Thursday, November 11, 2010

Black and White

I love black and white photography.  My senior year in high school I took a photography class and developed a lot of black and white photos in the closet my dad and I turned into a darkroom.  That, pretty much, was what got me into photography.

Here’s my (first?) submissions to Carmi’s Thematic Photographic theme for this week.  Hope you enjoy, and if you want to join in, there’s a link at the bottom of the post.  As always, you can click on the picture to see a bigger view of it.

Salt Lake City High School East was the name carved in the stone above the front door.  East High we called it.  I took this picture during my senior year and have a poster sized print of it above my couch in the living room.  It was a beautiful building, survived a fire that gutted it 4 years before I started there.  Rumors of how the fire started, marble staircases that were closed off and a swimming pool in the basement abounded.  Oh, and don’t forget the psycho custodian that buried bodies down in the crawl spaces under the basement classrooms.  The building no longer exists, but chances are some of you have seen the building that replaced it.  It’s where all of the “High School Musical” movies were filmed.Grafton, Utah, on the southern border of the state.   I mimicked this picture from the front cover of a book on Utah Ghost Towns.Utahans are notorious for forgetting how to drive in the snow.  At the beginning of every winter you see cars in snow banks because the simple concept of slowing down on wet roads is lost over the hot, dry summers. Yearbook signing on the last day of school my senior year.  In the background is my first Ford LTD, (1969 2 door hardtop).  Three of my friends sit on the steps of the 7-11 across the street from the school, signing yearbooks. Three Jeeps for 3 brothers.  My two brother’s Jeep Wagoneers were from the mid 1960’s. Mine was from 1985, but since the Wagoneer was virtually unchanged for 28 years, mine was not much different than theirs.

14 comments:

A Paperback Writer said...

I LOVE that East High photo.
You may recall that it was because of that photo we ended up being buddies. I walked past your classroom one day, caught sight of that above your chalkboard, and went in the room to say, "YOU'RE and Ecider too??!!"

Max Sartin said...

I remember that well :)

21 Wits said...

Oh I love your photos, and the trip through memory lane...great yearbook fun signing...always fun to still read. Love the jeeps too, we too have had several wagoneers in the family, great for hauling travel trailers! Nice collection Max!

Anonymous said...

Ok.. you said this was your first thematic? Well you did mighty fine. The pictures are so well shot. I love them all but I particularly favorite the one of your friends..

i like this post... a great deal..thanks!

Pedro said...

Thanks for the photos. The one of our jeeps brought back a lot of good memories. The ones of High School in the 70's also brought back some fond times. Sometimes I watch "that 70's show just for the lapse into nostalgia that it brings. I would love it if you could put more together. Thanks.

carmilevy said...

You're even more phenomenal a photographer in black and white! I need to read you more because you tell a story with pictures, weaving intricate little details in and out, like no one I know.

Love the Wagoneer shot: I like that the world is filled with folks who get Jeeps, folks who don't, and pretty much no one else. I grew up in Montreal, so Jeeps were almost embedded in our culture because of the snow.

Got any more b&w goodness lurking in your archives?

Max Sartin said...

Pedro - I watch That 70's Show for the same reason, they are my high school experience. I'll try to get some more pictures together.

Max Sartin said...

Carmi - Shucks 'n golly gee, y'all gonna make me blush! But thanks for the compliments. Especially meaningful coming from a pro.
I never thought about Jeep culture other than out here in the wild west, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Where there's snow, there's Jeep. Thanks for broadening my world view.

Gemma Wiseman said...

Thoroughly enjoyed the stories behind these photos! Interesting seeing school cultures outside our own country!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

A great collection of black & white photos. I loved reading the stories behind them too :)

Mustang Sally said...

great shots Max. Especially that first one and the one of your friends so takes me back. Amazing how a photo can do that, even when it's not of anyone you know or place you have seen. Totally agree about that 70's show. The nieces and nephew don't believe me when I tell them it really was like that, in the midwest anyway.

Max Sartin said...

Sally - Same out here in Utah, believe it or not. My high school experience parallels the show even to the extent of having our own FEZ, although our group had a different Foreign Exchange Student every year, and most of them were girls, but nonetheless. I'm glad the pictures elicited some good memories.

Chibi Janine said...

I like the car in the snow bank photo. I crashed my car in icy weather once I was driving to the conditions but the ice on the hill I was driving down was as smooth as glass, I braked to allow an oncoming car to come up the hill and my car just slide down the hill my options were slowly plow through all the children going to school or slowly plow into a stationary car at the side of the road. I chose the car which I did actually appreciate the irony at the time as it was a break down truck. No one was injured as it was the slowest crash ever.

You have a wonderful selection of photos here

Max Sartin said...

Janine - I had the same experience in college, except it was a 6 car pileup (slow speed) and I had two cars in the accident.
You can check out the whole story here.