September, 2010 | Contemporary Daguerreotypes

Sep 24 2010

The death of logic

Published by CasedImage under Technology

Veteren daguerreotypist Ken Nelson recently sent in the sad news of his recent loss – the temperature controller for his mercury pot. “Dr. Fuzzy” got his name from his brain, a Love Controls 1600 Series Fuzzy-Logic Temperature/Process Controller. Obituary by Ken:

“Dr. Fuzzy”
5/13/96 – 8/24/10

After acting quite normally yesterday, Dr. Fuzzy failed to wake up this morning. All attempts at diagnosis and resuscitation failed. After two hours of attempting to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:40 p.m. All possible indications led to those solid-state areas where there is no possibility of access or intervention. Probable cause of death, as Meg put it, “a massive stroke.”

It’s comforting to me that he apparently died in his sleep. I will miss him. He was the quiet, steady, reliable type, a quick study of his own life’s mercurial ups and downs, though he was by nature a bit of a control-freak.

In lieu of flowers, please send any donations, in memory of Dr. Fuzzy, to CDags.org.

Updating us of the progress Ken writes:

Dr. Fuzzy’s new brain arrived a few days ago. He’s currently in surgery for the transplant, but it might be a while before he goes to school to relearn his process. If any daguerreians out there are going to go electric and are looking for a reasonably economical temperature controller, look to the Love Controls Division of Dwyer Instruments http://www.dwyer-inst.com The model number is Love Controls 16C-3. It’s a relay model that can handle a heating element that draws up to 5A at 250V AC. Input voltage is 100-240 V. I’ll keep you posted as to how well it works in my process. And, the tech support and customer service people at Dwyer are absolutely first-rate.

Dr. Fuzzy at his post, on the left in red and green, in 2009

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Sep 19 2010

Updated gallery – Casey Waters

Published by CasedImage under gallery updates

The subject of Casey’s first portrait commission has been added to his gallery. The sitter requested the portrait came just 2 months after Casey had been making images. A year and a half on and after the requisite steep learning curve, he now has a plate that Casey is happy with. As the process demands, persistence pays off, especially when it comes from both sitter and maker.

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Sep 12 2010

Heavenly presence

Published by CasedImage under Juried exhibit Atlanta 2010

D’oh! – I omitted to post one of the last submissions to the juried exhibit, apologies to the artist. Here are the last but certainly not the least, images submitted. So that makes 156 images from 24 daguerreotypists.