“The zipless Chuck is the purest thing there is. And it is rarer than the unicorn. And I have never had one… until now.”
A long time ago – maybe three years or so – I tried a photo experiment where I took several shots, and then wove the film together into a bigger image. Back then, I used an old bulky Kodak Brownie Bull’s-Eye camera to capture this project.
It turned out pretty well for itself, and I would later use another camera to put together a different woven image – 2013’s award-winning The Lenten Meal. Then I stopped the experiment. Wasn’t happy with the results. Back to the drawing board, the pundits say…
Now here comes a second experiment. I set up my mechanical Agfa Clipper Special f/6.3 camera, which is so old that Buster Keaton could have taken a selfie with it, as part of a “flying light” photo experiment. I got this shot out of the Clipper, which is an okay shot in and of itself…
I tried this “flying light” stunt for a while… but I really didn’t have any readily-available color 70mm film available, and shooting colorful neon with 616 black-and-white film was kind of a yawn idea. I ran a few 35mm film shots through, but the results were just kinda so-so. So I stopped the experiment. Wasn’t happy with the results. Back to the drawing board, the pundits say…
Then, I had an idea. An idea, in fact, that could combine both experimental disciplines into something super-special. And in order to make this work, I had to break free of my routine, to escape my creative straitjacket.
“Any system was a straightjacket if you insisted on adhering to it so totally and humorlessly.”
That’s the solution. I’ve been working with the non-productive part of two ideas, going forward without any concept of experimentation. It’s like reinforcing a fear of flying. But if I combine these concepts… and if I take the best of both ideas…
What time is it? Friday morning, 3:00 a.m.?
Get out of bed, Chuck, and rub those eyes. You don’t have time to waste.
I have two rolls of Kodak 400 35mm film laying around the apartment. And a roll of 616 backing paper. Let’s try this.
Into the darkroom. Lights out. I know the drill by now.
I threaded both cartridges onto the 616 backing paper. As an aside, I flipped one of the rolls over so that it would expose as redscale film. Both films spooled tightly onto the 616 spool? Goodie. Lights on.
Next, I loaded the splitfilm spool mixture into the AGFA Clipper Special f/6.3.
I checked my watch. 3:30 a.m. Perfect. Okay, camera, it’s time for a little road trip.
And by “road trip,” I drove to downtown Albany. There’s a neon sign, located on a side street just off Central Avenue. There it was. Colonial Cleaners, a dry cleaner / tailor shop on North Allen Street. I’ve photographed that zipper neon sign before. I can do it again.
Okay. It’s cold out here, no time to waste. Tripod set up. Camera affixed.
And just before I took the first picture… an Albany police cruiser pulls up. Oh for crying out loud.
“I stand in the mist and cry, thinking of myself standing in the mist and crying, and wondering if I will ever be able to use this experience in a book.”
“What are you doing?” the cop asked me.
“Just taking a picture of the neon sign,” I replied, hoping I wouldn’t be the unfortunate recipient of “hey you can’t photograph there it’s private property I don’t care if you’re on the sidewalk I’m going to arrest you while my partner sings ‘bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do…”
“See, it’s just an old camera and I’m going to take a picture of the neon, and this is the best time to capture it, when there isn’t any pedestrian traffic interfering with the shot.”
“Okay,” the cop said. “Just wanted to make sure that this wasn’t some sort of Ocean’s 11 operation.”
“Nah,” I smiled. “The only similarity between myself and George Clooney is that we’re both men.”
The cop drove off. No ticket for Chuck. Mark this down, my fellow photo peeps… Cop leaves photographer alone. Film at 11.
Speaking of film… I gotta get back to this photo project; my fingers are freezing.
First, I shot the sign with my splitfilm mixture in the AGFA Clipper Special f/6.3. A few static shots at different angles, then I left the shutter open and rotated the camera on its tripod axis. The neon pirouette. I alternated between pirouettes and straight shots.
Okay, back to the Town and Village. So tired, I don’t even transfer the film to light-tight black canisters, I just leave the film in the camera. Zzzzzzz…. and then, morning hits. Drop-off at McGreevy Pro Lab for development.
Fingers are crossed. I’ve had some success running splitfilm at night, but if I can get the splitfilm, the neon and the pirouette to all cooperate…
I don’t dare fail at this. Not at this point in time.
“There is nothing fiercer than a failed artist. The energy remains, but, having no outlet, it implodes in a great black fart of rage which smokes up all the inner windows of the soul. Horrible as successful artists often are, there is nothing crueler or more vain than a failed artist.”
Got the film back. Scanned. And I got a couple of decent images, including a frameshot with both a neon pirouette and a static shot.
Nice. I finally got the damn thing to work. Now all I need to do is make sure that the two images line up properly and…
Oh crap. There’s a gap. A small, insignificant gap between the two strips of film. Yeah, you might not think it’s insignificant, but I certainly do.
Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it. If I could just find a way to zip up those two images into one solid frame. Okay, I guess I gotta get some more film, re-wrap it in the backing paper, drive back out there, get dirty looks from the cops, do this whole thing all over again –
Wait a sec. I’ve got to rewind a second. – niaga revo lla gniht elohw siht od ,spoc eht morf skool ytrid teg ,ereht tuo kcab evird ,repap gnikcab eht ni ti parw-er ,mlif erom emos teg attog i ssueg i ,yakO .emarf dilos eno otni segami owt esoht pu piz ot yaw – okay, now forward – way to zip up those two images…
That’s it!
It’s a neon sign about a tailor shop, right?
And the tailor shop promotes the fact that it can replace zippers?
Well, what if I could “zip” the images together… with a real zipper?
I quickly jumped into the Blackbird. Next stop – Jo-Ann Fabrics at Northway Mall. I purchased two different lengths of fashion zippers, both manufactured by a company called Coats & Clark. They look like they’re good quality. I may keep them around, just in case I do need a zipper replaced. And after scanning both of them and measuring and testing and re-testing… I found that one of the zippers would work.
And after much manipulation and discovery and resizing and incising and rationalizing…
Out came this.
There you go. A splitfilm picture with a zipper in it. And the neon pirouette adjacent to it. And until I can think of a better name for this picture, I hereby christen thee… “The Zipless Chuck.”
And the thing is, I bet half of my blog readers are rolling around on the floor, laughing at all the double-entendre references in this blog, while the rest of my blog readers are scratching their heads and trying to search for the information on Google.
“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Photographic experimentation is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”
I tell you all this… I will definitely put this artwork either in an art show or in a competition for 2015. Such is my word, such is my vow.
And since I’ve crafted this blog from equal parts of camera-experimentation and the four-decades-old writings of Erica Jong, it’s time to see what else I can do with splitfilm photo experiments like this.
Hey – either I keep up this photo experimentation stuff, or the next time I quote a literary figure, it’ll be from the collected works of Penelope Ashe… You have been warned. 🙂
Chuck The Writer 
It’s pretty cool.
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