ojorojo.es

Expo "Amerikana"

Public funding, private foundations and other often political power structures determine to a large extent the cultural output of a given country. A small handful of players have a lock on the hegemony of photographic culture in Spain. This produces a lot of inbreeding and narrows the general level of perception and appreciation of photographic art. Instead of being seduced by photography many would-be aficionados feel alienated by it.
This also leaves a lot of very good photographers out of the picture. Others try in vain to mimic what they perceive as the "in" style. All in all, a very sad state of affairs.

Just developed a roll of Rollei RETRO 400S in Moersch Finol. Even through the film was exposed at the nominal ISO rating of 400, the visual appearance of the negative is stunning. I can imagine that exposing this film at 320 ISO will sharpen the detail. The stain is brownish but not very pronounced.

Amerikana (inside view)

Amerikana is now published and can be purchased online here. This is a nice-sized book at 24x30 cm., and features 48 photos in B&W and 1 in color, with various two-page spreads.  The duotone printing with selective lacquering gives a photo-quality finish.

The limited first edition print run consists of 500 signed & numbered copies, although only 300 of these will be made available to the general public.  

Shown on the left-hand page is the photo entitled Columbus Farmers' Market (2009) in which the sparkling smile of Nat King Cole on the cover of his "Unforgettable" 8-track tape stands out against the background of junk strewn all over the ground.  This seems to be a telling metaphor for today's technology-obsessed society in which everything quickly becomes obsolete.