When The Stars Align

Sometimes when shooting film it's like the stars align. I was out driving around and looking to start back up my series titled "Concrete Cathedrals" when I came across this scene. It was like not only finding the perfect Cathedral, but a pope to go with it. The title of the large vessel is "American Victory", which I thought was suiting given the fact that the 4th of July is upon us this upcoming weekend. That coupled with amazing clear skies and the exact combination of camera and film that I wanted led to this shot.

U.S. Route 53, Superior, Wisconsin, June 2015

Rolleiflex SL-66 / Zeiss Planar 80mm/f2.8
Kodak Panatomic-X print film developed in Rodinal 1:50

Right Wing Art

Loop 335, Amarillo, Texas, February, 2001 

Apparently, I am a right-wing artist (See their December 3, 2013 entry).  Not that I make right-wing art, but I am a libertarian, and I am an artist.  But, I am not a propagandist.  My "political artistic credo" is here.

Concrete Cathedrals

 U.S. Route 66, Landergin, Texas, November 1999

It's hard to believe that it has been more than twelve years ago that I began the series I now call Concrete Cathedrals.  I was on my way up out of Texas to photograph the Anasazi ruins at Mesa Verde.  I never got there, because I was captivated by the cement grain elevators which dot the landscape in the Texas Panhandle.  These particular silos are found outside the tiny ghost town of Landergin, about 10 miles west of Vega.

Since I photographed this image, I've visited hundreds of grain elevators in the United States and Canada.  It's the longest series I've worked on, and it will be my last book.  I don't ever plan on stopping work on Concrete Cathedrals.

Concrete Cathedrals

Off Interstate 37, Corpus Christi, Texas, May 2000

Rescanned the original negative at extremely fine resolution, and found beautiful nuances in Photoshop I never knew were there before.

Concrete Cathedrals

Grain Elevator

U.S. Route 150, Fithian, Illinois, June 2011

I saw this beautiful example of an early-20th century granary in rural Illinois, when I felt the pang of regret that I hadn't brought my Rolleiflex SL-66 medium format camera, my traditional tool for capturing these specimens of what photographer Chris Faust calls "commercial archaeology."

But then I remembered:  I had a medium format camera with me, a Polaroid Super Colorpack 108-format instant camera, loaded with color 669 film.  Thanks to Photoshop, I was able to tweak this into something silver halide.

Concrete Cathedrals

Corpus Christi, Texas, May 2000

My first big break as a photographer was having my portfolio, Concrete Cathedrals, accepted for publication by Black & White Magazine (U.S.A.).  I got the acceptance letter in December 2002, which took over a month to reach me, as I'd just moved from San Antonio to Philadelphia.  Coming as it did after seven rejection letters from lesser publications, I was more than elated.

A monochromatic paean to the austere and imposing grain elevators which dot the landscape of the Great Plains, Concrete Cathedrals is a work in progress.  As literally thousands of these monolithic edifices are found across North America, I am certain to pass into the hereafter decades from now no closer to finishing than Franz Schubert was his Eighth Symphony.

A special dedicatory goes to fans in London, who like the SciFi feel of some of my black-and-white compositions.  I hope you enjoy this!