De Pereage

Photo Opp organized another photowalk, this time in De Pere hosted by newARTSpace. Last fall, Sarah and I drove through De Pere with 1200 pounds of limestone in the back of a rented pickup truck but otherwise the only other times I was here was for the State Catholic School Track Meets in 1966 and 67 (I got third in the high jump both years).

I took two Variable Cuboid backs. One loaded with super-slow, super-fine-grained Rollei RPX25, starting out with the 45mm front, and the other with Kentmere 400, fit with the 60mm.

I arrived early and spotted the sun shining on the side of the Union Hotel and decided to try for that before everyone else arrived. As soon as it was set up a very lovely cloud covered the sun. I waited about five minutes, then gave up and went inside. It was my first photograph as we all set out. Even with the very slow RPX film, the exposure was only about five seconds and I serendipitously captured a woman dressed all in white taking her time coming out the door.

 

I changed the back with the RPX25 to the wider 35mm front to accomodate the very narrow sidewalks and continued for the next two frames.

There was a nice little courtyard behind the hotel with the building at the end of it illuminated by the afternoon sun. The camera was leaned right up against the wrought iron fence. The sun kept coming and going behind clouds so it was a minutes long exposure. While it was occuring, a gentleman came and opened the gate. He explained he doesn't normally leave it open but didn't think the photographers he saw crawling all over the place would trample the plants. He explained that it was the oldest operating hotel and restaurant in Wisconsin, founded in 1883. The building has been in it's present state since 1903.

I had been thinking I would have rather been halfway down the courtyard. I couldn't pass up the invitiation when it was presented to me so graciously.

Since we had already met, I stepped inside and asked if I could look into the bar and the sitting room. "Of course you may." I switched to the Kentmere 400 and the 60mm front while I sat on the couch for a two minute exposure. I thanked him when I left and he thanked me as well.

Walking back down Broadway, I was confronted with windows reflecting the sky and sunbeams going through them. Starry Realty seemed an appropriate place for a direct image of a star.

At their next door storefront, reflections and sunbeams without so much star in it.

My intention was to capture the beams reflected from the windows across the street on the front of an historic old bank building and the raking light on the side. The sun was shining on the pinhole and I was sure it was going to be wiped out by flare. I did get a little of that, what I originally wanted and Mark Ferrell's elbow, again photographing me with his 1968 Nikkormat.

On the way down to the river, a wall with fancy brickwork, vines, shadows and a giant elephant's ear.

Nuk's Thai Cuisine and Executive Suites by the river. I think the damage to the shingles at the left looks a lot worse in my photo than it really is. They're just slightly askew, but caught the low angled light just right.

An old riverside factory now used as office space.

Honoring the tradition of an accidental double exposure at Photo Opp events, the back wall of the garage of the Union Hotel sharing the silver with the Old Post Office, now the Library, while conversing with home-town boy Giles La Rock.

Between those two exposures there was plenty of light to use the slow film, but I switched to the narrower angle of view that was mounted on the camera with the fast film.

Back to trying to finish the RPX25 with the 35mm front. The other side of the hotel's garage, probably originally the carriage house, and the courtyard entrance.

Irresistable glass block windows at what I assume is a delivery entrance to the hotel.

That finished the slow film. 

I had seen some things that would require a much narrower angle of view. Time to try that Gilder aperture on the 200mm front that I installed for the eclipse. In the introductory remarks, the proprietors of newARTSpace joked that maybe they'd let us see their darkroom later. Faced with publicly working inside a changing bag, I asked to use it. It was very familiar when I was told to make sure I slid a piece of masonite in front of the bottom of the door in order to make it truly light-tight.

The Union Hotel from across the corner.

A backlit tree in front of another former bank on the opposite corner.

My only attempt at the Fox River. Earlier I had gone down two dead end paths trying to get to the platform over the dam that I had seen people on. Eventually found the right way but gave up and did this later from a parking lot overlooking the bridge.

I am really surprised that I like the images I got in the past with my hand-drilled .50mm pinhole better compared to this perfect Gilder aperture. I suppose this has it's own charming pinholiness, but I think I prefer the old pinhole better.

Some oafish camera maker went ahead and used a barely long enough Compact Series winder he knew was suspect and couldn't advance the film anymore when it failed.

At home, swapped it out for a proper Variable Cuboid winder from the other back and the 35mm front. The magnolia, in full blossom.

It's protogé next door, I believe a crabapple.

Looking for trees just getting fuzzy with buds of leaves, I found this one next to Miller's Bay, with the added attraction of the person with the straw hat sitting on a bucket next to the shore. Curious alignment of the tree and Monkey Island. I meant there to be a gap but was concentrating on the figure and forgot about it.

The name Oshkosh has been exploited by aviation conventions, military and utility trucks and dungarees and childrens clothes but the most egregious was the monument and supposed burial place of Chief Oshkosh with it's "noble savage" imagery and unapologetically racist plaque. About a year ago, the new additions to the monument tell the true story of someone with a dramatic life who successfully prevented some of the worst the settlers could do, and established business and governmental practices that make the Menomonees a successful nation today with what they were left with.

 

Just across the road, the other side of this rock marks the first European liturgical ritual that took place somewhere around here.

As predicted by my friend Jeff Behm's quote "If you're in Winnebago County, and you can see water, you're standing on an archeological site," when they started to reconstruct Pratt Trail through Menomonee Park, they found Native American artifacts. They have just recently restarted the archeological work. I stopped and asked if I could take their photograph. At first hesitant, they were very friendly after hearing Jeff was my friend (and Esteemed Mixologist). I finally had to remind them to get back to work so I could take my picture.

The 35mm front has a .25mm pinhole. The 45mm front has a .27mm pinhole. The 60mm front has a .30mm pinhole. All are hand drilled and mounted on a moveable front with 14mm of rise. The 200mm front has a .60mm Gilder electron microscope aperture. The Rollei RPX25 and the Kentmere 400 were semi-stand developed together in Rodinal 1:100.