Mies van der Rohe - Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago

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Built at the end of Mies' tenure at IIT, in the 1950s, Crown Hall houses the School of Architecture and City Planning, as well as the Institute of Design.
Without much doubt, it was Mies' most prized building on the entire campus.

A single, uninterrupted place (36,6x67m, with 5,5m height), Crown Hall was the largest interior space Mies had ever realized: one enormous, completely open, glass-enclosed room, which ceiling is suspendable from one exterior steel structure.
On Mies' own words, this easily adaptable place was "the clearest structure we have done, the best to express our philisophy".

If we compare these photographs with some older images made shortly after construction, I think it is interesting to observe what the patina of time has produced on this amazing structure; the creeping plants can't manage to hide the modernity and the genius of it's apparently simple design...

I made these photographs with a Horseman SW 612 Pro and a Gandolfi Variant 4x5 camera (MDF version, level III), using a Horseman 6x12 roll film back.
The lenses employed were either manufactured by Rodenstock or by Schneider.
The structure detail was shot on 6x7 with a Linhof Rapid Rollex roll film holder, used on the Gandolfi Variant.

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Gonçalo Byrne, some works

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Mr. Byrne in his atelier on the 17th of November 2006.

I always felt a very high respect for Mr. Gonçalo Byrne.
He is not only a great architect, but before anything else he is a very valuable human beeing.
I used to think that he was my kindest client.
On location, he invariably took care that I enjoyed the best possible accommodations, that I got served the best food and wine.
Sadly, somehow along the way, our paths drifted away and I seldom see him these days.

In spite of that, I will forever maintain that he is a very cordial and polite person, a true gentleman!

Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Arraiolos, 1993.

Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Arraiolos, 1993.

Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Arraiolos, 1993.

The above photographs actually mark the very first time that I got an assignment from Gonçalo Byrne. I made most images in color, but I choose to show some black and white for the time being.

Faculdade de Informática e Electrónica, Pólo II, Universidade de Coimbra, 1994.

Edifício da Capitania, Marina de Lagos, 1994.

Edifício da Capitania, Marina de Lagos, 1994.

Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Lisbon (project).

Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Lisbon (project).

I can't exactly recall the equipment that I used to make the images shown above, but I guess that most, if not all, were made with a Sinar f2 camera in 4x5 inches/9x12 cm.
I enlarged the photographs in the traditional wet darkroom. The scanning was produced from the gelatin silver prints using the Epson 4990 Photo.

I made the portrait of Mr. Byrne using a Canon EOS 1n + Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM.
(I hate these long and complicated names!!!).

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"Unglaubliche Geschichte um die Ecke", Pau, France, 1986 (Rolleiflex 3.5 F)

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Many years ago, the good Lord might remember when (I had to look up...), I was travelling in the company of my good old friend Fred, on our way from Portugal to Germany (or was it the other way?).

After crossing the Pyrenees, we spent a couple of days in Pau, staying at another close friend's home. Pakica (Francisco is his real name) used to live at that time in this nice and friendly town.
Because of our geographical distance, we always had so much to remember about the months we had been apart, living our far away lives, fighting our separate struggles and savouring our separate short happy moments.

"Störung"

"Aufatmung"

"Sonnenlust"

"Erholung"

"Lust zum Wegfahren"

You might have noticed that I titled this minuscule photographic sequence in german language. That's how I called it by then. I will try to shed some light on the subject...

The main tittle means something like "Unbelievable Story Down the Corner"...

Actually, there was something surrealistic about the whole situation: me and Fred just walked randomly in the neighborhood killing time and putting our legs to some work.
I had brought the Rolleiflex with me and I occasionally made an exposure of some scene that I thought might be worthy of some visual interest. It all flew rather calm and relaxed, unstressed...

All of a sudden a car stops by and an older man jumps out, asking very nervously what we were doing. In our rusty french, we tried to explain that we were just doing nothing special, strolling around visiting town.
The good old man was not satisfied with our modest explanations and kept making more and more absurd questions. When he ultimately asked what "race" did we belong, we decided to completely ignore him and kept our way, doing as before.

He then drove rageful and paranoid, mumbling something about police and other stupidities.
Every few minutes he kept driving by, threatening und cursing us.

He even picked up a camera and started photographing us! From far away, from the security of his car...
We couldn't keep from laughing and finally felt some kind of pity on him.

Poor mad man... He had so much demons to live with...

I would like to emphasise that all this happened long before the ghost of terrorism, before September 11th and all this kind of sordid occurences.
I am talking about a peaceful sunny afternoon in an european town free of conflict, with two pacific young people enjoying the tranquil quiteness of some sleepy streets.

What brings me to the point of saying that "the moral of the story, the moral of this song, is simply that one should never be where one does not belong.
So when you see your neighbor carrying something, help him with his load, and don't go mistaking Paradise for that home across the road".

And yes, I was paraphrasing Bob Dylan in his song "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest", from the album "John Wesley Harding", from 1968.

For the photo freaks: all images were shot on the 14th of August 1986, using a Rolleiflex 3.5 F, loaded with Kodak Tri-x film, developed in Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1.
The images shown here were scanned from original silverprints (printed by me), using an Epson 4990 Photo.

If Six Was Nine

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Getting rid of the superfluous...
(self-portrait, 4th of October 2009)

If the sun refuse to shine
I don't mind, I don't mind.
If the mountains fell in the sea,
let it be, it ain't me.

Alright, 'cos I got my own world to look through,
And I ain't gonna copy you.

Now, if six turned out to be nine,
I don't mind, I don't mind.
If all the hippies cut off all their hair,
I don't care, I don't care.

Dig, 'cos I got my own world to live through,
And I ain't gonna copy you.

White collared conservative flashing down the street.
Pointing their plastic finger at me,
They're hoping soon my kind will drop and die,
But I'm gonna wave my freak flag high, high.
Wave on, wave on.
Fall mountains, just don't fall on me.
Go ahead on Mr. Business man, you can't dress like me.

Nobody knows what I'm talking about.
I've got my own life to live,
I'm the one that's going to have to die,
When it's time for me to die,
So let me live my life
The way that I want to.

JIMI HENDRIX - If Six Was Nine
(from the album "Axis: Bold as Love", The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967).

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Rolleiflex 3.5 F - Monsaraz, Alentejo, 7th of July 2009

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I have been travelling to Monsaraz, and photographing there, for many years now.
It is a small village in the south of Portugal, with a castle on top of the hill, overlooking the surrounding valley.
A couple of years ago, the construction of Barragem do Alqueva made a dramatic change in the landscape. Where once was dry land, the waters now reflect the deepness of the blue sky.

Without wishing to dig further into ecological arguing and considerations, I must be tempted to ask myself: "for what so much blue?".

I can foresee the tourist resorts and the golf courses popping up here and there, and I can even envision the big cash flowing in some big scale agricultural projects; but not in the pockets of the few old people remaining in the region, the ones who have been there for ages. They will keep living in poverty, as they always did, forever forgotten and misused.

I hope that I will be proved wrong...

Some twenty or so years ago, you still could watch authentic life in Monsaraz. At the end of the day, the farmers would bring their mules and donkeys to drink by the fountain, the women would sit by the door knitting and chatting.
You still could hear children playing and laughing.

Twenty years ago, you could still feel the pulse of Monsaraz.

Now Monsaraz is an open museum, meaning that besides a couple of souvenir shops and some restaurants, there is very little life to be found there on a day-to-day basis. In the evening, the shop owners go live their lives somewhere else.

I have the consolation of so much beauty...

All photographs shot with a Rolleiflex 3.5F, with Carl Zeiss Planar f/3.5 75mm.
Kodak TX, developed in Agfa Rodinal, dil. 1+50.

And that is how we started the "session", refreshing ourselves with a cool glass of beer, gazing at the marvelous sight of the valley below...

If you got some curiosity about Monsaraz, you can take a look at some more (color) photographs by Helena, posted on her Digitalis Kitsch Blog, under "Kitsch Promenades".
You find the link on the right.

Hope that you enjoy, and have a good weekend.

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Works Of Art (5)

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Margarida Neto, "Coreografia", 2002 (8x10")

Mário Cesariny, "Penélope Corre ao Encontro de Ulisses", 1974-85 (8x10")

Mário Cesariny, Relógio, Lima de Freitas..., (9x12)

Paul Gauguin, "Nature Morte aux Pommes", (6x6)

Roberto Chichorro, 1994 (4x5")

Roberto Chichorro, 1996 (13x18)

Rogério Chora, "Embarcações no Rio Sado", 1994 (9x12)

Roland Topor, 1989 (6x7)

I would like to share with you once again a small selection of paintings that I had the chance of photographing through the years, on different occasions and using different cameras: Gandolfi 8x10 (sometimes with 5x7" reducing back), Sinar F2, Hasselblad 500 C/M and, for the last image, Mamiya RZ67.
Lighting as usual by Hensel Flash, Würzburg, Germany.

In this kind of post, I don't find it very polite on my part to say that I prefer this or that artist; I am sure that you agree...

Anyway, I think that nobody will dare to criticize me, if I admit that I found a very deep emotion photographing the painting by Paul Gauguin.
Somebody was not only lucky enough to own such a valuable work of art, but also made good use of it: that person had it hanging in the bedroom wall, right in front of the bed.

Imagine laying in your mattress with such a view...

(Please, don't bother to ask where, because I forgot it long ago!).

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Leitz 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M + Visoflex III - Photo Gear (7)

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In search of a weird-looking camera and lens combination?

Leica M2 + 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M with Optical Viewing Unit

Leica M2 + 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M lens head with Visoflex III

During several decades now, Leitz / Leica have introduced a wide selection of 135mm lenses for their rangefinder cameras, with various formulations and names: Hektor, Elmar, Elmarit, Tele Elmar and, at last, Apo - Telyt.
Some designs have four elements, as the Hektor and the Elmar versions, the later releases support a five elements construction.

The lens in question here was introduced in 1963, and it's design is identical with the early type of the similar lens for the Leicaflex (so I read, never owned a Leicaflex).
It was built by Leitz Canada and had a special view and rangefinder attachment that improves focusing and framing accuracy.
Image size is thereby increased by a factor of 1.4.
Besides, the use of these "goggles" or "spectacles", allows the use of this lens with the Leica M2 camera model: the finder magnifies the 90mm frame to correct field of view for the 135mm (the Leica M2 finder does not show the markings for this focal length).
The lens mount is non rotating and has a socket for tripod use.
Minimal focusing distance is 1,5m or 5".
Minimum aperture is f 32.
The diaphragm has full and half stops, and the lens hood is built in and collapses over the lens front.

When I decided to buy the 135mm lens for the Leica, it was hard for me to choose between this model and the 135mm f/4 Tele Elmar, which is smaller and lighter (meaning not so clumsy), making it much easier to backpack.
The Tele Elmar also has the convenient filter size of E 39, which is shared by some other Leitz lenses I own.

Rightly or wrongly, I opted for the 2.8 version, as I very much enjoyed photographing concerts at the time.
I also never really liked the "small view" you get when you look through the 135mm markings on the Leica finder (The M3 finder is better suited in this respect, but it also benefits from the use of this goggled lens, as the finder magnification also gets even bigger with this camera).

As I explained before, it was also an advantage for me to have the possibility to use the lens on the Leica M2, without needing to acquire an external brightline finder.

The Visoflex III reflex housing converts rangefinder M Leicas into SLR cameras.

The Visoflex reflex housing overcomes some of the limitations and shortcomings inherent to the rangefinder camera design. It extends the M Leica's versatility into the photomacrographic range, and allows the employment of long telephoto lenses. The groundglass screen permits parallax-free composition, and the choice of two different magnifiers increases freedom in telephotography and close-up work, including copy work. Furthermore, you can use the Focusing Bellows II or several extension rings with the Visoflex III.

The Visoflex III has a quick-mount bayonet similar to the cameras, and you can use it with any Leica M camera (on the Leica M5, simply unscrew the bottom part of the release button).

You will notice on the picture above, a round knob with three colored dots: red, yellow and black.
It is the setting knob for mirror movement, and you can choose the position that better suits your photographic task.
Yellow dot: the mirror moves rapidly and immediately before shutter release (although not exactly a quick-return mirror...).
Black dot: the mirror is swung out slowly with the lever movement, so avoiding camera shake with high-magnification equipment or long focus lenses.
Red dot: the mirror remains locked in the upper position.
(Please notice just near the release lever, the very convenient existence of a thread for cable release).

Although by far not so confortable as a modern SLR, it really widens the scope and practical application possibilities of the Leica M camera.
It is a pity that we don't find it no longer in the Leica Catalogue. If you want one, you have to look for it in the secondhand market.

On this image, you can observe the very different position of the Visoflex eyepiece vs. camera eyepiece.

The release lever acts directly on the release button of the Leica.

The 135mm Elmarit with extended lenshood ready for picturetaking.

The Visoflex III shown without the right-way-round 4x observation magnifier
(exchangeable with straight 5x magnifier: side-reversed image).

The lens head separated from the goggled mount, and the helical focusing mount 16462 for use with the Visoflex.

Lester Bowie (1941-1999) performing with the Art Ensemble of Chicago
(pictured with the 135mm Elmarit in Mannheim, Germany, 1980).

Escalhão, Portugal, December 31, 1983
(Leica M4-2+135mm f 2.8, Kodak Tri-X, dev. in D-76, dil. 1+1).

Me with Leicas in Escalhão, Portugal, December 31, 1983
(Leica M2, Kodak Tri-X, dev. in Kodak D-76, dil. 1+1).

The Leica that you see hanging on my left shoulder is the same M4-2 and Elmarit 135mm that I used to photograph the young "musician" above, on the very same day and on the very same village in North Portugal, not far away from river Douro, the region famous for it's wine, most notably Port Wine, one of the trademarks of our country.

I can't remember who shot my portrait (maybe my ex-wife?), but that person used the very same Leica M2 depicted on this post, probably equiped with a Summicron 50mm.

The other camera hanging around my neck looks like the Leica M3 with the 90mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit with rubber lenshood (I don't have the original negative with me here, and the poor resolution of the image is not enough to clearly see, it could also be a Leica M4...).
It is not hard to conjecture that the big Lowepro also transported some other interesting pieces of Photo Gear...

I still own, and try to regularly put into service, all the above equipment.

Only the Minolta Autometer didn't survive the passing of time... I lost it.
(The Lowepro - most likely the original Magnum model, I got rid of the labels - nowadays serves to carry a relatively small flash unit, like the Hensel Monoflash 800, or the lighter, newer version with 500 Ws, the Contra 500).

We spent some pleasant days in Escalhão, in the company of good old friends.
It was rather cold outside, and it was a joy to sit in the evening by the fireplace in the kitchen, tasting some food and wine, just jiving unconcernedly.

A quarter of a century has faded away...

The Leicas remain...

(P.S.: without wish of offending, the first photograph on this post makes me think of a portrait of Jean-Paul Sartre...).

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