FOREST SCENE, BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS 1978

Dogwood Tree in Forest 1978

My legacy is my toned black and white silver prints.

However, I often had a second camera with me which was loaded with 120 Ektachrome roll film. During the seventies and eighties, many of these images found their way into Annual Reports and other commercial publications. For over thirty years these images have remained in dark storage for later use.

In 2009 I converted many of my favorite color images to digital and completed my final book: From the Blue Ridge to the Shenandoah Valley and Beyond. This publication spans a period of nearly fifty years and includes numerous essays about the images and how they were made. More about this later. Presently, I am searching for a good publisher.

Left click on image for larger presentation.

JACK JEFFERS WITH TWO ORIGINAL SILVER PRINTS

Jack with two original silver sulfide originals circa 1980

People who have purchased or admired Jack's work have often commented about his unique presentation style.
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If you will look closely (click on image to enlarge) you will notice that Jack uses two or three outside bevel-cut mats that are mounted to a full cut back mat, but what is totally different about his mounting is that the original, including the mounting board, is also cut at a bevel and laminated to the bottom mat which makes up the back of the presentation.
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Jack refers to this as his three dimensional mounting technique and the reason he started doing this early on was because he did not want his early mats to come in contact with the print. Even though he later switched over to four-ply rag backing, he continued to use this early matting technique.

WINTER LANE ©1979

WINTER LANE

From the Appalachian Collection

This is a prime example of pre-visualization.

I spotted these trees during the summer months of 1978 and returned the following winter to make this image with the addition of a fresh snowfall.

Without the snow to bring out the abstract design of the trees and trail, the image is simply a jumble of trees and bushes.

When giving lectures to art groups back in the seventies and eighties, I would often use this image preceded by a second image made during the summer months from the same spot to illustrate how pre-visualization worked. I was always surprised at how many people failed to spot the basic concept until I flashed this image on the screen.

Winter lane was made in central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

To view a larger image, left click on the lane.

ROCKFISH VALLEY ©1975

It was early evening when I made this image from mile post one along the Blue Ridge Parkway in western Virginia.

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This was what some would call a "grab shot." I just happened to be driving along the ridge for the pure joy of being atop the mountain. As usual, my camera pack was in the back seat so the rest of the story is history. The view over Rockfish Valley to the east was well worth the stop.

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To view a larger image, left click on the clouds.

A SHENANDOAH VALLEY BYWAY ©1975

This image was made along a back road in West Augusta County, Virginia in 1975.

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The photograph was converted from a 2 1/4 " Ektachrome transparency to digital in 2009 as part of a major project to preserve a large collection of Shenandoah Valley images in color.

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Many of my vintage color images, such as the one you see here, may be seen in my new book following publication.

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To view a larger image, left click on the image above.

HIGHTOWN ©1980

A SILVER PRINT FROM THE JEFFERS' COLLECTION

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You are looking down at Hightown from Monterey Mountain. Villages are small and quaint in this NW corner of Virginia and when winter sets in it can be windy and very cold. This was such a day, and I had to hold the tripod down to keep the whole thing from blowing over.

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What you see here is a mirror image and I had a number of people ask me about this original at art exhibitions because they recognized the scene. "Something is wrong" they would say. "This photograph doesn't look right." And I would tell them that I reversed the negative because I preferred the mirror image to the original view. To make the story sound more realistic, I would say that this is what you see in your rear view mirror as you drove away from the scene. And this is true. I have flipped many negatives to improve the lead-in and overall composition.

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This is also a prime example of why I use snow as a means of covering up distractions. The image becomes an abstract in design. All of the bad stuff that you do not want to show up on the original image is buried under a foot of clean snow. And I make it a point to be on site before the snow is disturbed.

-To view a larger image left click on the original.

HIGHLAND LANE © 1979

VIRGINIA'S LITTLE SWITZERLAND

Highland Lane was made in the extreme northwest corner of Virginia following a snow storm.

Note the split rail fences on either side of the lane.

During the first few decades of the last century, the forests were thick with giant chestnut trees but a blight ravaged the forests and by the late nineteen thirties entire stands of this majestic tree had been wiped out. To this day, the only reminder of the American Chestnuts are a few old stumps and partially covered log shells which are randomly scattered along the wooded ridges of the Appalachians.

On one of my earlier posts, I used a knot hole from an old Chestnut log to frame a blood root--a harbinger of spring along the Appalachians. It was posted on July 3, 2009. It is a lovely example of a piece of aged American Chestnut.

Because of the straight grain and durability of the wood, this tree was commonly used by the early settlers for building log homes and outbuildings. The split rail fences you see here could easily be close to a hundred years old. The tree shown to the left is one of the many sugar maples which are quite common throughout Highland County.

To view a larger image left click on image above.