Some Friends (and the Dude)

Mythologizing Oren
Speaking of mythologizing Sanskrit, it turns out I have indeed been guilty of mythologizing Oren-san the master of Photographica, Inscrutable Wise One of LF and Historical Camera Lore. It turns out he does not have nine advanced degrees; he only has nine degrees total, and fully four of them are undergraduate degrees, and all of those are from MIT, and how hard could that be? Secondly, it turns out he did not teach himself Japanese so he could read Japanese camera magazines, as I have been known to claim; rather, he learned Japanese to read said magazines by auditing Japanese language courses at Harvard, although he did audit the first-, second-, and third-year courses concurrently. Next, it does not take him twenty minutes to describe exactly what it is he does for a living. This weekend he did it in under ten (basically, he's a high-level science and technology policy expert for the government, if that radical simplification does not do too much damage to the subtlety of the facts). The Oren-mobile is not a '46 Studebaker; it is an unrestored '64 Plymouth Belvedere. Finally, he does not own 400 cameras, and I have been in error when I have stated that one entire room of the Oren Grad Residential Large-Format Museum and View Camera Graveyard is inaccessible because it is occupied by his collection of mammoth 19th-century stand cameras; actually his suburban Connecticut house, ordinary-looking on the outside, only contains some 150 cameras, including 64 view cameras, and two studios and one darkroom, not three and two as I might have let slip in the past.

My apologies for my obdurate and incorrigible* exaggerating. Guilty.

[UPDATE: For the record, in case it's not obvious, none of the above is true. I'm just pulling my friend Oren's leg. More background: Oren is the guy who, seven years ago, sent me an email saying that he'd been reading a number of blogs every day and that he thought I should start one. I replied, "What in the world is a 'blog'?" And here we are. —Mike]

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Pam Risdon and some Dude

Pam and friend
Secondly, it might not be obvious to casual readers, but some items on Ye Blog are intended for some subset of the audience, and not the whole parish; so, for the three dozen or fewer readers for whom this will have meaning, I cannot resist posting the above picture of my very good old friend (can I say "old"?) and fellow former Corc Photo-Dawg (Corcoran School Photo '85) Pam Risdon, shown with some Dude. She doesn't look pleased at all to be hobnobbing with famous actors, does she? (I told her she should Photoshop in the bowling alley from The Big Lebowski in the background.)

Pam (we knew her as Pam West in those days) and her husband Cable are both successful commercial, event, and fine-art photographers in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area, proving, as I try to do every everlovin' day, that there is life in the art after art school.

Mike

*and ongoing

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by JK: "I've ridden in the Oren-mobile and it's at least as cool as the Dude's wheels!"

Mike replies: I really do think we need to get him a Plymouth Belvedere, anyway.

'67 Plymouth Belvedere laying rubber. Photographer unknown.

Comments

[hugh crawford]

That is no Ordinary Dude, but is the worlds foremost Widelux Swinging Lens Camera Dude!

[Mark Sampson]

While you're mentioning the Dude, why not mention his remarkable panoramic photographs? The Widelux is a difficult machine to master, and he's done it.

[Mike Johnston]

"While you're mentioning the Dude, why not mention his remarkable panoramic photographs? The Widelux is a difficult machine to master, and he's done it."

Mark,
Because we already did:

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2011/02/random-snap-jeff-bridges.html

Mike

[ctein]

Dear Mike,

Your credibility is irrevocably damaged. I'll never be able to believe another thing you write.

disappointedly yours,

Ctein

[Will Whitaker]

Before he had advanced degrees was he simply known as Oren Under-Grad?

[Stan Semuskie]

Mike,

Congratulations on your milestones on your blog. I recall first started following you when I was interviewing for a job in Chicago in early 2006, it was my dream job, as VP of Customer support at a ATE company (Automatic Test Equipment). I eventually got the my "dream job" but it turned out to be a nightmare for one reason, it was run by a tyrant......

I finally left in 2009 after an buy out of a much larger company, I moved on and left Chicago for my farm in Pennsylvania. I am now semi-retired doing the things I love the most, I teach skiing in the winter and making some money at photography the rest of the year (just enough to support my habit).

My reason for writing is that I am in a rural vacuum but I find your blog my constant companion. I read you daily and I feel it keeps me connected to what is going on in the real world of photography.

Love what your doing, keep it up and I hope to be reading you for the next 20-30 years.

Best of luck,

Stan Semuskie

[jr clne]

The dude abides

[Jason in Hawaii]

My only question is, did the red carpet really tie the room together?

[Mike Johnston]

Ctein,
All kidding aside, and as I know you know, Oren really does have superb analytical ability, and is a deeply knowledgeable and insightful photo guy.

Mike

[Don Bryant]

Does Mr. Grad have a website of his work? Or maybe a Blog or Flickr site?

[erlik]

Man, I would have sworn the dude was this dude.

[ctein]

Dear Mike,

Indeed, indeed! It wouldn't even surprise me if he knows Sanskrit.

pax / Ctein

[Jeremy]

"Because we already did:"

And because I didn't remember, I went to look; the banner image is broken, although the image itself opens fine in a new tab.

[richard laughlin]

oh "incorrigible" brings up a favorite "fractured" example:

"she is such an encouragable flirt."

I know. One is correct, the other is true.

[Gregg]

re: "Your credibility is irrevocably damaged. I'll never be able to believe another thing you write."

Ctein... You're being very un-dude.

[Jim McDermott]

That chap needs a shave. He's beginning to look like a damned American.

[Dave Karp]

So Grad is just short for Graduations?