Mostly Black & White

Bienvenu

chammann — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:19:45 +0000

In preparation for the portfolio reviews in Arles, I’m posting the artist’s statement and our contact info. We are Carl and Christoph Hammann, a son-and-father-team forming CCH-Photography.
1 Curriculum vitae
I was born in 1964, raised in northern Germany and photography has always been important to me. Conscious looking on the one hand and the intricacies of human perception on the other have always fascinated me, and so I became an ophthalmologist. Meanwhile, I kept on taking photographs.
Now I’m living and working in Waltershausen, Thuringia. I’m married and have three children. The oldest, Carl, is now 15 and has been photographing with me for over 6 years now.
2 Photographic works
The first series I’m showing this year is called “Pattern Recognition”. Even though they are deceptively simple, the images of plant tendrils, twigs and grasses invite closer inspection. The principle utilised in them to garner attention is one of the defining capabilities of the human brain: Pattern Recognition, hence the title. The second series is due to my recent fascination with curious combinations of colors. It was inspired by a study of the work of Eggleston and Shore. Carl has participated in both projects by comment and critique, but isn’t showing a series of his own because he has started a year of using a single camera, a single lens and a single sort of black and white film for all photography he does. The media for the series are Palladium-Platinum-Prints for “Pattern Recognition” and inkjet for the other series.
3 Perspective
While continuing to work on current projects and taking up new projects, we’d like to get our work in front of more people. We seek gallery representation and book contracts.
4 Contact info
You can reach us under this address:
Carl + Christoph Hammann
CCH-Photography
Schnepfenthaler Str. 28
99880 Waltershausen
Germany
Or by

Phone: +49-3622-200333

Mobile phone: 0171-5443313

E-Mail:christoph@cch-photography.com

Suppose I’m Right

chammann — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:27:09 +0000

The single discerning characteristic of a fine art photograph is the context of it’s presentation.
If that is true, I’d better get my portfolio in order.

The Case Of The Disappearing Camera

chammann — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:23:43 +0000

Nikon F6 product shot courtesy of Nikon USA

Dirk Rösler from Japanexposures got me thinking about cameras with two recent articles on his site. I don’t think I’m feeling the charm of a camera quite like he does, but I must say he hit the nail on the head in his second article. Getting used to a new camera always disrupts real photo work and leads to a period of fiddling with the gear.
So, what do I appreciate in a camera? What follows is a bit of experience mixed with philosophy, so if you don’t like that, don’t
Road cyclist sometimes rave about a racing bike so good, so finely tuned that it seems to disappear beneath the rider on the road. I had this experience with a Pinarello steel road frame in my active cycling days and let me tell you, it is a weird and beautiful feeling! Endorphins from the excercise play a role here, to be sure.
Likewise, I prefer a camera to get out of my way when I use it. The Nikon F6 is a good example, I don’t have to pay it much attention when I photograph. I already wrote about it’s sensible and exact automation. Add to that a 100 % viewfinder with not too many distractions and you got a camera that disappears when you use it. The only thing interrupting “The Flow” is the blackout of the mirror. A rangefinder would be better in this regard, but worse when actively composing with the edges of the frame. Parallax is always an impediment.
So, for me, a camera that gets out of my way, that disappears is preferable to the latest computer with a lens attached to the front.

Kind Of Podcasting

chammann — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:58:26 +0000

Some adminstrativa here, and an opportunity for me to make you aware of a new feature of this site. I’ve discovered Audioboo a while ago and have been uploading a few podcasty audio segments. Here are the two most recent ones:
One about a bad (?) habit of mine:
Listen!
And one about my new lightweight approach to high resolution photography:
Listen!
The newest Audioboos will always be linked to in the sidebar of this blog.

On Strike

chammann — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:54:03 +0000

Grasses Overhanging A Rock, Thuringian Forest

What does a doctor do when he is on strike? And not even on call? He switches off his cellphone and goes on a long hike. At least that’s what I did yesterday. My hike took me up to the Rennsteig in the Thuringian Forest and down the other side to Kleinschmalkalden. Along that 15 km way, I gathered impressions with the Leica IIIf and the Heliar. Felt good to be a.) unreachable and b.) unencumbered by heavy photo equipment.
Results were good, too. I started off with Kodak TMY-2 and the picture above is from that roll. Then I changed to SPUR DSX 32 film. It has been positively reviewed by Erwin Puts and one roll I put through the F6 has surprised me with it’s big latitude and incredible detail:

Shades Of Grey

More to follow about this film when I’ve had time to test it properly.

Now That Is Sharp

chammann — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:27:41 +0000

Voigtländer Heliar 3.5 50 mm at f/9, whole image

As opposed to this:

1950-ties Leitz Elmar 3.5 5cm in a contre jour situation

Everybody knows that nothing lasts forever, not even the enthusiasm about a new (old) camera.

Especially if the lens on it, a Leitz Elmar 3.5 5cm from the fifties, flares like mad on anything lighter than, say, zone VIII in a picture. Some Leica Glow! Upon closer inspection, the front lens had a myriad of “cleaning marks”, i.e. finest scratches.
There is another lens, though, built just like it, with the same specifications, that Cosina Voigtländer misnamed the Heliar f/3.5 50 mm. That one is sharp:

Cosina Voigtländer Heliar at f/9, center

And at the edges:

Cosina Voigtländer Heliar at f/9, center

And at f/3.5. By the way, that’s Kodak TMY-2 for the test shots, developed in X-TOL 1+1.
By the second way, that’s Hiroshi Sugimoto’s fabulous exposition catalog from Hatje-Cantz on my bookstand in the following photo:

Cosina Voigtländer Heliar at f/3.5, center

All’s well again.

After All, I’m German …

chammann — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:07:18 +0000

Nine Park Benches

I was feeling a little Becher-ish today, and this is the result.

Man Jewellery

chammann — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:02:06 +0000

Leica IIIf RD ST In Grey Griptac

Last weekend, I found a 1950-ties Leica IIIf Red Dial Self Timer in a store in Münster for a good price. Functions seemed ok, the collapsible f/3.5 5 cm Elmar is coated and hasn’t a single scratch. And if it’s a russian imitation, it’s good one …
Still, all was not well.
The leatherette was brittle and flaked away under the lensmount. That place was a sore spot on an otherwise shiny new thing! So I ordered a new covering from Cameraleather.com, in a daring mood, I chose grey Griptac material. It arrived this evening and wasn’t so hair-raising to apply as I had feared. The result is a rad piece of man jewellery, it even doubles as a grey card in photos shot with another camera, as this comparison with my Kodak grey cap shows:

Grey Cap And Grey Leica IIIf

The Path To Pt/Pd-Prints Is (Yellow-) Green

chammann — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:45:06 +0000

A Digital Negative For Pt/Pd Printing

In preparation for Arles, I’m printing a project in platinum-palladium. This morning, on a whim, I tried printing out a digital negative according to recommendations from members of the alternative photographic processes mailing list. The yellow-green color is intentional, these inkjet pigments are said to absorb the most UV.

A Palladium Print From That Digital Negative

What can I say, it works!. A couple of prints from this negative, printed onto run-of-the-mill overhead-transparency, are hanging on the line to dry. I enjoy the ease of dodging, burning and sharpening that this step in the production of a Pd/Pt print gives me.

Going To Arles

chammann — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:06:24 +0000

A Young Stag

These days, holiday plans have been made and it’s become clear: my son and I will be going to the 40-èmes Rencontres d’Arles in July. We’ve been there last year and were totally stoked by the athmosphere, the city, the exhibitions and the portfolio reviews. Below is one Pt/Pd print I’ll be showing at this year’s reviews:

From Pattern Recognition