.

I got this fine crease
from laughing with my mother,
from my surprise as he bent to one knee,


I got these lines around my lips
from drinking coffee with my husband
and kissing him between sips.


I got these crow's feet near my eyes
from squinting into the Aruban sun
and squeezing back tears as Mrs. Millie died.


I got this crépe skin
from sunbathing in Hawaii
and studying in college...and partying and drinkin'.


If I had a porcelain face,
and instead of my memories
I had in their place


a face without laughter,
without the surprises
and the warm tears after,


a face without joy,
without my wedding day
and love for a boy,


a face without travel,
without pall bearers
crunching through gravel,


a face without knowing,
without wisdom,
and no emotions showing,


well I'd rather have these marks,
the lines, these scars, this crease
than a face without life, a life in the dark.


Draft 1 written by Lacey Schexnayder Pyle | Nov. 21, 2008

Labels: age, art, baton rouge, lacey, vacancy

Learning to develop my own film is awesome. It's so gratifying. I learned so much this week about photography, and that it's so much more than having the best camera: the right paper, film, developer, stop, fixer, and hypo-clear are certainly part of the art.

Now I see why "old fashioned" photographers don't think digital photography is quite as nifty. In addition to a good eye, developing your own pictures requires work and patience. It's like putting together a model car--you know how it's supposed to look, but you can only follow the instructions and hope it looks as good as the picture on the box. If you think you can take good pictures, and you're all digital, I challenge you to test out your talent with film and developing your own photos. It's humbling!

We created photograms, or "rayograms," where you place objects directly on Ilford RC photopaper, and then expose the paper under a condenser/enlarger. Here's what I got:



This is just a test strip to find out what your aperture and exposure time should be under the enlarger, but I just loved the way it came out. It's not perfect, as one side is exposed longer than the other, but it still has a striking quality about it.

I can't wait to be enlarging my own negatives! I feel like a kid waiting on Christmas!!

Labels: baton rouge, photography, southeastern, vacancy