Sunday, December 9, 2012

Printing Magdalena, Lucerne Valley, Los Angeles County, California, September 15, 2012

Now and then twelve exposures on a single roll of film are equally beautiful. This is the case with a roll of film exposed on September 15th of this year in collaboration with Magdalena. This was my fourth session with her, and over fifty rolls of film have been exposed so far in documenting her incredible spirit.

Without exaggeration she never gives me the same look twice, and has a seemingly infinite imagination regarding wardrobe. Without much time she changes from one into another, leaving me to think that she has a deliberate plan in mind. It all seems so effortless and continuous. She never objects to being asked for another presentation, and moves from the car to the 'stage' seamlessly.

This was that much more impressive during our last session in that she was feeling less than well. On our way to Lucerne Valley she slept the entire ride, apologizing ahead of time for doing so. She woke up thirty minutes or so before arriving to have a small salad, hoping to feel a little bit better.

In my opinion she performed flawlessly in spite of her physical distress. The wind was blowing as we were on the side of the road, and the sun was quite strong. Clouds were absent from the skies, unlike the city of Los Angeles just beyond the mountains. The areas just outside of the city have become my photographic playground because the sun seems to shine more often than in the city, where we are at the whim of the ocean and variations of cloud formations.

We worked for perhaps two hours, resting now and then from the sun and heat. In just this amount of time Magdalena gave us perhaps five presentations, and various minor changes in between. These slight variations become much less minor when printing a portfolio. It is these small changes that attract me so, leaving the variables such as the background and sun more fixed.

This week the last four negatives will be printed from this session, and Magdalena's roll of film will be the only one printed in its entirety from my portfolio for my book. By the time this entry is finished the prints will have washed for half of the necessary time. I look forward to seeing the dry prints tomorrow morning, even more so to Wednesday when another day in the darkroom is possible.

halim.ina@gmail.com
Halim Ina Photography

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