Sharing Some Cool Black & White!

Hey friends, just had to share this incredible shot from my friend Will Holmer. When he first showed it to me it knocked me out, which it still does every time I see it. You Portland locals will recognize the St. Johns Bridge, crossing the Willamette River in North Portland. It's one of the west coast's most beautiful and iconic suspension bridges, and this view of it is like none I've ever seen.  I think it's a real masterpiece; thanks Will!

I especially enjoy looking at great black & white imagining, but haven't had a chance to do much of it since my large format & darkroom days -- and boy, sometimes I truly miss those days, too. But it's patently obvious that, in skilled hands like Will's, one can make stunning black & white images with digital technology. Add to that a sophisticated printer and the fine-art ink jet papers available, and you have the ability to make prints that easily rival what we produced back in the day. (Now if they can just reproduce the smell of the hypo....)

This image on the right is one that was made by my brother Jim, who has produced an impressive body of work over the years that I have always loved. (He's a Psychologist, but I think he just does that to support his photography habit!). This image is illustrative of his style, which typically employs a palette of strong values and whimsical compositions.

I'm including here an old B&W that I took back in 1981 with a Mamiya RB 67.  Here's the problem I have with it: although it's a perfectly scanned negative, I just can't seem to make an image from the file that I'm satisfied with. Or with anything I've had scanned from old negatives. It seems my brain has tied the images to the chemical process, and won't let me re-interpret them digitally. I wonder if anyone else has similar experiences, or if, as I suspect, I'm truly a unique blockhead.....

Don't answer that.  But if you have a cool black & white photo to share, I would LOVE to see it!