Help! I have too many photos on my hard drive.

Boat reflections, New Zealand

 
I have a problem. A big problem.

I have had to replace my ageing and failing mac with a brand new version, but for 2 weeks it has been sitting unopened in its box. My other half (OH) keeps asking me when I am going to open it. I reply 'when I am ready '.

The reason that I am not ready is because I possess way too many photos, and the thought of sorting them out to get them safely stored on a combination of the new mac and external hard drives feels like an organisational mountain right now. I am not ready to face the mountain; it feels huge.

This is all my own fault. I have my images neatly organised into folders of events and year, but I rarely cull my images. Actually never. Each time I sit down to attempt this, I get drawn into a trip down memory lane. I find images that remind me of all the projects I have thought about over the years, and after deleting maybe five or six I end up processing an old one, or feeling so overwhelmed by the enormity of the task that I give up and find something else to do, even cleaning.....

​

Winter trees, Stanley park, Vancouver

I have a technique for finding images that are buried under a pile of 66,999 images, and that I have totally forgotten about.

I type today's date into my library and look for files that have a name that includes the numbers in the date. For example, yesterday was the 9th of October, so I type 910 into the search panel  and up pop all the images with 910 as part of their filename. I find it a good way to look back through the thousands, without any bias . A lot of surprises pop up. 

​For example the image below is from a walk that I took in my local woods during which I chucked photographs of nature into the pond and hung them from fences and trees. Yes, I know that sounds crazy. But I had fun doing it, and I cant really recall why I felt this urge. 
I probably had an idea for a new project, but as with many of my ideas, it went nowhere.

And that is OK.

​Life would be a lot duller without a few crazy moments alone in the woods.

Also from this '910' search are all of the photos included in this blog article. Below is another one where I question my sanity. At the time I was studying for an MA in book art, and that did tip me into a slightly deranged state of mind. I never did complete the MA, but that's another story.
​Life is too short to spend time not enjoying learning.........

'hello Liezel' on my washing line

​And then there was another burning desire fulfilled; to hang ribbons from a tree and capture the effect of the wind. That was a one day wonder, and no birds or bushes were harmed in the process.

ribbons in the wind

.Some incredibly happy memories appear in the search.

​For all of these images I remember so well the taking. The making.

​ They trigger memories that were locked away, possibly for ever.

Several are from my first artist residency where I wandered the streets and footpaths taking hundreds of photos of water., and which led to the creation of my book 'If I only had more time'. Three weeks went so quickly, and I wished I could have stayed longer, hence the  book's title.

​

Letterpress printing with Nina Rodin on my residency at Trelex, near Geneva.

So how to manage all of these photos? 

What I really need to do is have a massive cull, and get rid of the many duplicates and similar images. Even better would be to be much more ruthless in my initial uploads, deleting all but the best. Going forward this could work, but for now I need about a week of screen time to manage the task of culling and transferring a select few to the new computer.

'If I Only had more Time' - photo book concertina.

I know from experience that projects that don't get done soon after a trip or journey are unlikely ever to be realised. All of my videos from Alaska still lie waiting to be made into a major motion picture movie. Likewise my Latin American journey is more than worthy of a book, but I am now forgetting the details. It is becoming too late.

Making photo books is the best way to create tangible memories in my humble opinion. 
They truly represent my view of the world. 

So here's a plan;

1. spend a week culling in bite sized chunks.
2. spend another choosing which folders are worth keeping
3. spend another week listing all the unmade projects that are worth pursuing
4. Make sure that I have my photos backed up in three places; home, studio and cloud.
5. be brave; get the new Mac out of its box.
6. Transfer just the last three years of images onto the new Mac
7. Load up the new Mac with my image processing and publication software
8. START BEING RUTHLESS!

So let's make a start......

Ladder in a garden ; one for the bin.

Ardnamurchan - a definite keeper.

Clouds over Rye harbour nature reserve ; another for the bin

hair envy series; another lost project.....BIN

Three for the bin. One keeper.
Only 66,996 decisions to go.

​Please wish me luck!  I could be gone for some time......

'why are there so many open packets of frozen peas in the freezer?' and other unanswered questions.

A braided river, Alaska

Son, like me, has a blog. He writes weekly. I would struggle to achieve that regularity.
As I mentioned previously, I often only know what he is up to by reading it.

Mostly I don't worry about him. He is a grown up.

But I do get concerned when he starts asking questions about my life and that of my other half (OH) in the public domain.

'Why are there 7 open packets of peas in the freezer' he asked in a blog post recently, when home alone in our house while we were on the other side of the planet.

This question he put out there; to the whole world. I take it as a mild criticism of our daily habits, but am not suprised. I know this is an issue. I blame OH ( my other half), for he is the one who purchases peas. I prefer other green vegetables. Cabbage and spinach for example.
I have already suggested that he put a hold on pea purchasing. And anchovies ( 10 tins in the cupboard). OH is trying.

To son I would say ' but half of them are soya beans.......'

Son is a nomad, and rarely makes visits home to the UK. So it was ironic that when he needed to come home for a week we were far away in Vancouver, visiting daughter, who has also left these shores.
Son had the house to himself. And the garden. fresh vegetables on tap, and two bathrooms.

So here is a question to son..... ( I feel I should respond in kind) ..... ' sertu; enr tui o;qernut;wenrtuq eiort u'?

It doesn't need an answer, any more than the pea question. Just needed to be said. And I am far too polite to put it out to the whole world.....

Alaskan forest

So having got that out of my system I can discuss more erudite topics.

Except that I am struggling; as I often do, to know what to write. So today I am writing without knowing where my words will lead. Just do it...... as the saying goes.....

My biggest question at present is 'how will I make it through the winter'?

A recent browse through my typewritten diary notes makes me acutely aware that my mood dips dramatically in winter. I wish it were possible to 'bank' the positive feelings that summer brings.

I found myself considering this question as OH and I travelled together around Alaska for our 'summer' holiday. Strongly infuenced by my visit to the Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron exhibition at the V&A in London, I found myself processing images from our journey in a certain way.

Some are very dark and moody; it did rain while we were there.... I am reminded of Twin Peaks; our favourite TV programme until Breaking Bad came along.

a rainy day in Alaska

This lead to me thinking about the cold and dark of winter, and how bad weather can make for great photos, but may not help one's mood.

OH takes bad weather as a personal insult, so I was very grateful that for at least a third of  our time in Alaska we had blazing sunshine and heat. Not so good for my kind of photography.

a sunny day in Denali National Park, Alaska

 
Seeing Denali was a bucket list trip for me. It is the highest mountain in the US, and had had a romantic draw over me for some years. I just wanted to be there. In the middle of nowhere. With all the other tourists and cruise passengers who also had the same idea.

Not to mention a family from Nepal who were visiting because their father, an elderly gentleman, had always wanted to visit Alaska. It seems that living in a land with epically spectacular mountains isn't enough. Other mountains still need to be seen. I am not alone.

Which leads me to thinking that how I process my images depends on what story I wish to tell. Dark and moody fights with bright and cheerful much of the time. There is not much in- between. Up and down. High and low. Just like the light and the seasons.

I should tell the story of how one day Denali mountain was hidden in the clouds. From our hotel room we could see the mountains, and thought it was Denali that we were seeing on the horizon. The next morning I opened the curtains and realised how wrong we had been. Denali had revealed itself in all its glory. The mountains of the day before were just the beginnings of the mountain range; the foothills. I cannot describe my joy at this revelation. I dragged OH out of bed to gaze at the spectacle. Even he was impressed. 

My dream had been fulfilled. Denali is only visible on average one day in three.
We got lucky.

Denali, Alaska

My lack of a telephoto lens on this trip meant I could not capture the mountain as I would have wished. This was a downside of attempting to travel light.

What I hadn't appreciated is how far away Denali is from any road; over 100 miles!  Or that the road to see it closer up in the National Park is blocked by a landslide, caused by melting of the frozen tundra. It won't be repaired for at least another year.

Our pre-imagined landscape can be very different from reality, and what we see in TV programmes and holiday brochures isn't always what we find when we reach the destination. A hiking guide I know who takes photos for travel brochures is instructed to have blue sky in most of his images. We all know how different a heavy grey sky can make to an experience. The lack of light and shadow makes for very dull photos.

We found more inspiring and dramatic landscapes on the drive south-east from Fairbanks. And amazing clouds. Weather and skies play such a vital part in the experience. This is why I prefer to stay longer in one place, to see it at its worst and at its best. The longer you stay, the more likely you are to get great conditions for photography. A residency is perfect!

White spruce forest, Alaska

Typical Alaskan scenery.

I would like to share my wonder at the Alaskan forest floor; a lush covering of berry rich bushes, ferns and mosses. I have more photos of the undergrowth than of anything else.

Alaskan forest undergrowth.

same picture, different edit, different mood....

same picture, happy vibes....

But I am meandering.

I don't have a strong story to tell. I didn't come back with thousands of images.

This was a family holiday. Not a photography trip. A fly-drive, not a hiking trip that would have got me deep into the tundra scenery away from the other visitors. I will save that for another day.

I ate a lot of salmon. We did a lot of driving. OH and I survived 14 days together

I realised a dream.

And yes, we did see bears, and I am now an expert on how to behave if you see a moose, a brown bear or a black bear.

Just dont mix them up or you will possibly end up dead.

Black bear, Alaska

On mastering the art of indolence in a hot country. 11/2/2024 0 Comments   ​OH ( my other half) and I are just returned from a trip to Mauritius. We met in Mauritius 44 years ago as students, and OH was keen to revisit the beautiful island that holds many happy memories. Memories of spending afternoons on the beach snorkelling over an incredible coral reef, listening to a young boy lying in the sea playing his trumpet. Of a bed and breakfast accommodation complete with cockroaches and geckos, and a cyclone that brought 60 inches of rain in just 14 days. It was so wet that we ended up travelling around the island in our swimming costumes, as there was no point wearing clothes; we were completely soaked within seconds. many years ago....... I am not a fan of heat, or of beach holidays. I am no longer able to lie for hours perfecting an unhealthy tan. I am a restless individual who can cope with no more than 30 minutes lying on a sun bed before craving some action. OH, on the other hand, likes nothing better than to lie for hours reading a good book, barely bothering to swim or to stray from his lounger. We are incompatible in this respect.  ​ In the past we have chosen activity holidays such as hiking or sailing. But this was to be a regular beach holiday. The potential for activities was there, but the heat of the tropical sun is more than I can bear on my ageing skin, and I can only be happily active before the sun reaches any significant height in the sky. So, determined to get some daily exercise, I got up at 6.30 every day to walk before sunrise. I left OH in bed and crept out with my camera and a desire to explore.  Our first location was a beach hotel. I was not the only one walking very early in the day. The sand was heavily foot-printed, and the beach pleasantly shaded. ​ Early morning walkers at Flic en Flac, Mauritius.  I searched for things to photograph. Mostly I was drawn to the dead corals, lying on the white sand along with sea urchins and a few shells.  Sadly, most of the Mauritian reef coral died after an extreme heatwave a few years ago. Snorkelling over it made me feel very sad, as I have memories of extraordinary beauty just off shore in the shallow waters protected by the outer reef. ​But the remains of coral washed ashore held me captive with their extraordinary patterns and variety. remains of coral reef, Flic en Flac, Mauritius It is illegal to remove coral and shells from the beach, so I took only photographs.  ​ sea urchin and seaweed  Every morning I walked, often passing the same people going in the opposite direction. When i tired of the sand I walked on the road to the village. A village that didn't exist 44 years ago. Everything was so different. A large part of me prefers to remember it as it was rather than how it is now. I passed  many coloured food trucks beside the road, closed up for the night. I was thinking of Ed Ruscha's photobook entitled '26 gasoline stations'. I envisaged my own version...... '26 food trucks'..... But I never completed the series. I was with OH, and we were on the move, so the opportunity didn't arise. After a few days at a beach hotel we moved to an airbnb in a small town. I was beginning to feel restless and frustrated with the heat. My morning walks became even more important. This time, along a busy road with no pavement until I reached the beach. I passed gateways to homes of many types, and tried to avoid being killed by the crazy bus drivers hurtling along the road  at break neck speed. ​ gateway, Pereybere, Mauritius scene from a morning walk, Pereybere, Mauritius gateway, Pereybere, Mauritius Here was another potential series; the contrast between the old and the new,  but I would have needed much more time walking the streets before breakfast., gathering more images. We were only there for 4 days. Not nearly long enough. ​ food outlet, Mon Choisy beach I started taking videos instead of photographs. They seemed more able to capture my mood. The word 'indolence' kept passing through my mind. I was conscious of a slow changing of my mood. Seven days into the trip I was irritable and wishing myself somewhere cooler. But as we settled into a routine of beach visits and snorkelling, people watching and novel devouring, I started to feel calmer. I spent long minutes watching palm trees swaying in the breeze, and the locals standing in the shallow water chatting for what felt like hours.  beach corals, Mauritius We moved on to our final destination; a fancy hotel in the east. Fancy and expensive. This was a birthday treat and another chance to revisit old memories. The son of our B&B hosts all those years ago was a chef at the hotel, and we dined there as his guest as students. I just remember a clean, white modern dining room, far beyond our budget. I have no idea what we ate. This time we were able to stay and make use of the beautiful surroundings, but my morning walks took an unexpected turn for the worse. I could either walk up the long drive of the hotel to the main road in blazing sunshine ( no thank you), or stroll along the local beach , which was not very far. I gave up this option after one day due to encountering a large amount of litter as soon as I left the main hotel grounds, and the distance not being far enough to call it a 'walk'. So I settled into a state of indolence, and carried on making videos and some cyanotypes with paper brought from home.  I got better at it day by day.  I watched clouds, and the weaver birds building nests. We took a boat to an island beach and lay under the trees drinking ice cold water. And when I got home I made a very short video of calmness. It is far from perfect, but my first  photobook course is starting this week, so I wanted to make it while I had time and was fresh from the trip. No more indolence now........ OH won't like it, as the music is too melancholy, the sun isn't always shining. there are no pictures of our adventures together, and it isn't a rip roaring ride through 14 days of sun and sand.  For that he will have to wait......... patience is a virtue. Some of us have more of it than others!

Taking time out for family...... and looking forward to creating a photobook course in 2024

 

Taking time out for family ..... and looking forward to creating a photobook course in 2024

28/12/2023

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remembering summer days © Caroline Fraser

​ Christmas has taken most of my energy for the last three weeks. For the first time in a number of years, both my children and my daughter's family were staying for Christmas. One from Vancouver, and one from the French alps.

Recent Christmas's have involved long journeys to the mountains of Canada, and epic organisation by my daughter. This year she did the travelling, and I did the epic organisation using a large spreadsheet of days, activities, meals, ingredients and a shopping list.

It worked. We were ten for lunch on Christmas day,  preceded by a pantomime trip on Christmas Eve, and a visit to more family on Boxing Day. Two cars, three trips around the M25, 16 people for Boxing Day lunch, and a lot of lego. No snow, no skiing, but some good muddy walks and lots of meals.

I was prepared. The freezer was stuffed, and I was able to enjoy the few days without having to do endless cooking. I even did some knitting in the midst of serving Christmas lunch, to untangle some dropped stitches for my grandson who was entertaining himself between courses.

And now they are all gone. The house is uncannily quiet. The lego is all cleared away and there is a pile of washing to work through.

It was a very special time. So special that I didn't stop to take a single photo. Not one. I will have to rely on my memories, and the new decorations on the Christmas tree, including a brown bear with a fishing rod, to remind me of my camping trip in Washington state with family last May. I was the only adult present on our pitch who was able to set up a fishing rod. That surprised everyone! A childhood spent casting endlessly on the River Wey was not wasted. I don't remember ever catching a fish, but that's not really the point.

I am bird © Caroline Fraser

The first thing that I did when the house was officially empty was to go for a walk in the woods. I left OH ( my other half) pondering the puddle that keeps appearing in the middle of our kitchen floor during the night ( AAAARGGGHHHH...........), and escaped.
I tramped through the mud, passing many dogs and bobble-hatted children.

The low winter sun was just breaking through, and it felt good to be out and able to think in peace. I filmed things that caught my eye as I walked; catkins, leaves, birch bark, the stream, the mud, some crows, bobble-hatted children, and more mud.

You can see all of these on my Instagram feed here

I then returned home, ate some more left overs and chucked the remains of the Yule log into the food waste bin, as there was no one left to eat it.

It was time to get back to my normal life.

The Dive © Caroline Fraser

So what next for my creative endeavours? I have been working hard on a book for my FRPS, and am now awaiting feedback, to see whether it is up to the required standard. Being all about litter on the beach, it is somewhat unusual, and I don't want to say too much at the moment. Every time I look at the layout I seem to change it, so I am leaving it alone for a week or so.

The image below is currently 'IN' the draft book.

None of the images work well as stand alone images, which means that the book structure is vital to bringing them together. It has made me think about how and why I make images. Working in a series is, for me, more satisfying than single stand alone images that might be framed. In the middle of arranging my book I received notice from the Royal Photographic Society that a book for submission should only contain 20 or 21 images. That threw me somewhat, as I have never before had to work to a certain number of images when making a book. I am not sure that I agree with a restriction for this particular submission format, but will keep going for now. One way or another, a book will come out of my months of trawling the beach for litter and items washed up from the sea.

​I need to move on. I don't want to spend the rest of my life photographing litter, even if I do keep picking it up. I am ready for a new chapter.

Image made with beach litter© caroline fraser 2023

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​So what are my plans for 2024?

For 2024 I wish to create a photobook course. I have recently been procrastinating due to my inner demons and lack of confidence. There are some aspects of learning that are well suited to online learning, and others that are much better in real life. My challenge for January is to sit down and work out what is holding me back, so that I can find ways to overcome the obstacles that I have created in my head. Giving myself a time frame is helping. By the end of January I will be ready to launch my prototype course. 

I don't create courses to make money; I make them because I really enjoy teaching, and they allow me to share what I have learned in my photographic journey. One of the top ways to stay healthy as one gets older is having a sense of purpose; what the Japanese call Ikigai ( a life purpose, or a reason to get up in the morning). I enjoy the challenge that creating a course gives. There is lots of research to do, and thinking about how to best explain technical elements to participants. As I work out what to teach I have to keep learning, and this keeps me entertained and contented. Currently I am working on how to use Padlet as a platform for my course. Padlet will allow students to share their ideas, research, and to give me feedback on the lessons.

The most important page that I have created at the moment is the 'stuff I need to learn properly' page. It is one thing to be able to use software to make books, but quite another to be confident to help others use it successfully. I am feeling excited that I have got this far. 

padlet page for photobook course

 So, as you can see, my mind is fully occupied for now. I have a lesson plan to work through, with a list of tasks to complete before I go live.

My first cohort of students will be my guinea pigs. If you are interested in being part of my test group; a free course in return for honest and constructive feedback then please contact me
(see below). Participation will involve 5-6 sessions spread over 6-8 weeks on Zoom.



​In the meantime I wish you a happy and creative 2024.

Women with Vision Online Photography Conference 2023

Under a Cold North Sky - a book of snow and ice

 

Long dark winter months, with an absence of the usual diversions.

Trying to keep busy. These have not been easy days for many. A short interlude for Christmas, and then back to very quiet times.

Covid days.

Time to make a book. Always a happy diversion.

This one was created for the Instagram #areyoubookenough challenge on the topic of frozen. The challenge was started in 2017 by the book artist Sarah Maker, and brings together book artists from all around the world.

I have many images of snow and ice, and many happy memories of trips north, so the topic of 'frozen' had instant appeal.

A dive into my hard drive seemed like a good a place to start.

I searched for 'ice' and 'snow'. Up popped many images that are long forgotten.

Images from Iceland, Greenland, Finland, Yukon and Norway.  Some of the places that I am missing the most.




Firstly, a small fragment of ice from Disko Bay. Ice that has made its way down a glacier, and then broken into fragments as it fall into the icy water of Disko Bay; an iceberg graveyard.

Greenlandic ice fragment

Crystals of watery ice from a glacier.

glacial ice formation

Broken ice from a grassy puddle. This from Lofoten, where I was attracted by the texture of the snow crushed grass.

Grassy ice puddle

There are tiny fragments, and wide views. It is the juxtaposition of scale that I enjoyed when making this book.

Lofoten mountains

Initially I  printed out many small images.
I  then experimented with different combinations and juxtapositions.
Some images were rejected, as they didn't work with the others, or were just too ambiguous.

Icy reflections from Disko Bay were tempting to include, but the water was not actually frozen, so these were rejected.

Icy water in Disko Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

mini prints for layout experiments

 

 

For the start of the book I chose images of snow falling at night, and a lump of ice. The raw elements of icy landscapes.

I remember vividly standing under a lampost in Finland capturing snow falling in the early evening, the snow lit by the artificial light; blowing around wildly in the wind.

falling snow

glacial ice

Then I moved through gradually larger landscapes, trying to find pairings that complemented each other.

Grass and ice.

Black on white, white on black.

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A 'landscape' of ice crystals on snow beside a tree in a field.


The images are printed on bamboo paper 110gsm, made into a concertina. The hard cover is covered with a Lotka polka dot paper in black and white. Lotka paper is Nepalese, and is easy to fold around the cover of a book.

'Under a Cold North Sky' - concertina book

'Under a Cold North Sky' - front cover

I don't know when spontaneous travel will be possible again. My plans to return northwards in February are very likely to be thwarted.

But as soon as I am able, I will be heading in that direction once more.

 

You can see a slideshow of all the images here