"The Road Most Traveled is one of the most personal images I’ve taken, as it features my beloved Australian Kelpie of 21 years, Blue. The image was appears in my first series and book, Within Shadows (Charta, 2011) and was shot during our daily hike in 2006 at Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills. It was created with one the first handmade medium format, film cameras and lens prototypes I built over the past twenty years. Effects are achieved entirely in-camera, rather than with post-processing manipulations. Since 2005, I have created twenty-four handmade medium format film cameras, primarily made out of plastic, vintage camera parts and random household objects, with single-element lenses molded from hobby plastic and rubber. My cameras have between one and three shutter speeds, so controlling the light involves stacking numerous filters, as I do not have the luxury of multiple apertures or shutter speeds. Learning to overcome the extensive optical and technical limitations to achieve effective results has involved years of practice and refinement, especially with moving subjects, as in the case with my dog, Blue."

~ Susan Burnstine

Dear Friends,

Susan Burnstine's The Road Most Traveled is a moving tribute to both innovation and connection. Her handmade camera required immense technical skill and patience, especially to capture something as elusive as this perfect moment of Blue in motion. Her loyalty to film and handcrafted cameras brings a sense of timelessness and intimacy, and Blue's presence adding to that poignancy. It is an image, embedded with years of experimentation and love, telling a story that is as personal as it is technically remarkable.

This wonderful image will be featured with many other great ones in our upcoming exhibition
“Woof, Woof: The Dog in Photography” opening, Saturday, December 7th, 2024 and on view through March 1st, 2025. An opening reception will be hosted between 4-6pm Saturday, December 7th. More details to follow.

Peace and love,
Peter

Peter Fetterman