(Fotomat Addendum) John Dersham

Photo by John Dersham

Kenneth Wajda sent me to John Alexander Dersham's Classic Fine Art Photography pages on Facebook. There, I found the photo I originally wanted to use for the Fotomat post. I had come across an obviously secondhand, cropped copy of it on the Web, and was pretty sure I shouldn't snitch it and use it without permission. However, Kenneth found the picture at its source, and I've gotten permission now from John, so here you go. It's a record shot, but documentary pictures gain in stature (that's my feeling, anyway) as the things they record become unrecoverable otherwise. As long as they're well done.

Note that two of the businesses seen in the background were also once common and are now less so—a travel agency and a bakery.

The Fotomat post comments are also late, but now (finally) they've now all been posted on the original post.

It's been one of those weeks. On the other hand, traffic was unusually strong for the posts this past week, so maybe I need to turn my attention to OG O/C* photography and yarns about ye olden days more frequently.

Mike

*Optical/Chemical, e.g. film creating a record of the lens image.

Book o' the Week

This is the book that sold 1,100 copies through our links, back when it first came out in 2007. It's essentially a catalogue raisonné of the work of the iconic American landscapist. I suppose it won't sell any more, since everyone already has a copy, but the link can be a portal to Amazon for your holiday shopping. Thank you kindly for helping to support The Online Photographer!

The following logo is also a link if you click on it:

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Sharon: "I don’t use Facebook, so I was glad Mr. Dersham made those photos available for anyone to see. That series was great. I found it interesting that I didn’t see any women working in those shops. Thanks for posting his work."

Hélcio J. Tagliolatto: "Re: 'so maybe I need to turn my attention to OG O/C* photography and yarns about ye olden days more frequently': Yeah! Absolutely yes!"

Stephen Scharf (partial comment): "Re 'so maybe I need to turn my attention to OG O/C* photography and yarns about ye olden days more frequently': If, as a long-time reader and occasional contributor to TOP, I may provide some 'VOC' (Voice of the Customer) to Ye Humble Editor...please don't. Personally, I'm not interesting in looking backwards."

Mike replies: Hard to please all the people all the time....

Comments

[Bob Blakley]

Hi Mike; top o' the season to you!

Your comment here that "record shots gain in stature as the things they record become unrecoverable otherwise brought to mind Paul C Smith's recent meditation."

Paul explains that time has improved his photography; by that he doesn't mean that he's taking better pictures now than he did in the past - instead he means that pictures he took years ago are better now than they were when he took them, in his eye & mind.

In the video, he narrates a selection of his old images and talks about how differently he now feels about them than he did when they were still new.

I found it quietly inspiring. It's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWaXuI3n80M

[Dave Stewart]

OG?

[Google is your friend. Enter any word followed by "def" to instantly get a definition. --Mike]

[Rod S.]

It's a record shot, but record shots gain in stature (that's my feeling, anyway) as the things they record become unrecoverable otherwise.

Mike, why did you use this term "record shot"? It's derogatory.

In one photograph, John Dersham tells us much about this quirky situation: the architectural exterior form, that it's a drive-through business situation, and that it sits out by itself within a large parking area. The photograph tells an interesting story, and that's why you remembered it.

The photograph struck me as really interesting. But you saw it only as a record shot.

Many people don't appreciate architectural form much, but others do.

Many wonderful photographs that intentionally document all kinds of worthy subjects, even people, could be maligned this way.

[A record. Documentary photography. I STRENUOUSLY disagree that there is anything derogatory in this term, and it certainly was not meant that way. --Mike]

[Bruce Alan Greene]

Last year at the Foto-lock...

Yes, not then then, but the now :)
And taken with my Texas Leica, aka Fuji GW690III. There was a lockdown, so no people to scare away here...
https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/124277554_10159714530531062_2310367639457804499_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=y6p_bepuCCkAX9kwei0&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&oh=2388c3114334aaee54db41d6a331f043&oe=61D7857C

I find the Texas Leica best used on a tripod and not for candid photography :)

[William Cook]

Perhaps it’s a record shot and rather mundane, but from a purely composition and perspective viewpoint, it’s actually quite pleasing I think.

[Allan Ostling]

Here in Phoenix nail salons are now as ubiquitous as Fotomats once were. As a documentary photographer I should probably enter one and record the scene with my OM Zuiko 21mm f/3.5 lens, but I lack the courage.

[Omer]

In the '70s when I transitioned from painting to photography, a Fotomat many miles away was the light at the end of the tunnel. Photography was a mystery so I travelled those miles with excitement and an uncautious eagerness to spend money.

Sometimes I shudder at how fatuous my approach to photography was when I started, but mostly I'm nostalgic of that naiveness.

As for the two Fotomat hut images, I prefer the first. The second by John Dersham is of course the better of the two. But the first is more in line with my memories of that time, both personally and photographically.

PS. I’ve uploaded two images from the Fotomat period to my Flickr page. The first two.

[Kenneth Wajda]

John's a good guy. Glad you got a hold of him, Mike. Check out this "hut" business that opened in my town called Drum Box--a guy took two walk-in ATMs and made a place you can rock out on drums. https://drumbox.space/

[Ernest Zarate]

Re: The Happy Birthday post… Maybe I am the only one, but I actually prefer the color photograph of the Fotomat in the OP.. The B&W one is terrific - don’t get me wrong. But the color one (no doubt shot on Fotomat film) captures the essence of the time and place better, IMHO.

[c.d.embrey]

Yes, I'd like yarns about ye olden days more frequently.

Anti-war protest at Westwood, CA Federal Building, 2003. Shot on Fuji Press 400, using a Canon Rebel Full-Frame-Film camera.

[Dennis Ng]

Bakery still around and strong. Travel agent (other than last 2 years) was ok. May be not in USA.

[Stephen Scharf]

"...so maybe I need to turn my attention to OG O/C* photography and yarns about ye olden days more frequently.

If, as a long-time reader and occasional contributor to TOP, I may provide some "VOC" (Voice of the Customer) to Ye Humble Editor....please don't.

Personally, I'm not interesting in "looking backwards".

Instead, how about featuring some current photographers who are doing some amazing work, e.g. Kevin Mullins, Wayne Johns, or Steve Richard (in Canada)?

Cheers.

[You're not representative of the customer--you're what would be called a "core reader," someone who is so engaged with the subject that he is qualified to be a contributor. One of the common mistakes in magazine publishing is to mistake the core readership for the entire readership. Especially, the outer band is seldom recognized or served--in this case, that would be someone who doesn't feel qualified to comment and only visits intermittently or occasionally. The trouble with that is that most new readers enter through the outer band. You can look at the hi-fi magazines you're familiar with and see what happens when a publication overindulges its core. In any case, if there is a significant appeal to a type of content, it's not worth neglecting that type of content just because a vocal (sorry) segment of the core readership positions themselves against it.

But your idea of finding new photographers is a good one too. --Mike]