Viewpoints

At Port With Charles Todd

About twelve years ago we took a trip in June to Bar Harbor and the northeast coast of Maine. June is the foggiest month of the year and we were visiting a state that pretty much wrote the book on the stuff. On the morning of our flight home from Bangor I took a series of pictures of the Margaret Todd.

My wife waited back at the motel with our three year old while I put the Hasselblad through its paces. She’s always had more patience than me.

“Todd” is a name that strikes a chord because long before I was born it was the name that three of my uncles adopted. Seventy five years ago, they were running from something that no longer matters to Italian Americans. When I was a kid growing up in Florida, none of that concerned me. My uncles were strangers with no children who lived in other places. The only one we’d hear about was the one who’d send us a Christmas card.

Every year it was signed “Charlie”.

Charles Todd, my uncle, came with an interesting story. I grew up aware that he was a portrait painter and that he’d studied at the Art Students League in Manhattan. Years later I realized that he had been there at the same time as Jackson Pollock.  Many other artists were present including Thomas Hart Benton who was on the faculty.  Whether my uncle studied with Benton is unknown and his training at the Art Student’s League remains a mystery. Once, during the 1980’s, I ran into a woman at an art show who had modeled for my uncle at the Art Student’s League. Her memories of my him were laced with emotion.

Sadly, my uncle’s artistic aspirations were derailed by the Great Depression. For a short time, he was employed by the WPA to paint murals in Post Offices and other public buildings. But my uncle wasn’t destined to be a career artist. He spent the rest of his life delivering mail in New York City (the irony of which he must’ve appreciated). Over the years, he picked up his brushes on weekends, or when he received occasional commissions for portraits.

My uncle’s mystique grew as I arrived in my middle school years. Sometime around 1968 he won a city-wide art contest held by the Postal Service for its many employees. He made the cover of The Daily News. I own a copy of that newspaper along with the two paintings which were featured on the cover. It’s all down in my basement in storage.

In the mid ’60’s when we spent two summers on Long Island, I discovered that my uncle didn’t have much interest in bygones. We’d sometimes meet him at Sheepshead Bay where he kept a boat. The man I got to know was a droll, quiet guy who who sported a pencil-thin mustache. There was a likable sense of weariness about him, a quality which I found in no other relative. He had a wife (whom I never met), and she was not the woman he loved. One day he showed up with Eleanor, a sexy woman in her late fifites who knew how to lose her past. Later, it became fairly obvious that the woman in shorts leaning against the dock had been modeling for him for years.

She was also my aunt’s best friend.

After that, his affairs were discussed in hushed tones by my parents. I now know that there were many complexities in his relationship with his wife, but because of my youth I formed a mental picture of a lonely and beautiful woman which I carry with me to this day.

My uncle loved the sea. Despite the advancing years, he bore a striking resemblance to the wiry guy in the black and white Navy photograph which we kept in the box with the pictures. One afternoon when I was about ten or eleven he invited us out on his boat. My brother, father and I drove to the marina in Brooklyn. Eleanor was there, and everyone was a little tense. We climbed onboard, assembling awkwardly in the cabin. My uncle slowly guided us out of the harbor and then leaned into the throttle taking us swiftly to the middle of the bay. He idled the engine; it was breezy, a little choppy–and no one had much to say. With a cigarette between two fingers, Eleanor opened a cooler and handed us cans of soda. My uncle, who had no patience for small talk, placed me at the wheel. We took off. In amazement, I steered the boat for several miles. I felt like I’d been granted an unexpected right of passage.

I only saw my uncle a few times after that. Once during my late teens he visited us on a frigid autumn weekend. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and because of my advancing interest in art I was really looking forward to a chat. In retrospect, it was a memorable day. My uncle and I had a one-one-one: a short but satisfying conversation under a pallid florescent light. We were in the basement in the room that my father filled up with second hand furniture. It was the only time I ever heard my uncle talk about the old masters.

The last time I saw him was in a musty hospital somewhere in New York City. He was dying, but I can’t remember why and was too overwhelmed to inquire about it at the time. He was in pain and waved us off because he wanted no visitors. I’ll never forget that day.

It was another thirty years before I’d photograph the Margaret Todd. I have a hard time imagining my uncle with any interest in color photography. He would’ve been polite enough to critique my images because I was his nephew. He was a well-trained colorist during a time when other things mattered to artists. In another sense, I can easily envision him admiring the Margaret Todd because for him, she would’ve evoked the sea. What I’ll never know is whether the graceful lines and soft colors of my photograph would have had any further meaning.

Red Shack in Marsh

red shack in marsh

I took this picture on my honeymoon in October 1988. The location is Metompkin Island Virginia, a remote place with isolated fishing shacks. In order to get there, we needed a canoe.

Over the years, it’s been a popular photograph, having gone through a series of incarnations. The original was shot on 120 negative film with a Fuji 645 W.

Initially, I sold a few C Prints straight from that negative, but soon became unhappy with the low contrast. A friend who owned a lab suggested we copy the original onto an 8 x 10 negative. We did this with the expectation that the copy would increase contrast. It worked. I preferred the amped-up version, although the earlier one had its merits too. Between 1990 and 2001 I made a number of C prints from that copy, which required an 8 x 10 enlarger in order to make the prints.

With the advent of digital imaging, this was one of the first film photographs that I archived. At that time, all my scans were drum scans.

With my hybrid-digital file, I began a new edition of prints. The first few were “digital C’s”, but I soon preferred the look of Epson fine art papers and that’s where the picture has remained ever since.

These days, the image is printed onto a roll of Epson UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper with the Epson Pro 3880. The photograph is approximately 11″ x 30″, matted in a 22″ x 40″ white rag mat. All my work is framed in white wood. The edition of 100 prints is about two-thirds complete.

First Snow

first snow

Thanks to all who visited the show at Ashawagh Hall over the weekend. We had a large turnout for the reception, everyone’s work looked great. I’ll be busy with print orders for the next few weeks–thanks again, everyone!

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Below: a photograph of the bluffs at Barcelona Neck this morning, from the beach at Mile Hill Road.

Panasonic G3 – 20mm

Finback

finback

A 60′ Finback Whale washed up yesterday in Amagansett. The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation said it was an adult female. No clear cause of death had been determined, but a ship strike hasn’t yet been ruled out.  Finbacks are common, although it’s quite extraordinary to see one washed up. Coincidentally, an infant Pygmy Sperm Whale beached two miles west of the Finback yesterday–a very unusual species in these waters.  The infant was weak, and apparently separated from his mother. Unfortunately, it had to be put down by officials.

Sad day on the beach–a quiet crowd gathering in the fog to see the whales.

Panasonic G3- 14mm – wide converter.

finback

Dreamscape

dreamscape

The picture was taken a few years ago on a swampy riverbank in North Carolina. The branches are from Baldcypress. Among the pictures I’ve taken with a normal lens, this one’s a personal favorite.

Hasselblad 503 CX – 80mm Planar – drum scan from color negative

Art in the New Year at Ashawagh Hall

Killcare

Killcare is a home I’ve photographed many times. This one was from two years ago, and I’ll printing it for my upcoming show at Ashawagh Hall in East Hampton.

The show will take place on Martin Luther King weekend (Jan 19-21), and the hours on Saturday and Sunday are from 10 to 8 and on Monday from 10 to 4.  There will be a reception on Saturday January 19th from 5pm until 8pm. I’ll be showing many of my new black and whites along with other landscapes and recent work.

Our show announcement:

MLKArtintheNewYearGrey

In addition to myself, the show features the work of painters Cynthia Loewen, Lynn Martell, Alyce Peifer, Jerry Schwabe and Pam Vossen. Mary Milne will also be showing her wonderful fusion glass.

Everyone has new work for the show and all have displayed extensively in the area, including at Guild Hall, the Crazy Monkey Gallery, Chrysallis and elsewhere.

Cynthia Loewen is a realist painter (and stipple artist) from East Hampton and the founder of the very publicized Community Arts Project in Springs. She will be showing many recent oils and also some drawings and portraits.

Lynn Martell is a gifted watercolorist and oil painter who studied at the Art Students League in Manhattan and who has displayed extensively in East Hampton and in Greenport. She will have many new pieces at the show.

Alyce Peifer has displayed in juried shows throughout Long Island and in NYC. She will be showing a number of new landscapes and seascapes which reflect the many lovely aspects of our local light.

Jerry Schwabe works in various media including sculpture, oils, acrylics and watercolors. He studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts and also at the Art Students League. His award-winning work has been displayed at many solo shows in East Hampton.

Pam Vossen studied at the Art League of Long Island, and has shown at BJ Spoke, Chrysallis and Guild Hall. Recently she has been producing beautiful oil landscapes, along with still lifes and pastel portraits. She’ll have lots of new work at the show.

Mary works in spectacular multilayered fusion glass and studied at Pratt, Urban Glass and also at The New York School For Interior Design. Her work is decorative and sculptural and demonstrates her sensitive handling of colors.

Ashawagh Hall is located at 780 Springs-Fireplace Road in the historic area of Springs. From the hall, it’s just a short walk to Accabonac Harbor, The Springs General Store and the Pollock-Krasner House.  Email me if you have any further questions about the show or if you need assistance with directions.

Note: The upcoming January show was rescheduled to its current date after hurricane Sandy.   Comments from my original October post are logged below.

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By the way, the original post for Killcare (with details about that water ripple) can be read here:

https://johntodaro.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/wainscott-photographs-the-house-on-the-beach/