Where’s the Ducati?
The weather forecast called for heavy rain so we left the riding contraptions at home. A non-riding day. When I first met Paul twenty years ago it was through photography. He didn’t have a motorcycle at the time and my riding life was still ten years in the future. But we did routinely set out to explore and make photographs. This recent misreading of the weather had us reliving those earlier photo safaris.
Paul works with a Nikon D800 camera and almost always on a tripod. He’s chasing perfection in sharpness and tonal range best served through a motionless camera. I’m at the other end of the spectrum fueled by impatience and indifference to most technical concerns.
Tradition of Verticals
One of my professors in art school pointed out to me after looking at dozens of photographic contact sheets that I have a fascination, perhaps an obsession, with vertical elements in pictures. I thought of those conversations when making this photograph of a utility pole standing before a cornfield. Still don’t know what piques my visual interest but I do have a lot of pictures with vertical elements slicing through a scene.
ARAT
I’ve photographed that tree dozens of times over the years creating scenes and views of it slicing a frame. The images have little to do with trees but can’t say for sure what exactly drives the effort to look. Whatever I see it’s meaning remains a mystery.
ARAT, another rock, another tree, is a pejorative term in the visual arts community sometimes applied to photographers interested in the landscape. When America was falling in love with Ansel Adams in the 1960s and 70s many artists criticized photographers gazing at rocks and trees when the world was on fire and needed more social and political commentary.
I still photograph trees. And scooters. Not much in the way of social commentary coming from me save for the relative simplicity of life on the road with two wheels.
Pennsylvania Agriculture
I recently purchased a Nikon D3300 DSLR camera. It’s small, plastic and makes incredibly sharp images. As much as I like my Canon G15 I wanted something that performs better in low light and generally produces a crisper, cleaner image but was not the kind of heavy beast that I’ve carried for years as a working photographer.
Over the years my understanding of agriculture has deepened and I appreciate the struggle and timing of production and harvest these scenes mean. But the real attraction has always been the patterns and sweeps of land that a farmer serves. Whenever I think I’m busy or hard at work I think of these scenes.
Amish Accommodation
A sign not seen in every town. Millheim, Pennsylvania is in the heart of the Amish communities of Penns Valley and it’s not uncommon to see horse drawn wagons and buggies on the roads crisscrossing the area. They take up more space to park and the town reacts accordingly.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone cleaning up after their horse though.
Architectural Palette
Millheim is a prototypical central Pennsylvania town. The brick facades and construction styles can be found everywhere. They’re ordinary and invisible but on closer inspection they have their own unique hue and spirit. I could spend a lifetime and not see all the variants of color and texture.
Harley Davidson Infusion
Offsetting the quaint horse and buggies of Millheim was a gathering of Harley Davidson motorcycles at the Millheim Hotel. In addition to the main street lined with motorcycles there was a rich collection out back with a dazzling array of sparkling chrome and color. Not a filthy, hard ridden adventure bike in the mix. No Vespa scooter either.
I’m not a Harley aficionado so the machines can all sort of look the same to me but Paul provided a mini-lesson in some of the finer points of Harleydom. If the machines look alike to me, so do the riders. There is definitely a uniform of sorts for both men and women. While I’m sure there were helmets somewhere I don’t remember seeing any unless you call the red, blue or black bandanas tied to the head a helmet.
Everyone was having a good time. When we first walked down the street toward the gathering you could hear one extremely loud motorcycle revving it’s engine, moving slowly somewhere along an alley and continuing to rev, move and rev again. The sound echoed among the buildings and seemed to go on forever. The rider eventually emerged onto the main street and then roared out of town at a breakneck speed.
It was gratifying to see the Harley riders standing in front of the hotel just shaking their heads. I just kept walking and making pictures, wishing I would have ridden so I could park my little scooter among the motorcycles.
All part of a non-riding day.
However you define the elements of your art and commentary, it provides so much for one who no longer lives in that area but who hungers for a sense of what the place still holds. Thank you, Steve, for filling in those gaps. I enjoy your journals.
I hope the post found you well Marian! Glad to help fill a desire to see a part of central Pennsylvania. It’s easy to take it for granted until you’re away.
Thanks for another great post.You have been blessed with a gift,Sir!I’m off on my lx 150 to work,delivering flowers for a local shop.Still trying to find a way to carry bouquets.Carry on safely.
Thank you for your kind words of support John. I appreciate knowing that some of the things I write resonate with someone.
Carrying bouquets would require some serious wind protection. For those not inside a box maybe a very large diameter PVC pipe with threaded plugs on each end. Could put things inside and bungee to the seat. Or a rear rack.
Good luck. Send a picture of your LX150 with a couple dozen roses!
Steve;
No matter whether you’re writing about riding or “non-riding”, your prose is absorbing and most enjoyable. Always a treat.
Thanks Steel. Never sure where to draw the line between my riding life and the rest of it…
…as well as your photos.
In addition to a BMW F800GS and a Moto-Guzzi V7 Racer, I ride a Harley XR1200. (I guess you could say that I have Moto Multiple Personality Disorder.) In the XR’s defense, or maybe–really–to its credit, it was never fully embraced by the “typical” Harley customer, and maybe that’s one minor reason that I readily embraced it.
Anyway, in April of 2012 I participated in a group ride with a hundred or so other Harley riders. In a full face helmet and a leather jacket with armor and sleeves, I felt like the odd man out. I have not participated in such a ride since.
Those are some pretty dissimilar machines. I love riding the F800GS and love the looks of the Moto-Guzzi. The Harley though just seems too big and bulky to me. I’ve always favored the 883 Sportster over all the rest. Seems like plenty of power. Maybe it doesn’t have the right loud sound.
Group rides, regardless of type, always seem like hell to me. Give me a quiet road without no one else around…
Never heard the term Arat. Interesting perjorative coming from folks who thought it better to record social angst and commentary….they shoot to push their own agendas.
Landscapes don’t have agendas….
It’s all about the people Dom. Always seems one group doesn’t feel another should have the freedom to follow their own path…
Good photos. We were at Elk Creek Cafe last Saturday when the Harley crew were doing their thing. I won’t repeat some of the comments we heard from some townspeople, and definitely won’t repeat our own thoughts of the ear-splitting antics and the general caliber of participants. A huge Vespa meet-up would have been a hoot, but that’s not the Millheim Hotel style, is it?
I can only imagine what Daytona Beach or Sturgis must be like. Heard someone at the Boalburg Moto Hang talking about Thunder in the Valley in Johnstown and it seems far too loud, social and jammed with bodies for me. Probably why I recoil when asked to photograph a Penn State football game or a rock concert.
I might be up for Burning Man. Maybe once…
SW
Don’t let me wear those shorts again. I look like some middle age white guy. Ugh. I may have gotten a good photo that day too. We used to pack a 12 pack of Dolly Madison’s but I think we have moved past that dietary proclivity. My ducati sold tonight on ebay. That means I’ll have a different motorcycle for your photos next trip. PR
I’ll make a note about the shorts. Middle age. You were telling me about your senior citizen discount today.
Those Dolly Madison donuts sure did brighten a day. Damn heart.
Can’t wait to see the new BMW. Finally you have something I might want to ride!