Grace Church is a modest wood frame building at 6260 Grace Road, just east of Mississippi Hwy. 1 in Issaquena County. Grace is not really a town but rather a farming community a few miles northwest of Rolling Fork. Do any of you readers know the age of the church?
There are silos, sheds with farm equipment, and a few homes along Grace Road. I am sure I have missed some places to photograph, so I'll return in autumn. Also, nearby Rolling Fork is worth some more exploring.
For previous articles on the Delta, type "Mississippi Delta" in the search box on the right.
These photographs are from my Fuji GW690II 6×9 medium format camera with a 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens. The film was my favorite Kodak Panatomic-X, long discontinued but still in good condition.
This blog documents what remains when we abandon our buildings, homes, schools, and factories. These decaying structures represent our impact on the world: where we lived, worked, and built. The blog also shows examples of where decay was averted or reversed with hard work and imagination.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
Vicksburg with Color Film 2017 (test of a Hasselblad)
Clay Street, Vicksburg (also known as the ugliest street in America), 150mm Sonnar lens. |
Hasselblad 501CM, A12 film back, and Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 CB lens (all 1999 production). |
Kansas City Southern railroad line from the Confederate Avenue bridge, Vicksburg Military Park, 150mm lens. |
501 Fairground Street, 150mm lens. |
503 Fairground Street. |
The five matching houses on Fairground street are typical 1920s cottages. They are wider than shotgun houses but similarly intended as inexpensive housing for urban working families. I have photographed them before many times.
Fairground Street bridge, 150mm lens (flare is from a light leak in the film back). |
KCS railroad cut from Washington Street, 150mm lens. |
Gent with his bicycle, 150mm lens. |
I often like to photograph the Kansas City Southern railroad line where it passes under Washington Street and runs through a deep valley between Belmont and Pine Streets. The gent on the bicycle was coming down the sidewalk and we chatted. He graciously let me take his portrait.
Tri-State Tire, 2209 Washington Street, Vicksburg. |
This building with its Spanish motif was once an ice cream shop but has been a tire store since the 1970s.
Stairs on the east side of the unused Mercy Hospital, Grove Street, 80mm Planar lens. |
2314 Grove Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi, 80mm lens. (Update Dec. 2019: the house is empty but still standing) |
Thank you, Bob, for letting me use your camera and lenses. But now that I have sampled a Hasselblad, I want to buy one (Hmmm, an element of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) at play here.....).
Friday, June 2, 2017
From the Archives: Washington-Hoover Airport, Arlington, Virginia 1941 or 1942
Eastern Airlines DC-2. |
When I first looked at these negatives, I thought they depicted National Airport. But a friend (a gent in his 80s) from Alexandria, Virginia, was highly certain that this was not National. The Wikipedia web page describes the closure of the older airport: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington-Hoover_Airport. That would date my dad's pictures to late-1941, which is possible because I read in one of his 1941 diary entries that he was thinking of buying a 35mm format camera. He bought an American-made Perfex camera, made by the Candid Camera Corporation of Chicago. I assume this roll of film was one of his early tests. The Cameraquest web page describes the Perfex cameras if you are interested.
The film was in terrible condition. Whoever developed it used the brush method, which was described in older photography magazines. No wonder it fell out of favor. My Silverfast Ai scanning software has anti-scratch software, but it could only do so much with these. Still, I am surprised how much detail is visible. The film edge said Kodak Safety Film Plus-X ("Safety" meaning not nitrate-based film, which was unstable and highly flammable).
Unfortunately, there were only 5 frames on this roll with air field photographs. The other frames were rather mundane tourist scenes in Washington (statue of heroic soldier on horse, etc.). This serves as a lesson that as the years pass, scenes or topics that seem ordinary often take on historical importance, or at least interest. But standard tourist sites are rather unchanging unless you include cultural artifacts, such as parked cars or signs.
The old Washington-Hoover airport was soundly criticized by pilots and almost everyone as being dangerous and hopelessly inadequate as the airport for the nation's capital. The runways were short, a nearby dump that was on fire made plumes of thick smoke, nearby radio antennas were a hazard, and Military Road had to be blocked by guards when planes landed or took off. At one time, there was a swimming pool, which children reached by crossing the runway.
Framed photograph in the Mayflower Hotel, photographer and date unknown. |
Construction of the new National Airport was mired in the standard political and budgetary malarky (nothing has changed in 75 years). There was even controversy about the boundary between Virginia and the District of Columbia. Read the sordid history in the link above. The new National Airport opened just before our entry into World War II. This was fortuitous timing because the world war resulted in a tremendous increase in air traffic into Washington and Virginia.
From the History of Reagan National Airport:
When it opened, National Airport was considered the “last word” in airports – a concentration of the ultramodern developments in design of buildings, handling of planes, air traffic and field traffic control, field lighting, facilities for public comfort and convenience, and surface vehicle traffic control.Well, not quite. Across the ocean, in Berlin, the spectacular Templehof Airport was under construction and almost complete in 1941. Please see my 2016 article on Templehof.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Cities Services Gas Station in Meridian, Mississippi
Former Cities Services station, 3700 5th Street, Meridian, Mississippi |
In North Carolina, I had driven part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, some of it in heavy rain and dense fog. But I did not patronize any Citgo stations this trip. Usually, I fill with ethanol-free gasoline, which tends to be found in local chains or independent stations in towns.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
The Law House in film, Foote, Lake Washington, Mississippi
Overgrown drive welcomes paranormal investigators but no residents. |
This was a handsome house originally, with symmetry and an imposing entry colonnade. |
The original millwork came in kit form from Sears, Roebuck & Company. |
Lake Washington from Foote. |
Update: a very interesting web page describes the Sears Roebuck manufactured houses from the 1908-1940 era. The variety was amazing. Another web page, http://www.kithouse.org, describes research into kit houses around the USA.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Kodak Panatomic-X: the Best Black and White Film*
Introduction
This is the first of an irregular series of posts on discontinued film types ("Films from the Dead").
120-size box from 1961, courtesy of Pacific Rim Camera |
1951 box for 828 size Panatomic-X, courtesy of Pacific Rim Camera |
1937 box for 3¼×4¼" pack film, courtesy of Pacific Rim Camera |
Eastman Kodak Company introduced Panatomic in 1933 and discontinued it in 1987. The earliest version of Panatomic (not X) was on nitrate base, but the X version was on safety base, probably around 1937. Kodak packaged it in roll film sizes 117, 616, 620, 120, 127, 135 (standard metal cassettes), and 828 as well as in several film pack sizes.
It was designed to be an extremely fine grain film, which meant it could be enlarged for large prints and still retain details. This was of value to architectural, fine-art, and aerial photographers. Some 5- inch and 9-inch aerial photography film was a version of Panatomic-X known as AERECON II).
Kodak reformulated the film during its five-decade existence, and my late production was different than the original. My 1980s version in 120 size was rated at ISO 32, but I shoot it at 20 or 25 and develop it in Agfa Rodinal at 1:50 dilution. Agfa's Rodinal is a developer that retains the grain structure and therefore looks "sharp" (i.e., it does not have solvent action to partly dissolve the edges of the grain clumps). Used with good lenses and careful technique (that means a tripod), the detail in a Panatomic-X negative is astonishing, even in this age of 36-megapixel digital cameras.
This is a photograph that my dad took somewhere in Burma on the Irrawaddy River. He used early Panatomic-X with his Leica IIIC rangefinder camera (still in operation).
These are 1982 examples from a farm in Clifton, Virginia. I had just bought a Rolleiflex 3.5E twin-lens reflex camera and was experimenting with different films. I wanted fine grain for architecture, and Panatomic-X was still in production. After experimenting, I settled on shooting it at EI (exposure index) 25 and developing it in Rodinal 1:50. I also experimented with Agfapan 25 but could never get the contrast right (but that was my error - Agfapan was a fine film).
From the Archives
1980s and 1990s Examples
This is my present Rolleiflex 3.5E camera. It is similar to the one I used in the 1980s, which I should have never sold. The earlier one had a selenium light meter in the slot below the word "Rolleiflex." But my new one has better resolution; everything in its production chain worked out just right. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the factory tested every Rolleiflex camera with film before releasing the unit for sale. If there were any issues, the camera went back for adjustment or installation of new lenses. Rollei precisely matched the taking and viewing lenses in focal length.
Panatomic-X film was excellent for detailed photography in old buildings, but you needed a tripod to support the camera for long exposures. In this example, I found an old chair in the hall and placed the camera on it. The Rolleiflex is suited for this work because it does not have a moving mirror and is therefore vibration-free.
I occasionally used Panatomic-X in 35mm cameras. This is an example from Kalavrita, a town in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. I should have used the 135 size film more often. (Update: Click the link for my 2021 article on 135-size Panatomic-X.)
2000s Examples
Shotgun houses in Grayson Court, Jackson, Mississippi, 2004 |
Grayson Court in Jackson was an old-fashioned alley with shotgun houses facing the common road. It has been torn down although the property owner did some renovating in the early 2000s. I took this photograph with my Fuji GW690II camera (the "Texas Leica") and its Fuji 90mm f/3.5 lens. The 6×9 negative (real size 54×82mm) scans to a 100 mbyte 16-bit TIFF file. More Fuji examples are below.
Junius Ward YMCA on Clay Street, Vicksburg, 2004. The Old Courthouse Museum is in the distance. |
Shotgun houses on Bowmar Avenue, Vicksburg, 2005. Both have been torn down. |
The New21 Club on Hwy 61, Valley Park, Mississippi, 2016 |
Blue Front Cafe, Bentonia, Mississippi, 2010 |
Administration building (1936) at former Bonner Campbell Institute, Edwards, Mississippi (click to see 2400 pixel frame) |
Unused Teen Center, 407 West Green Street, Tallulah, Louisiana, December 2016. Fuji GW690II camera. |
Unused church in Hermanville, Mississippi, January 2017. Rolleiflex 3.5E camera. |
Little Bayou Pierre, Port Gibson, Mississippi, February 2017. Rolleiflex 3.5E with 75mm Xenotar lens. |
Port Gibson is the town that General Ulysses Grant did not burn during the U.S. Civil War because he admired the architecture so much.
Crushing mill, Rte 3, Redwood, Mississippi, 2017. Rolleiflex 3.5E with 75mm Xenotar lens. |
This is some sort of early 20th century crushing mill, long abandoned in the woods just off Hwy. 3 in Redwood. This is a 1 sec exposure at f/11. I resized this frame to 2400 pixels, so click the picture to see more detail.
Kodak likely discontinued Panatomic-X for several reasons:
cheap acceptable price and many emulsions are still available - just go do it.
A reader in Photrio found this 1934 announcement from the British Journal Photographic Almanac. Thank you for the detective work.
2020s Examples
Private cemetery within Vicksburg National military Park. Rolleiflex 3.5E, yellow-green filter |
Closing Notes
Kodak likely discontinued Panatomic-X for several reasons:
- Even by the 1980s, most photographers wanted faster film so that they would not need to use a tripod in low light.
- Newer T-grain or tabular films like Kodak T-Max or Ilford Delta 100 offered almost as fine grain but with faster speed. (Note: many old-time photographers preferred the genuine Panatomic-X.)
- A friend from Rochester, who has worked with Kodak, said there was a toxic chemical used in the Panatomic-X production (possibly cadmium). I have read the same pertaining to Agfapan 25, so maybe slow fine grain films required some chemical technology that manufacturers cannot use today.
Update March 2019
Update November 2019
Here are examples of industrial machinery at the abandoned Redstone Quarry in North Conway, New Hampshire. I used my Rolleiflex 3.5F with 5-element 75mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens, all tripod-mounted. Click any picture to see more detail.
Update October 2020
I bought some 35mm Panatomic-X from a seller on eBay. It expired in 1991 and proved to be fine, if possibly more grainy than when new.
Machine shop, Levee Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi (Pentax Spotmatic camera, 28mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lens) |
Please click this link for more examples of this 1991-vintage 35mm Panatomic-X inVicksburg and Louisiana.
Update July 2022
Good news! I bought ten more rolls of 120 Panatomic-X from the same gent who sold me rolls in the 1990s.
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