JACK JEFFERS:- THE DECISIVE MOMENT 1977

FIRING #5

My experience at Cass, West Virginia in January of 1977 was one of the most dramatic experiences that I have ever had in my career as an artist. I was working on a railroad documentary when this image was made of this country’s oldest operational gear-driven locomotive.

The snowstorm came up as I was exposing negatives in the maintenance shop, but a shrill whistle outside on the track alerted me. I visualized a great photograph in the making as I rushed out the door and set up my tripod and camera in the blowing snow.

In cases like this, I kept a clear plastic bag over the camera until I was ready to make an exposure, and then I jerk it off moments before I squeeze the bulb on my shutter release cable. A small umbrella also works quite well in a less than a moderate breeze. In this case, it was cold enough to allow the snow to bounce off the camera.

Two things happened in rapid succession that enabled me to capture what you see here. The steam vapors that were covering the nameplate started to shift back and forth in the breeze giving me a clear view of the engine’s nose. I made several rapid exposures, but I anticipated something much better so I stood my ground until the engineer stepped out of the cab to make a visual inspection of the boiler that was being tested. At this precise moment the nose was clear and just as the man turned his head toward the engine I made this exposure. It was not staged.

This is what one master photographer dubbed as “the decisive moment.” One split second sooner or later and you have lost it. Generally, you do not get a second chance. And, of course, there is one additional term: Anticipation.

Special exposure criteria and printing techniques can be applied to bring out details in the dark areas as well as in the snow. I still recommend that people study Ansel Adams’ books, THE PRINT and THE NEGATIVE for more specific instructions.

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Constructing a Background for Flowers

This image of a Blootroot goes back to 1970 when I took a group of serious photographers from the Camera Club of Richmond to the upper ridge line of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The location was along the northern stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and we could actually look out over the Shenandoah Valley and see where I lived at the time.

I have always been troubled by people who step on flowers when hiking, or destroying them when making their photographs so this would be the perfect time to give a new group of photographers a few good tips in photographing wild flowers on site.

I was using this single Bloodroot as an example because the background was totally uninteresting. and any photograph made at this time would look just like a thousand others that have been made by countless photo artists.

I was explaining a number of possible solutions that would be of help, but I was also looking around while I was talking so that I might spot something that would solve the problem. I was working with my primary medium format at the time--Black & White. Also a second camera that was loaded with 2 1/4 Ektachrome 64 roll film. I believe his was back when E-4 processing was used.

The background I was looking for was within several paces so I ambled over to a large chestnut log and picked up the knot hole you see in the image above. It was very easy to put in place and it turned out to be a winner. A few in the group made their own backgrounds but this set so attracted the group that, as I recall, everyone took their turn making images of this lone flower. Some had tripods; others did not. I used my large Tiltall. In addition I used a small square of heavy-duty aluminum foil to reflect a bit of light into the set. The toning was accomplished in the lab later on.

That tripod is still as good today (2009) as it was the day I purchased it. I perfer simple equipment that lasts for years or decades, and I am not all that impressed with many of the gadgets that I see on the market today. The only fault I ever had with this tripod was that I thought that it was a bit heavy, but by the time you add all these fancy ball heads and what not to the new gear, it actually turns out to be about the same weight as "old trusty."

I thought this was the end of the story for this set, but some years later, one of the members of that group wrote me a letter from his retirement home in Florida and provided me with some additional news regarding that particular field trip.

Bob told me that he went back to that site after the day trip was over and grabbed that knot hole and put it in the back of his car. I had placed it back where I originally found it and never thought any more about it, except when I view the framed B&W image which still hangs in our hallway. He said he had used that prop many times over the years because it was just so perfect. Or words to that affect.

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THRESHING ©1975

I was driving along some old country roads in central Virginia searching for old farm scenes when I spotted the backside of an old threshing machine sticking out of an old barn. I was intrigued so I stopped and knocked on the door of a nearby farmhouse to inquire about it.

Most people are real nice if you approach them properly and take the time to share their interests. In this case I asked about the old machine that appeared to be out of service. Much to my surprise, I was informed that they were planning to give it one last run come July and that if I wanted to show up with my camera I would be more than welcome to record the event. This was still winter, so I left my name and telephone number and asked if they would give me a collect call when the wheat was ready to thresh. I lived nearly sixty miles away on the opposite side of the Blue Ridge, and I realized right then and there that my chances of being there for the harvest were slim to nil. In fact, I soon forgot about it.

On July 12,1975, I received an early morning phone call informing me that if I wanted to make my photographs I should head right over because they were starting to fire the tractor up. This caught me totally off guard, but fortunately I was home and was able to make a quick change in plans. I was ecstatic as I rushed to pack my gear and head over the mountain.

It was a hot, humid day and the sweat was running profusely down my face as I set up to make my photographs. The operation was in full swing, and the entire family was in on the harvest. I made many exposures to document this great event, because this was history. The last time I had witnessed an actual threshing operation was back in the late thirties when these great machines made their rounds from one farm to another during the prime cutting weeks. The moisture content of the plant had to be exactly right and when that happened everything came together at once.

I had one final image to make and it would include the entire operation, but I was waiting for the old man to come over and join in. He, on the other hand, did not feel comfortable about being photographed so he stayed pretty much behind me. I held back in anticipation but it never happened.

The whole scene changed when I had to step back from my camera and tripod to wipe the sweat from my face. It was getting into my eyes and running down my face. I was about to give up and pack it in. But when the old man saw me step back he figured I was wrapping it up and he wandered over to the exact spot that I had visualized and leaned on his cane as he put in his final two cents worth to the other fellows. It was beautiful. All of the elements came together at once. I had three or four exposures left on the roll and it took but a very few moments for me to expose the negatives that made my day. In fact, it made my year.

Could I attribute this image to luck? The answer is no. It was a case of being in the right spot at the right time and anticipating what might take place. Finally I made the exposure at the decisive moment. This is often the case when it comes to photojournalism. With landscapes, you generally have a great deal more time to contemplate.

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HIGHLAND BARN & FENCE ©1981

Let's switch to a color image that was made back in 1981. I call this Hghland Barn and Fence, and this image was captured in NW Highland County Virginia. This is one of many 2 1/4 images that make up the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley Collection.

When making images of this sort, the lighting has to be absolutely perfect and that means taking a chance and making a long round trip of a hundred or two-hundred miles based on a good weather forecast. I had already scouted this site out and captured several images during the dead of winter. My plan was to go back later and capture the same image in color with a touch of fall on the maple trees.

I was living in the Shenandoah Valley at the time so I was up before sunrise and arrived on site at the perfect time. The clouds were moving fast and that gave me the opportunity to wait for some interesting light patterns.

What I did not realize was that I was not the only person to arrive at that same site. After climbing through an old rusty barbed wire fence with my pants still intact I was surprised to see none other than David Harvey, ace photographer for National Geographic, standing on that same hill with another artist from Richmond. I knew David so I gave him a wave and went about my business.

It's funny how things often turn out in the end, but my photograph shown here made the front cover of a National Geographic book titled Valleys, from the Shenandoah to the Rio Grande. The inside title page featured the same image you see here but with a thick covering of snow. This is one of those stories that photographers often re-tell when there is a group of other image makers standing around sharing some of their favorite tales.

During this past winter (2009) I scanned all that were left of my 2 1/4 collection and they are now on a disc. After all these years, the transparencies were all in excellent condition. Fortunately, with digital, I was able to take out most of dust that had been imbedded in the imulsion since day one.

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Mountain Man ©1971

MOUNTAIN MAN ©1971

I ran across this old fellow in the backwoods of West Virginia. We met quite by chance near the little town of Marlinton.

His name was Barnhouse and it was the sort of name I would never forget. I spotted him from the highway splitting white oak shingles for a nearby cabin. I struck up a conversation and learned that he lived back in the sticks somewhere near what the locals referred to as Beartown.The local postmaster later told me that he was a hermit and had been referred to as Mountain Man.

I made several close-up exposures with my old twin lens Yashica Mat 2 1/4 film camera and bid him farewell.

It was this image that took a best-in-show at my very first juried art show. The print was a 16 x 20 sepia toned and was donated to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmong, VA

The following quote was made by Fred Brown in a feature article that appeared in the September 24 issue of the News-Sentinel, Knoxville, TN. The article was describing a one-man show at Carson-Newman College.

Once you have seen a Jack Jeffers photograph, you won't have any trouble recognizing another.

Look at the eyes, the hands, the facial expressions of his subjects. Or the richness in the landscapes as they rise and fall, roll across mountains, ramble along a snow-covered fence or take you to a field of fodder shocks and corn stubble.

A singular quality radiates throughout his photographs that gives them the style and grace of a master behind the camera. And yet, there is more. Jeffers captures the character of the person or land he has centered in his lenses.

He finds the soul, the essence, and then conveys it to the viewer in a way that evokes painted images caught at the precise moment of a mothered creation.

There is one other quality about his work. Jeffers' photographs are rendered in black and white. There is starkness to what he plants on paper, an outline and shadow of life and the living found in the great camera artists such as Ansel Adams.

Fred Brown

News-Sentinel

Knoxville, TN 9-22-1994

A NEW EXPERIENCE

This is a new experience for me. My first entry on my blog site. Had anyone told me that I would have been doing something like this a few years ago, I would have said they were nuts.

Let's go back to the fall of 1972 when I entered my first juried multi-meda art show. I was in the midst of my documentary of the Appalachian Mountain People and and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and I was ready to pit my work against other media: painters, sculptors, mixed media, and so on.

Problem number one: The jury committee would not allow me to apply because photography was then considered"An unacceptable medium." In other words, photography was not considered as an art form. Needless to say, that ticked me off, and I took my issue directly to the art committee and the press and after considerable efforts to make my case, including some bad publicity for the art committee, photographers were allowed to exhibit in the show. However, the prize money was still half of what it was for other media.

There were artists exhibiting from Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, DC and beyond. The show was being judged by two fine judges who were artists; one of which wrote the weekly art column for the Richmond-Times Dispatch. The second was a well known painter who was a guest artist and teacher at the University of Virginia. Both were well qualified.

During the awards ceremony, I was awarded best-in-show. I was shocked! A major feature appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch stating that: IT FINALLY HAPPENED; A PHOTOGRAPH WAS AWARDED BEST IN SHOW. This was a major breakthrough for photography and from then on art shows began opening their doors to photography. Of course, the media was also a great help in raising the level of photography to fine-art status.

JACK JEFFERS WITH ORIGINAL SILVER & OIL 2005

Yep, that's me holding a framed silver & oil image of a Wyoming aspen grove. All of my B&W toned images are printed for long life and each is signed, numbered, and dated on the front of the image. Additional personal information is hand written on the back side of the mat by the artist.

For more information about the artist and his work, go to:

http://www.jeffersfineart.com/

To see a much larger image, click on Jack