Chair, Boots and Pitcher

These three photographs, although made at different times and using different equipment, just naturally go together. Each photograph depicts a modern day interpretation and reconstruction of life in Antebellum Louisiana. The absence of color helps to establish that period. The strong contrast between bright sunlight and deep shadow is very eye-catching. Each photograph has a main subject in sunlight as well as details in the shadows. Two photographs include a bed and shoes. Two photographs include a chair and a pitcher. Wooden floors and furnishings provide a textured backdrop in each photograph.

The pitcher, basin and shaving gear indicate prosperity when compared to worn-out boots beneath a rope-laced bed but austerity in comparison to a furnished cabin. In turn, the simplicity and sparseness of that one-room cabin is apparent to the modern viewer.

To capture a scene or express an idea requires understanding a wide range of equipment and processes. “Chair” was photographed with a Voigtlander Bessa L rangefinder camera fitted with a 15mm lens and using Kodak TCN-400 chromogenic film. “Pitcher” was photographed with a 1970 era Canon QL rangefinder camera and its built-in 40mm lens and using Kodak TCN-400 chromogenic film. “Boots” was photographed with a Canon EOS 7 single lens reflex camera fitted with a 85mm lens and using Kodak T-Max 100 monochrome film.