Film: Turned Path, Mandala.

Gelatin-silver photograph on Agfa Classic MCC 111 VC FB, image area 18.4cm diameter, from an Ilford SFX negative exposed in a Seagull 4A-103A twin lens reflex camera with a red filter and a Marexar Ultrawider auxiliary lens.

It is late in the day. The path divides and there is a high way and a low way. I know both alternatives. They traverse the same distance and lead exactly to the same place. If one could not refrain it would be easy to lapse into an elegiac metaphor.

Maris Rusis said:

It is late in the day. The path divides and there is a high way and a low way. I know both alternatives. They traverse the same distance and lead exactly to the same place. If one could not refrain it would be easy to lapse into an elegiac metaphor.

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Maris,

What a surprise! This is a picture that would get a lot of return attention.

BTW, I love Twin lens reflexes and my favorite was the Mamiya C330. Such fine interchangeable optics. Nothing is brighter! I have used a Yashicamat but this Seagull I have only read about. I'm so impressed. How on earth you got to that add on lens I don't know! This is the first time I have seen mention of it.

I'm so impressed with the results. Who'd have guessed what you used! What's so special is the circular image which suggest a global reference point. Your picture deals with paths and therefore journeys. But you have added a complexity not usually seen on pictures with paths. You have a built in dilemma of "choice"! So this picture uses the master metaphor of human language, "life as a journey" together with the the choice of two diverging routes. This with the surprisingly generous sandy foreground and the pattern of traffic, provides not only added texture and sense of relevance but also a good balance in composition. The long shadows confirm the time of day. As is, the picture is effective. Would it be better with a person or even a single bird or dog?

Asher

Maris,

What a surprise! This is a picture that would get a lot of return attention.

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There are very few round pictures in Open Photography so showing one is possibly a rather glib way of getting attention. If the photograph is to have appeal beyond gimmick value the round shape had better carry some symbolic weight. That was my excuse.

BTW, I love Twin lens reflexes and my favorite was the Mamiya C330. Such fine interchangeable optics. Nothing is brighter! I have used a Yashicamat but this Seagull I have only read about. I'm so impressed. How on earth you got to that add on lens I don't know! This is the first time I have seen mention of it.

Click to expand...

The Seagull is the second-most reviled twin lens reflex after the Lubitel; a reputation in line with its reliability. Seagulls are made in Shanghai by people in a hurry that don't check their work. Mine operates fine now after another rebuild. I bought the camera ($140 brand new) as an alternative to large format when the big camera is impractical. If I go white water rafting I take the Seagull! The add-on lens I bought in 1972 because I couldn't spring the dollars for the 18mm f11 Fish-eye Takumar that I really wanted. A Marexar Ultrawider can be adapted to virtually any lens and offers a 140 degree view from one blurry edge to another. I use a round mask with these photographs to acknowledge the fish-eye effect and to trim the truly vile edge.

I'm so impressed with the results. Who'd have guessed what you used! What's so special is the circular image which suggest a global reference point. Your picture deals with paths and therefore journeys. But you have added a complexity not usually seen on pictures with paths. You have a built in dilemma of "choice"! So this picture uses the master metaphor of human language, "life as a journey" together with the the choice of two diverging routes. This with the surprisingly generous sandy foreground and the pattern of traffic, provides not only added texture and sense of relevance but also a good balance in composition. The long shadows confirm the time of day. As is, the picture is effective. Would it be better with a person or even a single bird or dog?

Click to expand...

Both well-walked paths are 1.1 kilometres long and lead to the same car-park. In metaphor-land it is "life as a journey" with millions having gone before me and with millions still to follow. In spite of the crowd it is an excursion in time and space that, at its very core, everyone completes alone.

Asher[/QUOTE]

Maris, I saw this photo a few days ago. I have come back to it a few times.

I am not an artist. Neither an intellectual. I like the photo.

I don't know why. But does that matter?

Kindest regards.