Some of the photographs are now available as single prints in the store at an introductory price, you will want to own several for your collection or for gift giving.

A magazine format portfolio of the collection is in the works and will be released in the next couple of weeks, stay tuned. In the mean time, enjoy the cover of this portfolio on the left.

Look at thousands of photographs and store them in memory. Later when you see in the viewfinder something reminding you of a familiar picture, don’t click the shutter.

Food for thought!

When he found out that I also did photography, he asked me to photograph a few watches for his Web site catalog. I gladly did that, and learned the idiosyncrasies of watch photography from Roger. The watch hands had to be at 10 passed 10 or 10 minutes to 1, and the second arm if there was one must be stopped at a 25 passed position so as not to cover other features or the branding information. In any case, later on I ended up redoing his Web site with an easy to use content management system which he loved to update when he wanted. One thing that always baffled him was the uploading of the new watch photographs, so I would do that part and then he would update the content and add the price.

Our work relation and friendship grew, partly aided by Jan’s baklava. He loved Jan’s baklava and we used to take him a few pieces whenever Jan made some, or called him for a cup of coffee and baklava. He would oblige willingly! He used to advertise in a couple of magazines with simple photographs that he used on the Web site, and the magazine would do a simple layout for him. He asked if I could take some sample advertising photographs of his watches to see what could be done. That was a new type of photography with its own problems, mainly one of controlling reflections without totally eliminating them. One photograph lead to another, and in the end GNT, Incorporated used my photographs in about a dozen or more issues of International Wristwatch Magazine. To control costs, I would on occasion take a watch in trade; we were both happy with that deal.

He had the private label brand as I said, Eklund. I asked him how he came up with the name and he said he simply liked the sound of Eklund. George Eastman once said the same of his world-famous brand, Kodak. Coincidentally, GNT had no meaning either, Roger thought the combination of G-N-T looked and sounded just right for him.

Roger was battling a kind of leukemia which you could not tell from his jovial and generally happy attitude and his colorful complexion. Periodically he would undergo treatment but everything seemed under control. Unfortunately, things got worse and we lost Roger a little over a year ago (October 5, 2010) and GNT, Incorporated stopped its operations. At the request of his brother, I took down the GNT, Incorporated Web site and put in its place a single page remembrance for Roger.

With this post of the photographs he used in the magazines, I wanted to remember him and bring closure to his death. These are some of the photographs I took for Roger and we chose some to go to print. I did not scan all of the magazine ads, but there are enough to give you an idea of the transition from one medium to another. He was very proud of his products and the ads that featured them. The Atlantic watch ad came out a little too dark and I believe he had the magazine redo that in the next issue.

We, who knew Roger, miss him. I remember him often when I check time; I always wear one of his watches from my collection that he helped to build.

Here is Roger’s Collection of Watches

Here is the slide show, Newport – Westport From Air. You can see the individual photographs in the gallery.

This is a special post to wish my friend Ergun, and my wife Jan happy birthday, their birthdays are one day apart. When I took these photographs of Hagia Triada, Ergun or Jan, or both were with me. Happy birthday Ergun, happy birthday Jan.

We have been visiting Ayvalik, a nice little town on the Aegean coast of Turkey, for quite a few years. The town has many old and interesting buildings from old houses to old churches and many others in between. One building that is near where we stay is an old, dilapidated church, Hagia Triada (Holy Trinity). Unlike many buildings in Ayvalik, houses and churches alike, which are built almost entirely using stone, Hagia Triada structure uses a good amount of wood, including on its columns. If I remember correctly, the local name for the church is Tahtali Kilise, meaning Woody Church or something to that effect. The framing of the structure, at least the second level construction, as well as the columns and arches are made of wood. From an article I found on the wooden churches in Ayvalik, I learned that the core of the columns are cypress tree trunks about 8″ in diameter with additional wood lattice and plaster around them. (See article for more.)

As you approach the 19^th century building it is impossible to avoid a feeling of imminent collapse of the whole structure. The wood frame of the second floor with fallen stucco or plaster cover mostly gone makes the interior visible through the cracks. A few semicircular steps in the front lead to a portico. The wall under the portico with three doors is covered with graffiti and the doors are falling apart. Braving the danger of the collapse one can (at that time I took some of the photographs could) wonder inside to take a close look and a few more steps there lead to the main floor. Space is sizable and the roof, supported by columns has a huge hole in the center. The rest can fall anytime. Some of the decorations on the ceiling and on the columns are discernible and they give a sense of what it might have been like in its good days. Lately, the doors are locked for safety concerns and one can only look through the windows. Apparently it was used a storage facility by the local State Monopoly Administration (Tekel Idaresi). Their name is on the no trespassing signs warning the would be visitors entering the building is dangerous. Dangerous, it is!

I am not an art historian and have no idea about the significance of Hagia Triada Church in Ayvalik. It may or may not be a significant structure from historic, architectural, or artistic perspectives. It must, however, have local significance as it once was a part, perhaps a significant part of this town. It stands mainly, at least for me, as a monument to lack of ownership of local history and general neglect of the past and the old. Buildings like Hagia Triada could have been kept up and their lives could have been extended for future generations to enjoy them and the history they represent. For various religious and cultural reasons this building was left to die a slow death. I have seen other examples of this ignorance of local heritage in other places I visited in Turkey as well. Hagia Triada is the symbol of this neglect in Ayvalik. I photographed a whole neighborhood in Adana with its old houses left to a similar slow death. It is not about one building or two, or even ten that are important, the main point is the general neglect of the past.

So again, Happy Birthday Ergun and Jan.