Therapy

We had a difficult couple of days. I needed a distraction. I took the Variable Cuboid with the 60mm front out on a bike ride in the morning sunlight.

Have I mentioned recently that my camera has a square format? The shape of this white box against the dark bricks is what first stopped me. I've been considering doing a series on the little free libraries that people put in their front yards and was surprised to find this was a little free pantry. The box on the shelf on the left side is Excedrin. That struck me as very thoughtful to include. This old firehouse is the local office of the United Way.

I actually had a destination in mind and was riding a block east of Main Street. There are several empty lots where loading docks behind businesses on Main had been. I rode up to the back of one building and then thought better of the scene I had been considering. From there, across Main Street, behind Becker Music, I saw this white cube in the sun with the stairway spreading shadows next to it. I spent some time moving the tripod around parked cars to get the best view. While putting the tripod back on the bike rack, I noticed someone looking out the door. As I was about to get on the bike, he came out looking a little worried. "Can I help you?" Trying to make a joke, I said: "I'm just collecting photons reflecting off your building." That really confused him. I gave him my card and tried to explain about the blog, but I don't think that made him feel any better.

I don't like to concentrate on the more dilapidated aspects of Oshkosh, but my camera has a square format and I coudn't help myself. The front of this building just across Main Street was featured in color and monochrome in two blog posts a couple years ago. I've written about the east side of the 600 block of Main Street before. The west side of the street is kind of modern and bustling, but except for the bars and a Burger King on the corners, the east side looks like it's been abandoned for years with vacant lots alternating with vacant buildings.

Further to the right, the remnant of the original building was dappled with the shadow of a tree. I'm not sure I captured that, but the bricks make an interesting texture.

The place I was going was just across the Burger King drive-through and another empty lot. This notch in the corner of the white building had caught my attention before when riding past in the afternoon and on cloudy days. It would be nicely modeled in the morning sunlight. I had to work fast because the sunshine was getting a little hazy through thin clouds and I had to get about four feet out into the street to get far enough away.

Across the street is the back of a sports bar with an outdoor beach volleyball court. In reference to the notion that 60mm is a little long to be good for pinhole, please zoom in to see how that netting is rendered,

Crossing the street going back to my bicycle I noticed this roof overhanging an empty slab, which isn't accessible to vehicles. There must have been some kind of structure back here and they had to keep the roof on to control rain water.  I love the pragmatism exhibited by the backs of buildings, like the section of PVC pipe just stuck over the downspout to extend it to the end of the concrete.

The light was still pretty directional through the thin clouds. It nicely defined the randomly assembled shapes of the Victory Baptist Church on the opposite corner.

I recently participated in a discussion of good places for a meet-up photo shoot. I wonder how they would have reacted if I suggested the intersection of Jefferson Street and Parkway?

By now it was pretty overcast. I was going back to the vine covered building which I had photographed in the sun in my last post to try it with the softer light. The garage I had been up against to take that picture was now open with several workers having a conversation in front of it. Continuing farther down the street, there was another free little pantry, this time in front of the Boy's and Girl's Club.

Also in my last post was a photograph of an old eccentric apartment block which I had never gotten around to photographing until it was being stripped of any reusable elements before being razed. Just in time. This is about exactly the same scene. The Howard, in the grandly restored Eagles Club next door, bought the dilapidated property and plan to put a park-like addition to their venue. The dump truck was bringing in top soil.

During the pandemic when I needed one or two prints for a camera template, I could go to the public library. You could print wirelessly from the parking lot and the staff brought it out to a cart in front of the entrance. As I was setting up the tripod, a patron about my age approached and noted there was a cardboard box on the tripod. He was flabbergasted that roll film still existed. He took a picture of my camera to show his son who had a digital camera. I told him he could describe it as like a Hasselblad. I love that they used the V letter form to represent the sound of the U on this 30 year old wall, to match the way it was done on the original 120 year old entrance on the other side.

This is disappointing. After I saw the two free little pantries, I went to photograph the Free Fridge Pantry downtown. With short exposures, I place a piece of black card in front of the camera, open the shutter, then wave the card away and back to expose the film. I had forgotten the black card and was using my phone. I must have opened the shutter, mistrusted my pointing and tried to adjust it while not completely keeping the phone over the pinhole. Looks like my mistrust was warranted. I intended it to be a little higher.

The 60mm front for The Variable Cuboid has a hand drilled .30mm pinhole on an adjustable rising front. The film is Ilford FP4+ semi-stand developed in Rodinal 1:100.