Project Updates

I'm so accustomed to posting all my updates on Facebook that I forget to share things elsewhere but in addition to my documentary The Long Way Home, I have been working on a couple of photography projects worth mentioning.

First off, there's the 2,552 Mile Project:

The 2,552 Mile Project was conceived as an artistic collaboration between two photographers: Alexis Stember in Brooklyn, New York, and Monika Clarke in the small northern town of Hayden Lake, Idaho. Each photographer shoots a roll of 35mm film and sends it to the other photographer, 2,552 miles away, who then reloads the roll to create a series of double-exposed images that fuse together two geographically based experiences into a single frame. With no more than a generalized theme behind each round of work, the hope is to encounter visual accidents that upset and/or affirm stereotypes and expectations; to capture in analog form a world that seems to grow smaller with each technological advance; and to see how close, or far apart, 2,552 miles really is.

And then there's The Delishous, a fun and frivolous look at faces and fashion on the street.

Click through and follow them both!

Southern Exposure

One of the things I cherish about my apartment is the light that it gets in the early to late afternoon as the sun is going down. I shot this today at a moment when the light was bouncing off the floors and creating an isolated shaft of passing illumination. The light in the shot vaguely reminds me of the light in my father's work from the early 1980s, which brings a smile of joy and recognition to my face, even if I'm not showing it here. Tomorrow I leave to work in Miami for a few days, where I hope I will have time to capture a few photos full of warm southern light to share on my return. Until then....

Chemical Exuberance

I have finally, finally gotten my hands back into some HC-110 and it feels remarkably good. This is the first roll of film that I've developed in over four months. Which is crazytown. More rolls to come....

Chiaroscuro

After an extended absence, it feels incredibly good to return to my camera again.

Rolleiflex 2.8F

I recently sold a ton of photo gear I had, including a Hassy 500cm with two lenses (film), a Lumix G1 with two lenses (digital), Olympus XA (film) and two Canon L lenses, in order to buy a pristine, perfectly functioning Rolleiflex 2.8F, the same camera that I learned Helen van Meene uses for her portraiture (she also shoots exclusively with Fujicolor Portrait NPH 400 Professional Color Negative Film, which is now called Fujicolor Pro 400H). I absolutely love this camera and plan to use it as my sole medium format body. The fixed focal length does not bother me a bit, and I bought a Rolleinar 1 and 2 to enable close up shots. Having owned a Hasselblad, a Mamiya 6, a Perkeo II and an RB67, I can appreciate them all but love my Rollei best.

There is only you and your camera.

Broome Street Nights, originally uploaded by alexisstember.

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
-Ernst Haas

I've started uploading pictures to my Flickr site. I'm just getting back into photography so this may be slow going but there are a few things to look at now. Unfortunately, Blogger is in the habit of brutally cropping photos but you'll be appropriately redirected if you click the image above.