CC Harrison Lens & Austria

We'll be leaving this week for Austria. I'm teaching a workshop in Kefermarkt. It usually takes me a few days to get ready for a workshop. I have to gather up a lot of equipment, do an inventory on chemistry, glass and aluminum, as well as get prepared personally. I'm hoping we can spend a day in Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp. We'll be about 30 minutes north of it. I want to stop in and make some photographs. I'm excited about the workshop, but I'm more excited about making some work for my project.

I bought a CC Harrison 300mm f/4 lens (1861, New York City, New York) a couple of weeks ago. It's American made and I wanted to own a piece of American Wet Plate Collodion history. I also wanted to test it out before the trip to Austria. Summer said she would sit for me and play her guitar while I made plates. So that's what we did.

1861 CC Harrison Lens - New York City, New York 
5"x7" Black Glass Ambrotype - 2 seconds, wide open. 
5"x7" Alumitype - 3 seconds, wide open. 
I really like the lens. I like both of these images, too. The second image, the tighter shot, is very cool because her hair is blowing around during the three second exposure. I call it, "Painted Hair". It's wild to see time pass in an image.

Summer Jacobson's Poetry

We are very proud of Summer. She's smart and beautiful. It always warms our hearts to see her perform (singing/guitar), or to listen to one of her poems. We like to hear her political and social thoughts, too. She's more in touch with the important things in life at 16 years-old than I was at 26 years-old.

She brought home the "Showcase" catalog yesterday. It features work from high school students all over Europe. This was just published in the last few weeks, but it was from work submitted last year (when she was a sophomore). They selected one of her poems for it. Can you guess who the poem is about?

We love you Summer! You make us very, very proud! And, yes, we rocked the vote this time!

Summer Jacobson's poem

Homecoming 2008

Summer had a very eventful and busy weekend. She and her friends, Natasha (Nads, left), and Jaqueline (Joc, right), went to Homecoming at Mannheim High School last night. Before they took off, I snapped this shot of them. Beautiful young ladies, aren't they?

The Homecoming Girls

I picked Summer up this morning from Nad's house. She said they had fun, "the best homecoming ever." I said, "What's homecoming?" She replied, "I don't know, it has something to do with football. They're crazy about football."

Summer Sings National Anthems

Summer was asked to sing at the Mannheim High School graduation ceremony Saturday (June 7, 2008).

She did a wonderful job! She sang both the German National Anthem (without the "Deutschland Uber Alles" part) and the American National Anthem.

Here's a video (not such a great video, it was shot from my still camera - but you get the point) - a big crowd and Summer was on the GIANT screen - great job Sweetie! We love you!!!

Barcelona, Spain (Catalonia)

There are so many wonderful things to say about Barcelona, Spain. There are also some bad things to talk about too. It's a poor city (for the most part) and relies on tourism as the main source of income. The irony here is that there are pickpockets and thieves out and about all of the time. They aren't violent, they only take what they can and tourists give them plenty of opportunities to do just that. It's kind of biting the hand that feeds when you have so much crime against tourists and they are the source of your income. Regardless, it's a safe city and you can walk the streets without any problems as long as you have some "urbana sensibildad". The people here are warm and friendly and the food and drink are some of the best in the world. We love tapas and all things seafood. We are sitting here in our apartment and I can see the ships on the Mediterranean Sea, c'mon!

The first thing I would say about Barcelona is that it's my favorite city in Europe. If I could, I would live here in a heartbeat. The city is full of energy and it's very "loose". That's both a good thing and a bad thing. I love the language (and can actually get by here). If I could spend six months here, I would be speaking Spanish again without too much trouble. This is our second trip here and will not be our last.

We're here because I was asked to come and teach two wet plate Collodion workshops.  I just finished with one (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). I will teach another this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In the interim, we have been walking the city, riding the subway and just taking it easy. Tomorrow, which is Wednesday, May 28, 2008, I am going to work with the studio that sponsored me here to make giant wet plate images (16"x20") of the "Botero Gato" en la Rambla - (a giant Botero Cat). I'm looking forward to that. We have to watch the crowds, again, a security issue, but it will be fine. The newspapers will be there to interview me and the studio - a historic event! I'm fortunate to be involved with it!

I'll try to make another post when we get back to Germany next week. Enjoy the photos and video!

Jeanne enjoying tapas y Sangria!
Did Summer assist in the workshop?

This is us on the Port of Barcelona. I'm not pissed, I'm not used to the sun (Germany) so I am squinting a little bit.  
Carrer del L' Hospital
Fruit and meat market just off of Las Ramblas.