Long ago, on another planet (1973)

[Erik Lund]

I have a feeling this could turn into a very long and extensive thread,,, Very nice documentary style!

[David Paterson]

Thank you so much, Frank, Mike and Erik.

Mike - one of the sadnesses for me is  that I have thousands of b/w negatives (and 40,000 transparencies), the vast majority of which will never be scanned or seen by anyone, including me. It's just far too big a task. When I finally accepted that I had retired, I threw out approx. 20,000 b/w commercial negs, but my personal work is still intact, and goes back to 1965. I'll try not to let that make me feel old.   

[Akira]

No, no relationship. I stayed in their tiny village for about two weeks in 1973 and have been back there quite a number of times. I never saw any of them again, but while I was with them a strong bond of friendship existed.

I am also very used to sheep - my brother was a farmer and always had sheep; we usually have sheep in the field next to our house, and occasionally we have to chase them out of our garden; they do love to eat roses.   

The man in the second and other images seems to resemble you.  After reading your reply to my comment, I thought he could be your grandfather...

[David Paterson]

The man in the second and other images seems to resemble you.  After reading your reply to my comment, I thought he could be your grandfather...

Yes, he is a very good-looking guy, so you could easily think he might be related to me . . . . . . .   

[Akira]

Dave, I'm floored...

[FredCrowBear]

Fantastic images!  Maybe it is time to reconsider that book.  These deserve a wide audience. 

[David Paterson]

Fred, thanks for your very kind comment -  as a matter of fact 12 of these images will be included in a book which I am working on right now. It will be produced by Blurb.com and this means that only a small number of people will ever have an actual book, however I'm looking at ways to make a pdf version freely available.

[Jacques Pochoy]

Really great pictures ! I'll look at the Blurb's selling store if you make it for public selling :-)

[David Paterson]

Thank you, Jacques -I probably will put it for sale at Blurb - I'll let you know.

[Ann]

Terrific work, David: wonderfully expressive portraits. 

Those of us who shot film need to give it another look because, if it was processed and stored properly, there are probably some real treasures locked away in those negative sleeves.

After Nepal's back-to-back earthquakes a couple of years ago, I realised that I had extensive coverage (shot in 1972 on colour negative stock) of a way of life and of treasured historic buildings which are now no more.

My Nepal series is here:
http://shelbourne-america.net/Historic-Nepal/index.html

We had taken our two very young children right round the world on a global adventure during the summer of 1972 and although I had developed my film I had printed very few frames so none of us had ever seen the pictures.
The Nepali tragedy got me scanning the whole of the rest of the huge number of photographs from that journey and Blurb printed a book for me to give to my fellow intrepid adventurers for Christmas.

[Anthony]

Ann, I do agree, particularly because the world has changed do much since some of us started taking photographs.  Looking back, it sometimes appears that we lived in an entirely different world.

The big problem is the scanning process is so tedious.

The benefit is that once old photographs are liberated into digital life, they can be shared with many people.

[Frank Fremerey]

Terrific work, David: wonderfully expressive portraits. 

Those of us who shot film need to give it another look because, if it was processed and stored properly, there are probably some real treasures locked away in those negative sleeves.

After Nepal's back-to-back earthquakes a couple of years ago, I realised that I had extensive coverage (shot in 1972 on colour negative stock) of a way of life and of treasured historic buildings which are now no more.

My Nepal series is here:
http://shelbourne-america.net/Historic-Nepal/index.html

We had taken our two very young children right round the world on a global adventure during the summer of 1972 and although I had developed my film I had printed very few frames so none of us had ever seen the pictures.
The Nepali tragedy got me scanning the whole of the rest of the huge number of photographs from that journey and Blurb printed a book for me to give to my fellow intrepid adventurers for Christmas.

Dear Ann! First time I have seen the full coverage. I remember a thread on the old site with very few of these  in it. Great series!!!

[David Paterson]

Thanks, Ann, I'm very pleased that you like them. Your lovely images of 1972 Nepal are exactly how I remember 1979 Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan - very little had changed during the intervening years.

How to deal with an already much-reduced film archive of perhaps 25,000 b/w negs and 50,000 transparencies - in all sizes  from 35mm to 10x8" - is something I am trying to come to terms with; it's not easy to come up with a manageable regime which carries a reasonable chance of preserving all the best work, while getting rid of all the inferior stuff.