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 Expanding His Focus
For Third Book, Richard Duncan Ranges Otsego County COOPERSTOWN Art happens. “I don’t try to manipulate nature, I try to harmonize with nature,” photographer Richard Duncan remarked, spinning along Route 28 in his Honda CRV, Canadarago Lake glistening to the east. To the west, the Baker Octagon Barn came into view, Duncan’s subject. A few days before, Richard had been walking in his garden in Hartwick. “Suddenly, I discovered this plant. Suddenly, I became aware of it,” said the artist whose photographs epitomize Otsego Lake and Cooperstown for tens of thousands of fans. “I’d never noticed it before. It was an herb that, it turned out, would be beneficial to me at this point in my life.” Things happen. Some photographers shudder at the variables Duncan welcomes. They work exclusively in their studios, with total control over subject and lighting. “Nature has so many variations,” said the photographer, pulling into the driveway and checking his hand-held Garmin GPS unit to determine longitude and latitude. “For me, that’s part of the game.” Richard Duncan came to Cooperstown in 1998, as he tells it, with $3,000 to his name, a beat-up Hasselblad and a bicycle, after years of studying art, teaching photography, studying Eastern religion and immersing himself in martial arts in Boston and on the West Coast. He worked in local restaurants and spent some time as manager of Fairy Spring Park, all the time capturing the beauty around him in every guise, throughout days, evenings and dawns, the four seasons ‘round. In 2004, he approached Jane Forbes Clark and proposed an exhibit and book. She liked his work, and the result was “Otsego Lake: Past & Present,” published in the summer of 2005. Last Christmas came a sequel: a vastly expanded version of Louis Jones 1949 slender black-and-white classic, “Cooperstown.” This one contained 225 photos, including 167 of Duncan’s full-color images and a new chapter on the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. The two volumes, priced under $40, are steady sellers in the museum shops and local bookstores. Since, Richard has been ranging Otsego County, from charming East Worcester, where many homes are under renovation, to the Butternut Valley, where human foot has trod for 10,000 years – “the trail was a foot wide and a foot deep by the time the white settlers got here” -- to Canadarago’s shores. He has conferred to with the community historians in every town in the county. He has delved into photo books from a half-century ago and more, looking for inspiration from photographers who have gone before. “There are a lot of beautiful houses in upstate New York; some gorgeous little villages,” he observed. “What amazed me was some of the scenic views. The variation in altitude around here is just amazing.” The octagon barn, with its stone first-story and wooden superstructure, is an icon in its neighborhood. When the WPA mural was painted in the Richfield Springs Post Office, the barn was a central image. For almost a quarter century, it has been on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s still a working barn, storing farm equipment. When the photographer began his work, Paul Szeflinski tractored over from mowing hay in a nearby field to check out what was going on. Given the number of images Duncan has recorded in so many places this year, you can see why the portable GPS would help him keep things straight. He also maintains a neatly inscribed notebook, where marked maps act as a backup. He unpacks his Hasselblad from metal suitcases in his SUV’s truck. The camera body and three lenses --a 50 millimeter, an 80 and a 120 macro for closeups -- are cushioned in foam. If the word “photographer” evokes images of shouting papparazzi or a chorus of clicking shutters from a crowd crouched at the front of a Senate hearing room, watching Richard Duncan works requires a mental readjustment. He’s deliberate. He attaches the camera body to tripod, which he cradles against his shoulder. And he deliberatively circles his prey. An image in his mind, he stops, sets up and peers through the view finder, framing the photo. “Take a look,” he’ll say, and the clarity made possible by Hasselblad’s legendary lenses is instantly evident. He triggers the shutter by depressing a plunger at the end of a 20-inch cord. Duncan still uses primarily film, (although he owns a Leica digital.) The 2 1/4-inch film is four times the size of a 33-millimeter image. Each roll is good for only three shots. Each roll costs $6, plus $6 to process. He has used dozens, perhaps hundreds, on this project, which is coming to an end. Deadlines happen. From time to time, he sits down with his patron and they review every image, setting some aside and reserving others for future cullings. Paul D’Ambrosio, New York State Historical Association vice president and chief curator, is his editor. By Dec. 1, “everything” is due in the hands of the designer; 200 negatives have already been scanned to create proofs, and another 200 must be done by the deadline. By March 1, the designed book is scheduled to be in the hands of the printer, Brodock Press of Utica, which will again scan every negative to its satisfaction. As with his last two books, Richard Duncan will virtually live in the plant for the week to 10 days it takes to prepare for the printing. The goal is to published the book by Memorial Day, in time for the launch of the summer season. | Richard Duncan Oct.5, 2007 | | Jan. 04, 2008 | Local Honor Roll | Pages From The Paper | july 6th 2007 | Hall of Fame Friday | Hall of Fame Saturday | Hall of Fame Sunday | Hall of Fame Monday | July282006 Archive | Aug042006 Archive | Aug112006 Archive | Aug182006 Archive | Sept012006 Archive | Sept082006 Archive | Sept152006 Archive | Sept222006 Archive | Sept292006 Archive | Oct062006 Archive | Oct132006 Archive | Oct202006 Archive | Oct272006 Archive | Nov032006 Archive | Nov172006 Archive | Nov242006 Archive | Dec012006 Archive | Dec082006 Archive | Dec152006 Archive | Dec222006 Archive | Dec292006 Archive | Jan052007 Archive | Jan192007 Archive | Jan262007 Archive | February092007 Archive | February162007 Archive | February232007 Archive | March162007 Archive | March232007 Archive | March302007 Archive | March302007 Archive | April132007 News Archive | Chris Gentile | Obituary | April272007 Archive | May112007 Archive | May112007 Archive | May252007 Archive | June 22, 2007 | July 13 2007 | Sept05 2007 | Sept 7th 2007 | Aug 31st 2007 | Local Law Parking | October 26, 2007 | Nov. 2 2007 | Nov. 16, 2007 | Glimmerglass Oct 5,2007 | Nov 16., 2007 | November 30 2007 | Nov. 30, 2007 | Dec. 07, 2007 | Dec. 14, 2007 | Dec. 21, 2007 | Dec. 28, 2007 | Jan. 11, 2008 | Jan. 18, 2008 | Jan. 25, 2008 | Feb 1, 2008 | Feb. 8, 2008 | Feb. 22, 2008 | GlimmerGlass Feb. 15, 2008 | Sports Feb. 15, 2008 | Feb.28, 2008 | March 7, 2008 | March 14, 2008 | GlimmerGlass March 14, 2008 | March 21, 2008 | March 28, 2008 | April 4, 2008 | April 11, 2008 | April 18, 2008 | April 25, 2008 | May 9, 2008 | May 2, 2008 | May 23, 2008 | | Our Services | Contact Us | Great Links | Return Home | Classified Ads | News Archive | Cooperstown Homes | Calendar -Best Bets | Letters to the Editor | |
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