Fulfilling a Promise: Concept of Fragments of Spirit

Although I had a Masters in Comparative Literature and the degree of Master Photographic Craftsman from the Professional Photographers of America, a world-wide trade organization, I had decided I needed an ASG degree in photography to augment my professional resume. Possibly a nutty idea, but it seemed reasonable at the time, since my photojournalistic style sits on the acrimonious boundary between commercial and art photography.

The late Ron Wohlauer, primarily a black and white landscape photographer, but often including models and nudes in the environment, helped me through getting an entry level college degree.

When Professor Wohlauer asked for a capstone body of work that spoke to my historic photojournalism, I suddenly thought of tackling a long forgotten series of images from Taos Pueblo to fine art gallery standards. I had made this group of less than 20 exposures over a few hours one spring afternoon, with an outdated, 1950’s Contax camera. I had received it as a hand-me-down gift from my Mother’s friend who played clarinet and was an orchestra librarian. This is relevant because I realized there was a musical quality to my images. There was an old-time, historic feel that evoked story and out-of-the-past emotion.

Initially I had been disappointed with those negatives because the 400 speed film had to be developed extra long, resulting in a sufficient, but grainy density. And I wasn’t happy with the short-term memory, because an elderly Pueblo resident had asked to take a picture with my boyfriend du jour, probably because of his hair. I was embarrassed, even though I could see there was something interesting about the captured series, particularly of the people in them. I had made a contact sheet and one 8×10 print and put the offending negatives away in a place best known unto myself. I promptly forgot about them.

I found the one old print and Professor Wohlauer loved it. But a serious hunt did not uncover the set of negatives. I promised whenever I finally found them, I would make a portfolio set of prints and present them. He died in 2004; I rediscovered the negatives about the same time, and went to work to fulfill my promise.

Only image that existed for decades—it became a focal pivot for the book Fragments of Spirit, once total archive of lost images was located