Put a book of my street images (from 2011) together a few months ago. Have had a chance to show the physical book to a handful of people, thought it would be cool to at least be able to share the work with those of you I don’t get the liberty to see.

All the images in the book were shot with a rangefinder 35mm film camera, captured in and around the Los Angeles area,  developed in my kitchen sink and scanned to my computer!

Feel free to download the pdf. book download attached below and enjoy on your Computer. I just downloaded it to my iBooks on my iPad and it looks great! Enjoy!

Link to pdf: FRAMED 2011 – Dana Barsuhn

For more info on book or images feel free to contact me.

Two years ago I made the jump to shooting primarily film in the streets. At the time it wasn’t because I thought it was a superior process or that I wanted to be more artistic, it was mostly based on the fact that I could create quality images using smaller, less obtrusive 35mm cameras. Truth be told, if I could have afforded a Leica M9 I probably would have never gone analog.

Right off the bat, shooting film was an entirely different process all together. Loading, advancing, rewinding, it all felt unnatural yet so natural at the same time. Then I would take my film to get it processed at the lab and not so patiently wait for them to come back. After 2 or 3 phone calls to the lab to see if they had come in ahead of schedule I would pick up the negatives.  Before I could even make it to the car, I would have to look at images on the rolls of film. Did they come out, are they in focus, etc. It was all such a cool feeling.

Of course like everything else, that feeling of surprise wore off and I began to think about processing my own film at home, and so the love affair with film continued. Fast forward to present day, I recently showed some recent work at the Hatakeyama Gallery in Downtown LA (Thanks Todd) and realized how cool it would be if the prints (scanned and ink-jet printed) on the wall could have been printed using the wet darkroom process.

OK, why lie, I have been wanting to print in the darkroom for a while now. Not to mention that I have had 4 boxes of darkroom equipment sitting in the garage for about a year, which was gratefully gifted to me by a good friend (Thanks Tim). So this past week I began unboxing all the darkroom goodies, slowly turning my garage into a working wet darkroom. While it is far from being complete, I am happy to say that it is a work in progress. There are many things yet to be done, but it’s definitely a start. While I am no expert on this process, my goal here is to share with you what I learn as I put my darkroom together and begin the journey of making black and white prints…here we go!!!!

Excited to announce that I will be showing some of my recent street work this coming February 9th at the Hatakeyama Gallery during the LA Art Walk.

The exhibit will also feature work from talented Los Angeles based street photographers Chris Camargo, Joel Sheiner, David Valera, Elizabeth Wang-Lee, Erin Xavier as well as photographs from international street photographer Eric Kim.

Click here for more information on the Downtown LA Art Walk

The point is that I am always sabotaging myself from going out to do what I love…shooting in the street!

So my contrary action this past month was to go out and shoot for a short two hour period before date night with my wife.  So with a camera and two rolls of film in my pocket, I roamed the streets of downtown LA for two hours. To my amazement, it did the trick! And I was home in time to get ready for an evening out!

Oh, and my wife tells me that I am more present and attentive after I return from a day in the street…lol

An example of this occured just the other week. I was following two interesting subjects, one towing the other with a motorized wheelchair. I got a few decent shots, nothing great, just couldn’t keep up with them on foot, so I went about my day photographing in the city. About an hour goes by and low and behold the two are headed back in my direction, I check the settings, prefocus, compose the frame…waiting…waiting.  The gentlemen in the motorized wheelchair who is pulling the other stops to throw away a banana peel in the trash dispensor, and as it begins to leave his fingertips mine engages the shutter…and nothing…no click…I ran of film.

I guess it’s time to put the 35mm camera on craiglist and stick to my digital tools…right?

That might have been a consideration a couple of years ago, but not anymore. Today my response is simple, just shoot more, more often. Your hear these words echoed over and over, but it’s so true.

The last two weeks are a prime example for me, I think I shot a total of only 4 rolls of film on the streets, some decent images but nothing spectacular. But the images don’t always speak to what I am learning about myself, my work, and the world around me. For example, while shooting with friend and photographer  Ibarionex Perello, I got a crash course in what it’s like being harrassed by Security Guard’s in public spaces. (Read more here on Ibarionex’s blog)

So while I may not have a portfolio of 5 star images to show you from the last few weeks, I can share that I have been enjoying the experience of just roaming the streets with a camera around my neck.

Downtown Los Angeles – January 2011

Was recently invited to show at CREWEST Art Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The show titiled “Faces of Skid Row” opened on October 2nd and will be running trough the month. Check out the dates and press release below for more info! Also don’t forget to check out Fundraiser night and help make a contribution to the L.A. Mission… SEE YOU THERE!!

Artwalk Event: Thursday, October 14, 2010 6 – 9pm

Fundraiser Night: Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 from 6pm to 9pm.

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