The good ol’ days of shoelaces had its moments but this century has quite a few that sometimes disappear under the radar. Technology can be wrangled to suit one’s needs. Self-isolation these days forces one to put on a thinking cap.

A couple of years ago a former subject of mine who now lives in Spain longed for the days when she would come to my studio and we would shoot for fun. She told me that she missed those sessions so much that there had to be something we could do. I suggested that we connect via Messenger video and that I would shoot the images on my monitor with my digital camera of whatever she might do with her phone. Somehow after a first experimental session she lost interest.

But I have found one fabulous subject. She is Emily who lives in Victoria. We managed to have one session in my studio before the quarantine became final. When I suggested to her that we might continue our photographic relationship she was eager.

I was not really prepared to what seemed a long interim between her yes and the moment that happened today. Why is this longish period?

Emily is a thorough person who happens to be a very good photographer. She found and bought a compact tripod to mount her phone on. And then she practiced.

And she practiced.

Today’s session had me most nervous. Even though I was able to give her instructions, I felt I was doing something very new and unlike Emily I could not practice on my own.

I found that there is a texture to some of the shots that come from my monitor and from the scan lines produced by it. It is an old-fashioned cathode ray monitor. Most of the pictures I took at 1/30 second with my camera set at 800 ISO. The texture appears randomly. Most of the pictures are not tack sharp but I find that part of the charm.

 The rest of the charm comes courtesy of Emily who has a face. And the rest is pretty good, too.