F/ort

Winter No. 1
Saskatchewan 2013

I thought winter would never leave but now it’s gone and I wonder where it went.

2headsgallery:

by Vera Saltzman
for Self-Portrait Contest: The Finalists!

3 Trees and a Track
Saskatchewan 2013

Over the last 10 years what have you done? Where have you travelled? Who have you met? Isn’t it inconceivable to think that during those same 10 years some lunatic held three young women prisoner in his house in Cleveland, Ohio. Today my wish is for each woman to find strength to continue on life’s journey, growing stronger with every passing day.

Yellow Pole in the Snow
Saskatchewan 2013

It’s been a long, lonely winter in Saskatchewan followed by the coldest spring since 1899. Seriously, 1899. I’m giving a shout out to 3 of my Ottawa school friends who have motivated me over the months and encourage me to keep posting to this blog. Each posts on tumblr themselves so check out their amazing work - Dante Penman, Angela Walker and Caroline Tallmadge.

This week 2HeadS Gallery announced one of my self portraits has been chosen as a semi-finalist in its Self Portrait contest. 2HeadS is a blog about photography with essays, tips and thoughts oriented to emerging photographers, founded and curated by art photographer Gonzalo Bénard. For those of you familiar with La Petite Mort Gallery in Ottawa, note Guy represents Gonzalo in Canada. Check out all the semi-finalists here. This week he will be releasing the images here for folks to leave thoughts on their top 3, then later in May the winners will be announced. I will post when I see my portrait appear.

And so another week begins :-)

Roses
Waste Not, Want Not

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I was born pretty
What happened to you?

I can’t get this silly/hurtful version of a childhood poem out of my head. I wonder if it scarred me somehow as I’ve never really been that keen on roses.

Flower Power 2013

“The cry of ‘Flower Power’ echoes through the land. We shall not wilt. Let a thousand flowers bloom.” Abbie Hoffman

Many of us watched this week as events of the Boston Marathon unfolded. Scarier still is to think what happens every day around the world. It’s just this time it happened a bit closer to home which always seems to have a greater impact on me. According to wikipedia, Allen Ginsberg coined the phrase “Flower Power” in 1965 as a “means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles.” Forty eight years later and here we are today, still exchanging bullets and bombs instead of flowers. Is it too late for a little “flower power?” I hope it’s never too late to share flowers of peace.

On a lighter note, the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) is holding their year end exhibition this week. If you want to see truly wonderful lumen prints, stop by to check out work by my friend Dante Penman who has created an entire body of work using the process. You’ll find a sneak peek on his blog. Dante is doing an artist talk at the school today so if you are lucky enough to be in Ottawa check it out. I hear the entire show is amazing.

Vera

P.S. For those who do lumen prints or are interested, I did scan the print and pumped up the colors in photoshop.

The hills around Fort Qu’appelle actually have less snow than this right now, but we it’s not gone by any stretch of the imagination. The lake in front of our house is frozen solid. Geese arriving likely want to pack their bags to return south and I’m thinking of asking them to take me with them.

The Disappearance
Waste Not, Want Not

Fishing Shack No. 1 
Saskatchewan

One person’s shack is another person’s palace! I’d seen a number of these old trailers around but didn’t realize they were used for fishing huts until one by one they appeared on the frozen lakes. If you’ve ever sat over a fishing hole with the wind blowing down the lake, you’d think they were a palace too.

Happy Easter!

Calling Lakes Inn
LeBret, Saskatchewan

I don’t know about you, but I’ve just about had it with winter. Is it the Canadian way to be obsessed with the weather?

One person sees junk, another sees treasures, I see memories. The old washing machine sitting outside reminiscent of the one my mother used, the blue mountain pottery she collected, and decorative ash trays that littered homes before we knew better. In every corner a memory waits to be dusted off. Fingers crossed, the success of TV shows “Canadian Pickers” and “American Pickers” will trickle down to the sedulous store owner. Check it out when you visit LeBret, Saskatchewan.

By the way, windchill is -25C today. Will winter ever end?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! V.

My prayers to the “film gods” went unanswered. I shot and developed a roll of black and white, but I’m not happy with a single frame. Funny, if I had shot 12 crappy digital images, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but I beat myself up something fierce for “wasting” a roll of film.

After some deep breathing exercises, I stepped back to see where I went wrong - development issues, composition issues, focus issues, subject choice issues, you name it issues. In the end, I’m reminded that shooting, with either film or digital, is all about making deliberate decisions. So Vera - slow down, think more, push the button less.

I want to share something photographic though since I promised myself I’d try to make a weekly blog post. I’m doing some digital commercial work. Thank you to Diane for letting me share the headshot I took for her.

The show I’m in at Exposure Gallery in Ottawa opened this week. Award winning photographer Tony Foushe, who is also in the show, shared some photos of it on his blog today (Thanks Tony!) Check them out here. My image is the woman with the clock between one by Caroline Tallmadge from her Amish series and Angelina McCormick’s beautiful flower.

Vera
P.S. I’ll still pray to the “film gods”

How many times have you written a message tagged at the end with a little smiley face? Though the “happy face” is entrenched in popular culture, I never questioned how long it has been around or who designed it until I spent time with this image.

According to wikipedia the symbol first appeared in 1948 but unfortunately who created it is unknown. Reminds me of the importance of crediting work when re-blogging on social networking vehicles like tumblr. ☺☺

This week I thank Exposure Gallery in Ottawa for putting a smile on my face. One of my pieces will be part of a group exhibition opening there on March 7th. If you’re in the area, stop by and if you’re hungry, Thyme & Again is excellent! Thank you also to the curation team: John Hewitt Hallum, Olivia Johnston, Caroline Tallmadge and Michael Tardioli.

“Don’t drink the coffee from the in-room percolators,” she advised. “You know, drunken guys pee in them.” Seriously! How to ruin a perfectly good cup of coffee. Whenever I stay in a hotel, I’m reminded of her words. I’ve never really believed them, but if it’s true, do I really want to know?

Aren’t there more romantic images to awaken? For instance, many Saskatchewan towns I’ve visited have these old hotels. I’d rather Imagine who laid their head to rest there when travel meant long journeys across the prairies by train than if someone pee’d in the percolator.

On another note, something happened this week I never imagined would. A while back I did the happy dance around the kitchen when Aline Smithson asked if she could feature my “Sue and Winnie” series on LENSCRATCH. It’s considered “one of the 10 Photography-Related blogs we should be reading by Source Review, Wired.com, Rangefinder and InStyle Magazine.” I admit I was a little afraid she’d forget but this week…voila. The work also appeared on Esquire Russia and Oitzarisme a Romanian blog. Big thank you to them all. I think the little flurry of activity is over now.

Ciao, Vera

P.S. Please don’t pee in the coffee percolators.

Saskatchewan Road No. 1

Though it is said “less is more” I can assure you this is not the case when driving in Saskatchewan. More definitely would have been better.

hmmm…for Valentines Day Aline Smithson who founded the LENSCRATCH blog ran an interesting series of self-portraits. Anyone could submit and she posted everyone! Check them out here . You can find me in part 2. In the face of so much photography rejection, thanks to Aline for providing this opportunity.

Cheers, V.