Sagebrush, Rocks 2001

Sagebrush, Rocks - Owens Valley  2001

I'm pretty sure that this was taken just off the road going to Bodie.

Bodie #4: Self Portrait

Self Portrait - Bodie  2013

No trip to Bodie would be complete without a cryptic self portrait. See, for example, this 2000 photo.

And for extra credit, check out Meagan Day's Intellectual Analysis of Bodie.

Sample sentence: "Bodie troubles a false dichotomy between normative space and ruin space, suggesting that the ruin, too, is vulnerable to regulation, sterilization, and corrective intervention."

That's just what I was going to say!

Bodie #3: Staircase, Post

Posts, Staircase - Bodie,  2013

Post - Bodie  1992

Top: 2013. Olympus digital camera.

Bottom: 1992. Mamiya twin-lens film camera.

Bodie #2: Wheelbarrow, Outhouse

Wheelbarrow, Buildings - Bodie  2013

Outhouse - Bodie  2013

Outhouse wasn't operational.

Bodie #1: Buildings

Buildings - Bodie  2013

Wandering around the arrested-decay buildings in Bodie, under a high overcast cloud cover. Nice light for photos.

Road to Bodie 2013

Road to Bodie - Mono County  2013

Nice enough, but I like the conditions for the 2001 photo better. Snow in the Sierra is of course more dramatic.

On the other hand, though . . . those are nice clouds. And, no film grain. How pleasant it would be if there was a Time Machine Mail Box that I could use to send my 2001 self my current Olympus digital camera.

Bodie Self-Portraits 2006

Self-Portraits (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

For today's numerologically significant date, Mike and Hali at Bodie.

Also, Veterans Day. And yes, as we know, Mike is a veteran.

Irises

Irises (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

The wild irises seen in the meadows were also blooming in Bodie. I don't know how common they are, maybe it's no big deal, but I was amazed to see these flowers in the high desert.

I noticed these irises in the shade just as the sun was approaching; I got off two shots, one horizontal and one vertical.

Bodie Exteriors 2006

Window (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

Stairs (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

Around the perimeter of Bodie there are piles of wood weathering in the sun and snow, getting that perfect patina that we photographers love.

Bodie Interior 2006

Bureau & Chair (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

Chair (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

I remember resting the camera on one of the chairs in the room in order to steady it.

Monday Cow Blogging: Road to Bodie 2006

Cows, Irises, Sawtooth Range - Mono County  2006

Mike and Hali drove from their campground at Leavitt Meadows following Highway 395 south through Bridgeport to the Bodie turnoff. On the way they passed vast iris-dotted meadows stretching to the mountains.

Bodie Chapel 2006

Chapel (Bodie) - Mono County  2006

Next up, some 2006 Bodie photos taken with the excellent Olympus C-8080, which produced great-looking jpgs.

Road to Bodie 2001

Bodie Road - Mono County  2001

The road to Bodie, with the dramatic background of the Sierra crest, runs east from highway 395, between Bridgeport in the north and Lee Vining in the south.

Bodie Self-Portrait 2000

Self-Portrait (Bodie) - Mono County  2000

Yes. A Minolta 7000i.

As we all know, Minolta was purchased by Sony in 2006.

Bodie 2000

Blue, Red, White (Bodie) - Mono County  2000

Metal Window (Bodie) - Mono County  2000

Based on the photographic evidence, Mike's next visit to Bodie happened in 2000. This time he arrived with a Minolta 7000i and some Kodacolor film.

Hmmm. November 3rd. Wasn't there something about that date?

Oh, yes.

. . . from the archives #66: Post,Bodie 1992

Post (Bodie) - Mono County, 1992

Bodie is an old gold-mining town in the eastern desert regions of California, crumbling and falling apart, kept in a state of "arrested decay" by the state.

This is the first photo I could find in my contact sheet binders taken in Bodie.

It was taken with a Mamiya twin-lens reflex camera which produced a square negative. As was typical back then, I limited my exposures in order to conserve my precious rolls of film. And most of the other shots were pretty tedious, alas: boring tripod-mounted photos.

That Painterly Look

Very interesting! I had a number of people, I say, a number of people, comment on the painterly quality of my prints. One woman even asked if I took photographs before painting my pictures!

I think there are a few things going on here. For one thing, I’m consciously aware of the photorealist style, so it could certainly be that my compositions echo that particular art movement. And then, the digital captures of my Olympus cameras add to the painterly look by being grain-free and capable of very subtle gradations (if you keep the ISO rating and the enlargements fairly low). Finally, the prints that I’ve been making on the HP 8750 are really nice. The inks give a nice, rich tonality. True, they’re dye-based (instead of pigment) so they will "only" last 100 years. And, of course, the ink is expensive, but that’s true of all inkjet printing ink.

This picture in particular, the hammered metal shingles of the Gold Rush era building serving as a backdrop for the pale blue irises, seemed to elicit the "painted image" respose. I used the Olympus C-8080 digital camera for the shot.

Photo: Irises—Bodie, 2006

Publications (#5): Cycles

No more sunsets? I think not.
Somewhere in some sylvan spot
The sun will rise, and flowers bloom,
And butterflies will flit and zoom.

A cycle and recycle thing,
One more Autumn, one more Spring.
Another’s orbit, not our own,
Our sun by then a lifeless stone.

Others have ideas, I know,
About what happens when we go.
A thousand virgins? Demons rare?
A fairyland beyond compare?

And others say beyond the tomb
Is nothing but an empty room.
But I—I think that I’ll just wait and see,
And hope for a recycled me.

Excerpt from Cycles by Richard Summers © Glen Drive Productions 2003.

Photo: Irises—Bodie, 2006.