yesterday was wednesday.
it was cold and snowy.
the snow came down light and steady for hours
and then it stopped.
the sun came out and warmed the road,
it gave me a chance to shovel and see my breath.
later after the kids got home they did their homework.
it wasn’t snowing, it was cold and grey.
i rolled some more paper, this time ilford and taped it tight on itself
and then i trimmed a 5×7 sheet and stuck it in the back of the 3A.
i saw the nosecone lenscap
i saw the snow, sometimes deep
and the flurries started again.
big flakes falling in slow motion as they always do.
i propped the camera on my leg and flopped the mirror
i pulled the lever to make sure it was up, as i always do and removed the cap
i counted: 1 sip of coffee, two sips of coffee three sips of coffee
i might have gotten to 4 or 5, i don’t remember.
the sun was down now and the snow glowed in the late afternoon light.
a few hours went by .. more like 5.
it was now 10pm
and i turned on the stove and put the wok ontop of it,
i reached in to the paper bag and pulled out 2 -3 handfuls of green beans
and swirled them around
at about 4 minutes they began to crack and sizzle
i moved them faster and removed them from the heat
i shook them and with “wrist action” i mixed them up and chaff continued to fall off the beans
they changed from pale green to light brown and they smoked
i opened a window but it didn’t do much …
the fan was on but it didn’t do much.
the beans were darker brown now
some darker than others
( old beans seem to roast at different speeds because of varying moisture contents )
and i poured them out into the mixing bowl.
i did this again and again 3 more times until i had enough.
after the beans were put into empty jelly jars i went into the dark.
i brought the 3A with me and turned on the red light.
i uncovered the 2 quart container with my spent developer and put the paper from the camera in the drink
i pulled it in and out of the developer to agitate it and the timer was on for 4 minutes.
at 2 minutes the image appeared i kept on with the tongs
and at 4 minutes i put the print into a water bath.
i filled and dumped the water a few times before it went into the fix tank and ‘agitated” the print for 5 minutes.
i washed it
i squeegeed it
blow-dried it
( and when it was not tacky )
i numericalized it …
i’ll be putting this in a print frame soon to contact print it
maybe in the sun
maybe under the flood
i haven’t gotten that far yet … i just don’t want to keep it all numbers
