Modesto, Ca, 2010, 12X18, Bessa R, 15mm, Ilford HP5+
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Five collections of medium format panorama images. 96 glossy pages, 8.25" by 11.75" hardcover and dust jacket.
Color photography of beautiful San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. 44 glossy pages, 15" by 11.5" hardcover with inset front.
Color photography of dramatically envisioned classic cars from the Modesto Graffiti Nights annual event. 52 pages, satin finish 8.5" by 11.5", hardbound with dust jacket.
Fine Art Black & White Photography - Intimate Portrayals of Everyday Places
Navigation
- Agricultural (18)
- Architectural (10)
- Bridges (6)
- Commercial (5)
- Decay (14)
- Dunes (5)
- Fog (6)
- Graffiti (15)
- Industrial (34)
- Landscapes (21)
- Railways (10)
- Roadways (7)
- Ruins (14)
- Seashore (5)
- Tanks (6)
- Urbanscapes (30)
- Waterways (15)
- Woodlands (8)
Artist Statement
Gritty textures, delicate shades, bold forms, dramatic shadows, warm hues and dense blacks… these are just a few of the qualities that have always drawn me to black and white photography. As a medium for my own artistic expression, photography allows me to express my authentic nature. My images often include everyday places that are isolated from their surroundings just enough to focus attention on an aspect that might otherwise elude us as we go about our daily lives, and thus, evoking an intimacy that arises as one rediscovers the beauty in everything that surrounds us.
Over the years, I have grown to appreciate, and am therefore able to exploit, every aspect of the photographic process, including my choice of films and equipment, development chemistry and the printing process, as opportunities to enhance the creative result.
Over the years, I have grown to appreciate, and am therefore able to exploit, every aspect of the photographic process, including my choice of films and equipment, development chemistry and the printing process, as opportunities to enhance the creative result.
Artist Background
Third generation native Californian, James Sims, is strongly drawn to the state’s rugged and beautiful landscape. His family moved to Mendocino, California when Sims was ten. Sims developed a reverence for the environment around him from early years spent in the pine and redwood forests of the North Coast. This has evolved into a sensibility that is drawn to the raw and gritty representation that is so natural for black and white images.
Sims new series of photographs represent this view. From woodland Streams of dappled light to the ruins and decay of 19th century industrial facilities, Sims honors the pure and naked beauty discovered in the wilderness, cities, urban, industrial and agricultural areas. The contrast of light and shadow in the forest or the patina of industrial decay on a now condemned factory intrigues him equally. His images are rendered as fragments of our existence that together create a story of the dramatic cycles of our life on this planet.
Self trained as a photographer, Sims purchased his first 35 mm camera in 1976. He currently works with medium format and panoramic cameras. Using his vast experience in technology, he has created a superb, environmentally safe system to print his negatives. No photographic chemistry pollutes the fragile ecosystem that is his subject matter and all film chemistry is recycled.
Greatest Influences
Josef Kouldelka -Panorama, drama and perspective
Josef Sudek -Still life, light and mist
Graciela Iturbide - Juxtaposition and darkness
Michael Kenna - Perfection
Sebastião Salgado - Humanity
Harry Callahan - Texture
Clyde Butcher - Serenity, grandeur and scale
Edward Weston - Still life
Mark Citret - Diffused light and pastel textures
Imogen Cunningham - Implied sensuality
Lynn Learned - Mentor and critic
Panorama Black and White
Five collections of medium format panorama images. 96 glossy pages, 8.25" by 11.75" hardcover and dust jacket.
San Miguel de Allende
Color photography of beautiful San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. 44 glossy pages, 15" by 11.5" hardcover with inset front.
Modesto Graffiti Nights
Color photography of dramatically envisioned classic cars from the Modesto Graffiti Nights annual event. 52 pages, satin finish 8.5" by 11.5", hardbound with dust jacket.
Exhibits
Various group and solo shows most notable of which is inclusion in the SF MOMA Emerging Artists Gallery for two years (2002-2004).
Equipment
a) Pentax 67 & 67 II w/35mm, 45mm, 55mm, 75mm, 135mm macro Pentax SMC lenses
b) Pentax 645N w/ 30mm Arsat, 35mm and 45-80mm Pentax lenses
c) Hasselblad XPan w/45mm lens
b) Pentax 645N w/ 30mm Arsat, 35mm and 45-80mm Pentax lenses
c) Hasselblad XPan w/45mm lens
d) Fuji GWS680 III w/65mm fixed lens
e) Mamiya RZ67 Pro w/ 50mm ULD, 65mm, 110mm, 150mm, 180mm lenses
f) Nikon F4 w/ 17-35mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm lenses
g) Voigtlander Bessa T w/15mm Heliar lens
h) Voigtlander Bessa R w/35mm Skopar lens
I) Fed 3 Type A w/ 35mm, 50mm lenses
Films and Developers
a) Kodak Tri-x, EI 400 w/ Kodak D76 1:1, Rodinal 1:100
b) Kodak Tri-x, EI 1250, w/ Diafine
c) Ilford HP5+, EI 400, w/ Kodak D76 1:1
d) Fuji Acros 100, EI 400, w/ Diafine
c) Ilford HP5+, EI 400, w/ Kodak D76 1:1
d) Fuji Acros 100, EI 400, w/ Diafine
e) Fuji Neopan 400, EI 640, w/ Diafine
Process
I am using a hybrid process, which is to say that it is analog (film) through to the production of the negative, and then a digital process is used to scan the negative, manipulate the image, and print. The digital portion of my process is greatly influenced by having started out printing in the darkroom. Somehow, I still think a bit in terms of of things like graded papers, dodging and burning.
Much like our appreciation for the growl of a Blues guitar as it distorts through a vintage tube amp, I am very partial to the curves, rather than linear response, that is inherent in each type film, developer, exposure (e.g., N-2), and paper.
There are endless 'religious debates' with valid points made by both the purists and digital sides. But the bottom line is that you just need to use a process that works for you, enhances your creativity, suits your style, and enables you to produce images that please, at least yourself, if not others. This process works for me. I like working in the light, and I am happy that this process is 'green' in the sense that its puts way less chemicals down the drain.
Much like our appreciation for the growl of a Blues guitar as it distorts through a vintage tube amp, I am very partial to the curves, rather than linear response, that is inherent in each type film, developer, exposure (e.g., N-2), and paper.
There are endless 'religious debates' with valid points made by both the purists and digital sides. But the bottom line is that you just need to use a process that works for you, enhances your creativity, suits your style, and enables you to produce images that please, at least yourself, if not others. This process works for me. I like working in the light, and I am happy that this process is 'green' in the sense that its puts way less chemicals down the drain.
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