. What the heck? How did these get in here? You can see the name “Felix Bonfils” handwritten in what appears to be French script in gold on the emulsion side of the negatives. Did this mystery photographer get the negatives in his travels to California in some obscure camera store? I’d like to identify the photographer so I could get some clue as to how he acquired the Felix Bonfils negatives.

Link to the Portfolio of Bonfils Negatives.

Link to Essay about the Bonfils Negatives.

Felix Bonfils negative of the "Ruins of Capernaum." There is an original signature on the negative, it's not placed there photographically like all the prints you see in the various collections in the world.

The name Capernaum is Hebrew for “Village of Nahum,” and is the name of an ancient village on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was deserted around the seventh century BCE (Before the Common Era). Capernaum is of interest because it is where Jesus performed his ministries around Galilee. A fourth century synagogue has been excavated there, among other historical sites. There is a great deal of scholarship from various people and entities regarding Capernaum.

These ten Felix Bonfils negatives are the only ones in existence as far as I know. The other more contemporary negatives look like the ones below.

Whomever made these negatives also attended at least one Ansel Adams workshop in California in the 60's. This mystery participant made some very nice negatives while interacting with Ansel Adams and other photographers. This is a very high quality 4x5 black & white negative.

Are any of these guys the mystery Alaskan photographer?

This appears to be the Mendenhall Glacier just outside of Juneau. Again, a 4x5 black & white negative was made. It looks like a Graflex type film holder was used that shot multiple numbered negatives.

This is from the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous from at least 1965 (according to the banner over the street). Check out the old-style television camera on top of the truck on the right. The dog sled races. This appears to be a negative from a professional type of Polaroid camera, maybe the Pathfinder 110. The writing on the left side of the emulsion says "Kodak Safety film," but Kodak made some of the negative materials for various instant Polaroid films. Look! There's Stewart's Photo on the left.

I used to spend a lot of hard-earned money at Stewart’s Photo when I was in high school in the early 70’s and they’d even rent out their darkroom to me when I couldn’t use the school darkrooms in the summer. Let’s hear it for the good guys at Stewart’s! I hear they retired a number of years ago.

This weird little thing is called an Amphicar and its an amphibious car that goes either on the highway or on waterways. This is Seward, Alaska, likely during the Silver Salmon Derby in August of each year. I suspect that this is the late 1960's.

Who are these two happy dudes with beautiful silver salmon? I'm sure our mystery photographer made this photograph in Seward, Alaska, perhaps during the Silver Salmon Derby. The kid on the right was likely my age, which would put him in his 50's today.

Around 1968 I remember seeing this little Amphicar in the middle of Resurrection Bay outside of Seward during the Silver Salmon derby in August. It had to be one of  the most surreal scenes I’d witnessed in quite some time because it looked just like a little car cruising around the middle of the bay. The two guys were trolling for silvers, bobbing along peacefully in the three foot waves.

Who are these guys? This 4×5 negative was amongst all the others. Please email me if you have any clues as to the identity of any of these people. Here’s to all you Alaskan photographers!

Story Copyright Larry McNeil, All Rights Reserved, 2011