In the 1970s and 1980s I made many backpacking trips into the Black Tusk area of Garibaldi Park, British Columbia. In fact, this was the site of my first backpacking adventure in the mountains of BC - a life changing event. So the place holds fond memories for me. This is the view from Panorama Ridge, looking toward Black Tusk. A black, basalt core plug is all that remains of the ancient volcano. A non-technical climb will take you to the top...
Scanned from the original Kodachrome 64 slide, October 1979.
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Tags: landscape volcanic core plug eroded basalt lake subalpine alpine meadows wilderness mountains wild nature Black Tusk Garibaldi Provincial Park BC British Columbia Canada Kodachrome
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This is something that we seldom see in 2020. Almost never, in fact. Gwen had just received a letter from a friend; she tore open the envelope and read parts of it to me aloud. A letter used to be an actual thing, exciting to receive, especially from a loved one or someone who wrote well. Now we have email, and what we gain in immediacy is balanced by the loss of character, individuality. Efficient, yes. Meaningful? I'm not so sure.
Her bell bottoms and beads - and the letter - place this image firmly in the hippie era. The negative, never printed, lay forgotten in my back files for almost 50 years.
Photographed in Waterloo, Ontario (Canada); scanned from the original Kodak Tri-X negative (ISO 400). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©1971 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: candid portrait vertical slice o' life black and white B & W monochrome woman hippie letter mail reading bell bottoms beads sandals jeans it was the style cool film scan Kodak Tri-X ISO 400 Waterloo Ontario Canada copyrighted 1971 James R. Page
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Another image that had been lost and forgotten, buried in the file, never printed, unnoticed. Not pretty, this scene. And yet... its age lends it a sort of charm, perhaps. The boy's gesture and attention on something outside the frame calls up questions as to what was going on. I don't know what part of town this is, although the construction cranes in the background suggest rapid change that was beginning to sweep through the city. I was living in the West End at the time, but I did get around.
Photographed in Vancouver, BC (Canada) and scanned from the original Kodak Tri-X Pan negative (ISO 400). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©1974 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: street scene boy child candid store front house old house street curb sidewalk film scan Kodak Tri-X ISO 400 B & W black and white monochrome 1974 Vancouver BC British Columbia Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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A brief foray now into my film archive. I've been posting some recent colour conversions from digital RAW files, and a few shots that are very close to black and white in colour, but here's a true b&w photo, from more than 40 years ago. I was developing my own negatives in those days, hence the heavy grain (I would freely experiment with different films and developers). All I remember was walking along the sidewalk one April day and seeing this image whole: the graffiti and the building behind it, the meaning obvious, a bleak prediction. My job as photographer is to observe and record. One shutter click, then move on. Nitty gritty city. Sadly, the message has been prophetic for a lot of people.
Photographed in Victoria, BC (Canada); scanned from the original Tri-X negative, ISO 400. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 1977 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: urban graffiti bleak prediction apartments building housing stacked sardined city life sidewalk view cityscape city black and white b&w grain grainy Pentax Spotmatic 24 mm lens film 35mm negative Tri-X ISO 400 scan 1977 Victoria British Columbia BC Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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Joan Didion suggested that "we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not..."
This is a selfie - no stick - from 1976. I used a tripod and self-timer. Now, it was a different era and there may or not be a certain level of cool on display here, but even if I didn't know him well, I would say this guy has his mask firmly in place and it's gonna take some effort to get past those defences. The only chink in his armour that I can make out is the crumpled Kleenex in his shirt pocket. I remember a woman friend seeing this projected and saying, "Oh, that is just so... you!" If I were in the next campsite, would I say hello to him?
But... some context. He is 27 years old and trying to change his life. He's living in Vancouver, then a medium-size city, and he's hoping for a job in a pulp mill in Gold River, on the central west coast of Vancouver Island, a wild and remote place. He's camping here in between trips to the mill to talk to the personnel guys. His girlfriend was murdered by a psycho with a knife a year and a half ago, and he hasn't really recovered from that yet He's not looking for trouble, but is ready to fight the world. The next decade will be decisive in moulding his fully adult character.
For some reason, they will hire him at the mill.
He'll last two years there, then take the next year to set up his first home darkroom and learn how to make prints, while spending most of his free time backpacking wilderness areas (Pacific Crest Trail, Canadian Rockies), and during this period he will also publish his first photos. So try to cut him a little slack; he'll turn out okay in the long run.
Photographed in Gold River, BC (Canada); scanned from the original Kodachrome 25 slide. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©1976 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: self self-portrait pano panorama gloomy camp campground campsite creative job search young young man crisis years some kinda cool LOL forest dark temperate rain forest Gold River Vancouver Island BC British Columbia Canada film scan Kodak Kodachrome 25 ISO 25 copyrighted James R. Page 1976
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