A Splendid Series of Events and a Camera built in Dresden
Monday, March 16, 2026
 | | Camellia x williamsii 'Donation' - 15 March 2026 - shot with a Fuji X-E1 and a LensBaby |
George Bowering - Barefoot He Was Rosemary's Flowers Galore Often in
these blogs I have written how I met Rosemary in Mexico City on December 15th
1967 and that by the 20th I had taken her to meet my mother in Veracruz. I then
add that we were married in the lovely neighbourhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City
on 8 February 1968.
In some bit
of tremendous luck I can bring many elements of that event here with pictures.
 | | 20 December 1967 - Mocambo, Veracruz - Pentacon-F Camera |
In 1959
while going to Catholic boarding school in Austin, Texas I met (did not know
that then) my mentor, Brother Edwin Reggio, C.S.C.. The latter initials stand
for Congregation of Holy Cross the same congregation of brothers, nuns and
priests that to this day run The University of Notre Dame.
The short
man forced me to learn to play the alto saxophone for the school band and gave
me a salary for cleaning the band room and catching mice. A few months after I
started that job I bought a Pentacon-F SLR for $100 in Adorama (still in
existence).
It was
because that camera had a self-timer and I had a tripod that I can put here the
photograph (the first of us together) taken on Mocambo Beach in Veracruz
sometime in the later part of December.
And just a
couple of days ago I photographed Rosemary’s favourite Camellia x williamsii ‘Donation’
in full bloom. We brought it from our Kerrisdale garden 7 years ago and it is
sight to behold. I melancholically smile when I look at it missing my Rosemary as
she knew her plants well before I ever did.
So today
Monday, March 16, 2026 I am able to join all those elements into this blog.
As for my
blog, which I started in January 2006, I was not aware that Blogger was Google
so that since then 6845 blogs later my Google presence is very large. Just last
week I was unable to find any interest in the media (Vancouver Sun, CBC,
Georgia Straight) that I was going to photograph the first Canadian
Parliamentary Poet Laureate (2002-2004) George Bowering who is 90 and is publishing two books
(one on poetry and the other a memoir of his living in Mexico). I told them
that I would give them my portrait for free.
So my blog
on Bowering (see link above) is sort of a secondary form of journalism.
Somebody has
to do it. I do. PS - because I can. Dresden (where my camera was made) was bombed by the allies in WWII even though it had no military value. The Ameicans bombed it in the morning with blockbusters and in the evening the British used fire bombs. A US serviceman was in captivity. His name was Kurt Vonnegut. In his novel Slaughterhouse Five he describes how lions escaped from the zoo to avoid the flames. In the mid 70s (1971) Vonnegut spoke at the Mexican American Institute of Cultural Relations. I went with Rosemary. I will never forget that in pointing out the famous photograph of Margaret Trudeau taken in a back alley where she show.... Vonnegut told us he coined the expression - "Open Beaver".
Isis Solarized Because I Can
Saturday, March 14, 2026
 | | Isis |  | | Kathleen Deas |
In that
other century, particularly when we were living in Kerrisdale I would tell my
Rosemary, “I am going into my darkroom for a while.” What I did there was to
fiddle, although a loftier term would be to experiment. One experiment was a
complete accident that I have never repeated. I put an exposed 8x10
photographic paper of an ecdysiast friend called Isis into the developer tray.
The phone rang so I turned the light to answer when I realized my mistake. I
quickly turned it off and I was rewarded by a perfectly solarized print.(Man Ray pioneered this technique).
My grandmother used to tell me, “Cuando el diablo no
tiene nada que hacer con el rabo espanta moscas.” That translates to, “When the devil
is bored he swats flies with his tail.”
Because
living alone with two cats produces a lot of idle time I experiment further in
this 21st century in my well lit oficina. Why do I do this? I like
that American expression, “Why does a dog lick its di..? Because it can.”
The other
photograph here is a sandwich of the now gone Polaroid Instant Negatives. In
that past century, without a scanner, all I could do was to print them. Now
here I put the two sort of sided by side and scanned them.
I hope that
these images do not bark as I am not yet a dog. But I can…
George Bowering - Barefoot He Was
Friday, March 13, 2026
 | | George Bowering - 12 March 2026 |
My Valencia,Spain educated grandmother often told me, “Más
sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo.” That translates to, “The devil knows more not because he is
the devil but because he is an old man.”
George
Bowering, the First Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate (2002-2004) who was 90 this past December, is ample proof
on my grandmother’s wisdom. Consider that at his age he is about to publish a
book of his memories of having lived in Mexico – Barefoot Gringo (UBC Press -
May 12) and a book of poetry – Pearl (Talon – Mar 31).
Because we
have been friends for many years I know that his Mexican Spanish is good.
Speaking Spanish at his home yesterday in the company of his wife, Jean
Baird, for me was a pleasure. On December
1st I went to Mexico City to photograph a 91-year-old blind
photographer, Pedro Meyer who is actively publishing books and taking
photographs as he can discern light and movement. I took my Asahi Pentax S-3
film camera that I bought used in Mexico City in 1962. The idea was to take the camera to it source. I photographed him with a softbox flash. The experience of
finding inspiration in a man older than I am, pushed me to pursue the idea of
taking portraits of Bowering with the same camera. Pedro Meyer - the Active Photographer
Because I
was keen on taking his portrait and assembling my equipment I did not listen
well when he told me that he had found a different way of writing poetry. But I
did hear that the cover for Barefoot Gringo is his photograph. And because
his Mexican Spanish is good he pronounces correctly the knife’s name “machete”
and not “mashete.”
 | | To be published May 12 - UBC Press |
While there,
Jean Baird clued me in on something I had no knowledge of. She talked about the
Al Purdy A-frame Association project. The house on the water where Purdy lived
at one time was going to be torn down. It has been saved and when it was raised
from the ground for repairs, Baird told me that they then built a new basement.
Now the house is used for writers-in-residence. I gather that Baird was a tad
shy about telling me how active she was and is with the project. The Al Purdy A-Frame Association
I asked
Baird and Bowering to provide me with either a first paragraph or a last one
from the the Barefoot Gringo. Before I purchase a book I always look at those
two paragraphs. With mystery novels I avoid that last one!
Here is the
last paragraph of Barefoot Gringo
and eating no
chocolates. I had apparently got myself in danger with dehydration, being an
old guy and all. I recovered slowly from that, and went back to my usual
collection of illnesses and imperfections. I also, for a while, continued the
habit I’d acquired down south – once every so often I would sit idle instead of
writing or reading, which coincidentally was the title of my new book.
Oh, little
waves
coming to
the beach
at La
Manzanilla,
I will miss
you.
Oh, big
round planet,
I will miss
you.
Because my
nickname for Bowering is “The Great Contrarian” I was not surprised at his
reaction when I placed his hand over his heart for my portrait. He said, “Alex
that is not my heart, that’s my pacemaker, my heart is further down.”
George Bowering - The Great Contrarian
More Serendipity & Less Zemblanity
Thursday, March 12, 2026
 | | Joe Wai |
Zemblanity,
coined by novelist William Boyd in his 1998 book Armadillo, is the opposite of
serendipity. It is defined as "the faculty of making unhappy, unlucky, and
expected discoveries by design". It refers to the inevitable discovery of
unpleasant truths or, more broadly, the inevitable onset of misfortune, often
brought about by one's own actions or system designs.
 | | George Bowering |
Because of
the blog I just wrote about George Bowering I have been thinking of that
expression I was told in my youth (forgotten who it was) that,, “Coincidence
happens more often than not.” George Bowering - Barefoot He Was
The reason
for my thought on this is that two architects, Joe Wai and Abraham Rogatnick
lived on the same street (9th Avenue) at the corner and their homes
were just separated by a wall. Across the street and on the corner is where
George Bowering lived. I wonder if they became friends because they were
neighbours or somehow they met somewhere else.
 | | Abraham Rogatnick |
There is
another moment of serendipity. I had my eldest granddaughter Rebecca in the car
when I went to pick up Bowering to go to a burlesque show at the Russian
Community Centre on 4
|