shop window

I didn't think anyone would notice. The number is actually a reference to shot number 95. I had the idea that if I included a physical number of the shot in the frame itself, it would help me keep track of the number of shots taken. Also, I kept a very detailed leatherbound book of each shot, it's location, the camera used, the film, the lens, the camera settings, my assistants, what the weather was like, the intended development and a little note or two as to what I had been doing at the time of the shot.

Before the trip, I very carefully made 1000 small ceramic tiles in my home studio, each with a very special antique glazing that I thought would look nice in Italy. I guessed that 1000 would be enough, although I actually ran out and had to quickly find a local potter to make some more tiles for me on short order . .it was very expensive and embarrasing. Each was numbered sequentially, hand lettered (well, numbered) and fired in my home kiln. For each shot, I tried to find an inconspicuous location where I carefully placed or mounted the tile for the shot. There were times when I got a little lazy and thought about using the same tile for several shots, such as when I was bracketing, but quickly realized that it would defeat the purpose of my system. SO I did in fact use a separate tile for each shot.

The only bad thing about the system was carrying all of them around, as I never knew how many shots I would shoot in one day and so carried around 250 tiles with me each day. When the shot was finished, I carefully packed the tile back into my bag (I am not sure why I saved them all, I guess I am sentimental that way). Funny enough though, I met a very intersting gentleman who was painting outside of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. He mentioned that he was redoing his bathroom in his apartment and was describing an idea he had where each and every tile in his bathroom would be a different design. I think he was thinking more about some kind of floral design, but when I showed him the tiles he was ecsatatic and offered to buy them on the spot! I told him I would trade for one of his paintings after I was done using them and he agreed. SO at the end of the trip I met him again and made the switch. Good thing I did too, because they were very heavy to bring over and I was not relishing the idea of bringing them all back.

Anyway, there you go. If you look at a couple of my other photos really close, you may be able to see them in semi-hidden places.

Thanks for the nice comments.