Figure 1 – The View up Palfrey Ct. Salem, MA.” (c) DE Wolf 2020.

I was wandering down Salem’s Historic seaport district the other day and found the quaint view up “Palfrey Court” of Figure 1. A lot of time it is worth pausing and taking a look up a narrow street, framed by houses now close to the street, and this view did not disappoint. I took the image with my iPhone XS and was actually pleased with the result except for an overly enthusiastic blue tint to the white paint from a cold February light. As I expected, the image yielded wonderfully to a little working in the stylized AI App PRISMA. I am slowly accumulating a set of historic Salem scenes, where PRISMA magically turns them into paintings. 

The operational word here is magically, because when I begin this blog I emphasized the magic of photography from the very moment of its inception with Fox Talbott’s “Pencil of Nature.” You’ve got to think about all the people oohing and thing at the Crystal Exhibition of 1851. Anything that adds to this magic, in the modern era, is simply part of the process. 

And please let me rail on a bit. I am getting mighty frustrated by STRICTLY Black and White user groups. Fine, nobody loves black and white more than I. But is toning allowed? How about duotone or tritone. Some of the best black and white photographs use these, and toning is certainly part of the great master Ansel Adams’ formulary. And then we have the wonderful Facebook Cloud Appreciation users group, no enhancement allowed. Yeah right! “More practiced in the breach than the observance.” And finally, we have iPhone Photo contests that insist that you use a phone-based editing app. Can’t call them programs any more! GET REAL PEOPLE! Sometimes I think that these people are more interested in rules than art.