Mud, Space and Spirit: Handmade Adobes

McCall, Wayne: - Photographing the "Mud Book" has been an odyssey unparalleled in my experience. From a chance glimpse of the manuscript, to a meeting in a Japanese restaurant in San Francisco, and finally a train trip over the Southwestern desert, I have been involved in a fascinating interlude, between the primal past and a harmonious present.As I try to relate my experience a montage of images swarms through my head: snow and mud, dark interiors, bright windows and skylights, long exposures, changing bags, cold feet, wide angle perspective, curious children, and camera-shy adults, plus many miles of travel sharing a tiny backseat with Alex, my camera. In these houses prevailed a feeling of mud and childhood fantasies, an adult extension of backyard forts and tree houses. Somehow, to say any more would take away from what my pictures tell about my experience with these people and their houses.Technical Data: Cameras-Linhof Technika and one old Nikon SP. Lenses-65 mm Super Angulon and 150 mm Sironar. Film-plus-X 4x5 sheets and plus-X roll film.