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Melinda Blauvelt - Brantville
Inspired by Walker's photographs, especially the remarkable portraits he made in 1936 of sharecropper families in Hale County Alabama, 1 bought a used 4x5 Deardorff view camera and spent the summer of 1972 in Brantville, New Brunswick Canada, small Acadian fishing village. As a volunteer with the Quebec Labrador Foundation, I ran a day camp for the local children and lived with fisherman Ulysse Thibodeau, his wife Jeannette and their three young children. When I wasn't making puppets or playing Capture the Flag with campers, I was making photographs of the Thibodeaus and their extended family and friends. They were my eager and generous collaborators whenever I set up my view camera that summer and on three more visits to Brantville.
The field next to our house became a constantly changing stage for making photographs. There were several small houses, a barn, often a car or truck or boat, bicycles, laundry, a rabbit hutch and pig pen, buoys, lobster traps, and, in winter fishing nets hanging on poles. I don’t remember anyone ever refusing to be photographed. On the contrary, children and adults, too, were happy to be photographed. A view camera was new to everyone and made the process special. They were fascinated watching me open the camera, disappear under my black cloth, and begin making adjustments to the camera but also giving them suggestions. Then I would come out from the black cloth, hold the shutter release, and watch closely. When I saw an expression or gesture or the light shift slightly, I tripped the shutter. I think it was a combination of wanting to help me and delighting in being seen.
During the pandemic, isolated from my family and friends, I revisited my Brantville negatives. My friends in Brantville were as excited as I was to see what I printed (many prints were from negatives I printed for the first time) and to celebrate the exhibition of the work at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the official museum of New Brunswick.
Stanley Barker Books (London) has published Brantville, 50 black and white photographs made between 1972 and 1974.
https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/products/brantville
Text: Melinda Blauvelt
Voice: Juniper (AI)
+ info
www.audiotecafotografica.com
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By Isabel HernándezInspired by Walker's photographs, especially the remarkable portraits he made in 1936 of sharecropper families in Hale County Alabama, 1 bought a used 4x5 Deardorff view camera and spent the summer of 1972 in Brantville, New Brunswick Canada, small Acadian fishing village. As a volunteer with the Quebec Labrador Foundation, I ran a day camp for the local children and lived with fisherman Ulysse Thibodeau, his wife Jeannette and their three young children. When I wasn't making puppets or playing Capture the Flag with campers, I was making photographs of the Thibodeaus and their extended family and friends. They were my eager and generous collaborators whenever I set up my view camera that summer and on three more visits to Brantville.
The field next to our house became a constantly changing stage for making photographs. There were several small houses, a barn, often a car or truck or boat, bicycles, laundry, a rabbit hutch and pig pen, buoys, lobster traps, and, in winter fishing nets hanging on poles. I don’t remember anyone ever refusing to be photographed. On the contrary, children and adults, too, were happy to be photographed. A view camera was new to everyone and made the process special. They were fascinated watching me open the camera, disappear under my black cloth, and begin making adjustments to the camera but also giving them suggestions. Then I would come out from the black cloth, hold the shutter release, and watch closely. When I saw an expression or gesture or the light shift slightly, I tripped the shutter. I think it was a combination of wanting to help me and delighting in being seen.
During the pandemic, isolated from my family and friends, I revisited my Brantville negatives. My friends in Brantville were as excited as I was to see what I printed (many prints were from negatives I printed for the first time) and to celebrate the exhibition of the work at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the official museum of New Brunswick.
Stanley Barker Books (London) has published Brantville, 50 black and white photographs made between 1972 and 1974.
https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/products/brantville
Text: Melinda Blauvelt
Voice: Juniper (AI)
+ info
www.audiotecafotografica.com