I have just finalized an agreement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Idaho to raise funds to help support their wish granting activities. The Make-A-Wish Foundation’s mission is to grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. I personally know of three children who have benefitted from their generosity. One of them is my cousin’s son who passed away after fighting cancer.

I have volunteered to donate twenty percent of the sale price of my prints, excluding taxes, shipping and frames, from March 1, 2011 to August 31, 2011. When I sell framed prints, I factor the price of the frame at my cost.

These donations will apply to all prints sold from Artistblue Gallery in Nampa, Idaho and from my shows at Aaron Brothers in Boise, Idaho.  Sales on the website outside of Idaho will be donated to a local children’s charity.

I will be artist of the month for May at the Artistblue Gallery located in the Karcher Mall next to the Burlington Coat Factory. All my sales at this event will receive a coupon for a discount valid for the purchase of one frame. I have some of my prints hanging there at all times.

I will also be at Aaron Brothers the second Saturday of April, May and June 2011. The exact dates are April 9, 2011, May 14, 2011 and June 11, 2011. I will be at Aaron Brothers on those dates between noon and 4:00 p.m.  Anyone purchasing one of my prints, will receive a coupon for a discount on the purchase of one frame.

All my prints and canvases are printed with archival quality materials which will assure that you will be able to enjoy them for years to come.

I also guarantee your satisfaction, in other words if there are any problems with one of my images on paper or canvas, I will gladly replace it. If you order a print online and you are not completely satisfied, return the print to me and I will refund the price of the print to you within 30 days.

Photographs appear very differently when displayed in an internet browser compared to actual prints. For this reason, I also offer 4×5.5 sample prints at a cost of $10.00 USD each to give you an idea of the quality of my prints. If you place an order for regular prints after ordering sample prints, I will return the price of up to three sample prints for each regular print with your order.

If you wish to purchase prints from my website, you can either purchase them directly from my website using PayPal or any Credit or ATM card. If you are using a Credit or ATM card, choose PayPal and you will be given the option to use your card by pressing where it says “Don’t have a PayPal account”. You can also place the order with me via an email or by telephone. My email address is marc@marcplouffephotography.com and my telephone number is (208)921-0900. If you call me, I would appreciate it if you call between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Mountain time. All prints purchased from my website will be shipped within two weeks of the receipt of the payment.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/marcplouffe1155 or http://twitter.com/marcplouffe

I invite you to join me and the Make-A-Wish Foundation in helping to make wishes come true for children that have life threatening conditions.

To learn more about Make-A-Wish visit www.idaho.wish.org

Thank You

Marc

I consider my work as fine art photography and I call them images rather than photographs. Various people use different names such as art pictures, photo art, art photography, art of photography, artworks, pictures of nature, best photography, contemporary art, landscape photography plus a few more to describe what I describe as fine art photographs. I have no problem with that, everybody can make there own choice as to what terms they want to use.

I will now describe briefly each gallery on my website.

Eclectic Collection
This gallery is unique in the sense that the images are not part of a single project and there is not a common theme for this group.

In this gallery you will find a variety of images of flowers, trees, driftwood, streams, reflections, ponds, a stump, a Joshua tree, palm trees, the moon, a spider weaving her web. You will find various colors such as brown, yellow, red, pink, grays, green, black, white and blue, which can complement several decors.

Early Work Collection

This is the second unique gallery because it contains an assortment of images without a common theme. These are images that I created over thirty years ago. All these images are black and white. Some of these were scanned from prints, while others were scanned from the negatives.

This is the only gallery where film was used, i.e. this is traditional photography, which has been digitized.

Graffiti in a back alley in CabbageTown, Toronto, Ontario

All these images were shot in Canada in and around cities and towns such as Kapuskasing, Hearst and Toronto, all in the province of Ontario.

There are a variety of subjects such as doors, a boardwalk, old buildings and structures, walkers, graffiti, a tree trunk, old wagon wheels, Peter and Jean with his fedora.

Columbia Road Estate

All the images for this gallery were shot on an abandoned property on Columbia Road south of Meridian, Idaho. The house on this property has some furniture strewn inside and it is obvious that it has been vandalized.

You can find images of air vents, light bulbs, windows, doors, an old shower, a bathroom, a bird nest in the pantry, a heating oil tank, and a toilet with a blue padded seat.

Donnelly Valley

The window of an old shed looking out to a meadow and the Rockies in Donnelly Valley, ID.

Donnelly Valley is located north of Boise, Idaho along highway 55. This area includes the towns of Cascade, Donnelly, McCall, Rosebery, lake Cascade, several farms, a number of abandoned properties and it is in a valley surrounded by the Rockies. This area seems to be somewhat economically depressed compared to other areas in southwest Idaho.

In this gallery you can find images of antique barns, barn wood, textures, logs, license plates, doors, abandoned properties, old wood, antiques, a Model T Ford, a private campground, an old saw blade, trees, images of nature, photographs of horses, a real cowboy on a horse, farm equipment, old fencing, a kneeling barn, a dirty rag and much more.

Silver City, ID

An old horse saddle sitting on the handrail of a home located in Silver City, ID which is classified as a ghost town from the 1800’s.

Silver City, Idaho is a ghost town located in the Owyhee Mountains south of Boise. This town started as a mining town in the late 1860’s, was sort of abandoned in the 1920’s, abandoned in 1968 and revived in 1972 as a vacation town, primarily occupied in the summer.

Visiting and photographing Silver City was a different experience. It was like a walk in the past. I did get to visit the interiors of some homes. The rules in Silver City are that homeowners can modify the interiors of their homes or buildings in any way that they wish, but must maintain the original look for the exterior. Some of the interiors of the buildings I visited were much more modern that the exteriors, some with some modern amenities.

The exceptions that stand out are the hotel and the drug store. The interiors of these two buildings are completely original.

In this gallery, you can find images of cottages, cabins, old houses, corniches, interesting wood moldings, an old saddle, antiques, collectibles, out houses, street signs, the Masonic lodge, cemeteries, the catholic church, used and abandoned cars, stained glass, wagon wheels, monuments, headstones and much more.

I hope that you can view this gallery and enjoy some nostalgia, as much as I did, creating this gallery.

Clouds over Idaho

Translates to after the night or the next morning.

In June of 2010, I was on my way to Donnelly Valley, to shoot more photographs for that gallery. On my way there, I started noticing some amazing clouds. That moment inspired me to start this project. It makes sense, considering that in southern Idaho, we have some very interesting weather patterns with some incredible cloud formations.

I will be adding images to this collection over the years as time and weather conditions, permit me to do so.

In this gallery you will mostly see clouds as the background of various images such as hills, homes, buildings and much more. My opinion is that this gallery reflects the theme of my work, “In Search of Solitude” more than the other galleries.

Words that come to my mind as I review this gallery are fury, solitude, strong, seul, sinister, touched, tranquility, lost, lost paradise, tempete, storm and the warmth of sunlight. You will notice a variety of colors such as blue, pink, green, brown, gray, white, black, gold, yellow, purple, turquoise in a variety of intensity and tones.

These images were all shot in southwestern Idaho from Sun Valley to Cambridge via Boise.

Indian Valley

An old barn and a cattle loading ramp, in Indian Valley, ID.

My first trip through this area was somewhat of a mistake. I went to McCall to work on my Donnelly Valley project, and once there, decided to go past McCall. I then found, New Meadows and decided to continue and drove through Indian Valley. I went back several times to enjoy lady solitude and produce this gallery. This area seems to be less economically depressed as other rural and farming areas in the northwest.

What can you see in this gallery?

You can see a variety of landscapes and sceneries featuring a Massey Ferguson tractor, farms, abandoned buildings, farm equipment, reflections, hills, a watch tower, horses, ponies, barns, cattle ramps, old wood, an irrigation wheel, a grader, an old pickup truck, a country store or general store, antiques, for sale items, agricultural sceneries, the moon, a community church and much more. It is a very colorful area and you will notice a variety of colors in various hues, tones and intensities.

Silver City Drug Store

A poster from Kodak advertising Autographic Kodaks and Brownies in the Drug Store in Silver City, ID which is classified as a ghost town from the 1800’s.

While visiting Silver City, I noticed the drug store. My primary from that point on was to find the owner and get access to photograph the interior because from the limited view that was offered through the windows seemed extremely interesting.

Once I located the owner and was given access and permission to shoot the interior, my first steps inside this building confirmed that my first impression while looking through the windows was an understated observation.

As I walked in, an incredible feeling overcame me. The doors on this drug store were locked in the 1920’s and everything remained as it was. The current owner purchased it about ten years ago and everything is as it was in the 1920’s. It was truly a walk in the past.

Let me explain the layout. The front of the building was the drug store, which served the local population for their needs for medication, drugs but also had other items for sale such as an accordion, harmonicas and picture papers. In the back of the building, which looks like an addition, is the doctor’s office. The doctor, it seems was also the dentist, optometrist and embalmer.

Amongst the items you will see are various displays, a baby pram or baby carriage depending as to whether you lean toward the British vernacular or American, a variety of dentures, a coffee grinder, the doctor’s lab coat, a Hohner harmonica display, a Kodak poster advertising Brownie and Autographic cameras, mailboxes, antiques, medical equipment, and various medications. Also, you will see an antique scale, a liniment bottle, absorbine bottles, an Underwood typewriter, an X-Ray machine, oil lamps and the chair for patients.

If you know of any building that is anywhere close to the condition of this one, please call me or send me an email with the particulars. I will greatly appreciate it.

Common Terms

Common terms related to fine art photography and fine arts are as follows.

Photographers, artwork, fine arts, photograph, modern art, contemporary art, art online, art pictures, photo art, art photography, photo galleries, art of photography, artworks, pictures of nature, pictures of animals, best photography, famous photographers, black and white photography, landscape photographer, photography websites, fine art photography, fine arts photography, fine art and photography. If you know of any other, please let me know.

My Photography Blog

I also maintain a blog that gives me a medium to express myself primarily through words rather than images. Feel free to visit this blog and read about my work and whatever crosses my mind when my writing juices start to stir up.

You can find it by going to the top of this page and hitting the BLOG button. I appreciate any comments or thoughts that you have concerning my images, my texts and my thoughts. You can contact me from the top of this page by pressing on the CONTACT button or sending me an email to marc@marcplouffephotography.com

You can view my website at http://marcplouffephotography.com

Thank You

Marc

I went back and reviewed some of images in my Early Work gallery and tried to remember the circumstances surrounding each image, my frame of mind at the time and what kind of mood I was in.

I then repeated the same process with some of my more recent images, such as the Columbia Rd Estate gallery. I finally realized that for most of the images that I consider worthy of classifying as fine art photographs, I was in a peculiar frame of mind, alone and with no distractions to clutter my thoughts.

A good example is the Columbia Rd Estate gallery. I found this abandoned property while driving around looking for subjects to photograph. That first day I took 96 photographs, quiet a bit considering that this was a small, one bedroom house. I then came home to start processing these images with the goal of producing approximately one dozen images to my liking.

The Window

After several hours spent working on these images with Photoshop, I decided to go back and retake some of my photos with certain changes. Another goal was to create at least a few different images. After my shoot, I came home and started processing my images of the day. I was satisfied with not even one image from that day.

The next day, I went back to repeat my efforts of the previous day, but with the same results. The summary is, day one I took 96 photographs and produced 8 satisfactory images. Day two I took 36 photographs, produced 0 images and day three I took 61 photographs and produced 0 images.

My next question was, what is the difference between the three days of this project. The obvious conclusion is that I was in a good frame of mind to create good images on the first day, but not on the other two. Also, I had very specific technical goals for the last two days.

What about my frame of mind and my mood on that first day? I considered several human emotions such as loneliness, happiness, sadness and a few others, but none of them were consistent for that first day and all other days in the last several days when I produced images that satisfy me. Loneliness was definitely not the issue, my best friend and wonderful wife keeps any hint of loneliness for me at bay.

During my search for an answer, I found an article on psychology.com titled “What is Solitude?”. The URL for the article is www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200308/what-is-solitude if you are interested in reading it. For those who aren’t, here are a few extracts that I found interesting.

“Loneliness is marked by a sense of isolation. Solitude, on the other hand, is a state of being alone without being lonely and can lead to self-awareness.”
By Hara Estroff Marano, published on July 01, 2003 – last reviewed on June 30, 2009

“Loneliness is a negative state, marked by a sense of isolation. One feels that something is missing. It is possible to be with people and still feel lonely—perhaps the most bitter form of loneliness.
Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive and constructive state of engagement with oneself. Solitude is desirable, a state of being alone where you provide yourself wonderful and sufficient company.
Solitude is a time that can be used for reflection, inner searching or growth or enjoyment of some kind. Deep reading requires solitude, so does experiencing the beauty of nature. Thinking and creativity usually do too.”
After this I realized that I have been enjoying solitude for several years without knowing it. Needless to say, my attitude concerning solitude has changed. Which is why I have titled this piece “In Search of Solitude”.

A red Massey Ferguson farm tractor sitting on an abandoned property with weeds growing all around it, located in Indian Valley, ID.

My website is organized by galleries, of which I have eight currently. The images in these galleries are offered as fine art photographs which are available as limited edition prints, signed, dated and numbered. Each image is limited to no more than 50 each, with the first 5 being artist reserve. All materials used in the production of these images is of archival quality, to ensure that the viewers will be able to enjoy them for several years.

I will add more galleries as they become available. Each gallery has images from one specific project such as the “Silver City Drug Store” and “Indian Valley, ID” or images that have a similar theme such as the “Early Work” gallery.

The “Early Work Gallery” is a collection of images that I originally created primarily in the 1970’s, with some possibly before of after this period. All these images were originally done with one of the several film cameras that I owned during that period.

Some of these images I have scanned from original prints that are well preserved, others I have scanned from the original negatives. The ones scanned from the prints, I originally processed myself in my darkroom, which I no longer have. I don’t miss the smell of the chemicals and the long hours spent in complete darkness or working with the red lights.

This gallery will grow as I find time to scan and process more prints and negatives. I am currently learning new scanner software that I purchased with a new scanner recently.

The “Silver City Drug Store” gallery consists of images of the Drug Store and doctor’s office in Silver City, ID, which was apparently closed down in the 1920’s. The contents of both the store and the doctor’s office are still there as they were when the door was locked for the last time in the 1920’s. It seems that the doctor was also the optometrist and dentist.

I was given a window of three hours to photograph the inside. When I walked in, it was truly a visit to the past, the early 1900’s. If you look at this gallerie, you will see various items from the store, that were for sale such as the accordion, a baby stroller and various drugs and compounds. In the doctor’s office, there are the various instruments for health care including instruments for dental and eye care.

I am currently evaluating a number of abandoned properties in the area and some properties north of Boise, near towns such as Featherville, Fairfield and McCall.

The “Eclectic Gallery” is a collection of various images that I have created in the last few years which are not part of a specific project, which I think may be of interest to my viewers.

I hope that you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.