My years dealing with rolls of film were long past by the time the camera bug truly bit me, but it’s still a part of my youth. And misplacing film was practically a way of life for me. Heck, my baby pictures were on a roll of film lost for years thanks to an absent minded uncle! So, I think that shows that lost film and my life are genuinely hand in hand.
That’s been the one lost pleasures of digital photography. Sure, flash cards might go bad or hard drives might crash, but they don’t tend to just turn up again one day at the bottom of a forgotten travel bag! Or at least that hasn’t been my experience. How about you? And I really do think there was something of a pleasure to it. By the time that roll reappeared, I usually had no idea what was going to come back from the lab. Literally, not even the subject! Perhaps this waves a suspect finger at my organization skills back then?
I have a fairly large archive of unused images. Often, it’s simply that I take say a half dozen photos of a given subject and pick my favorite. Other times I am not in the same frame of mind when I sit down to edit and it takes awhile for me to get back there. Whatever the case, those unused pictures sit quietly and wait for some later inspiration.
I was recently looking for water-themed images for a request I received and I stumbled into a folder I had somehow ignored several years ago. They were taken the same year I had a foot surgery and unrelated physical therapy for tendonitis. So, I can make some decent guesses how such a small collection of images entirely slipped through the cracks. However it happened, I found it to be the closest I’ve come in a long time to that thrill of discovering a forgotten roll of film, you know?
It’s been just long enough that the details are fuzzy. I do remember standing there on shore of the Chattahoochee River that morning, but I couldn’t pinpoint where it was other than somewhere generally north of Roswell. Stumbling over a small cache of six year old photos might not be on the same level as finding a lost Rembrandt, but it was a fun discovery for me.
If nothing else, it serves as a reminder why I used to like to get up early in the morning and wander down to one of various landings on the Chattahoochee River. A sublime way to start the day even for those of us who are not truly morning people!
In Other News
I recently finished uploading all of my Mexico related art onto my Fine Art America account! It’s not the end of the road, yet, but can I get a big yay anyway? As one of my larger bodies of artwork, that was a pretty thrilling completion! Of course, I say all with no true finality. After all, I did admit I have unpublished images that I might be inspired to use sometime, but I don’t think that will happen soon unless some project specifically presents itself.
If you’d enjoy a stroll through Mexico through my eyes, be sure to check out the Mexico Visual art on my Fine Art America gallery. Hope you’ll let me know your favorite(s)!
I’ve also managed to squeeze in some small site updates recently. I revised my about me page and put up an art patron page that’s honestly easier read than explained. I hope you’ll give it a peek as it explains not only how I regard my awesome supporters but how that support works.
That’s it for now!