Author: Harry Bartlett

Volcano Watermelon Wedding Cake

A film by Alex Wolfe I helped with back in the 1980s. It’s based on a road trip we took with a car from Auto Driveaway Corp, a company that relocates cars in the US. It was a Pontiac 6000 if I remember correctly that needed to be in El Paso. We ran out of gas late the first night in northern Pennsylvania and figured the car got about 10 mpg.

It was quite the road trip with stops at Elvis’s Graceland where we were ‘escorted’ out for filming as well as at the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries in Baton Rouge by the Jimmy Swaggart police, a notable late night on Bourbon Street the night Divine passed away with fellow John Waters fans, and then searching for the grave of Maire Laveau, the patron saint of voodoo in a cemetery down in the Desire projects not only in the wee hours of the morning but the next day as well. Then on to Austin, El Paso, Juarez, LA, Tijuana, and down the California Baja in Mexico, at times camping, getting riled by drug runners, and then Alex and friends drove back to LA and I continued south taking a 24 hr bus ride to Cabo San Lucas, the southern tip, wanting to continue across the gulf of California to Mazatlan just because but no boats, just a barge with cows so made my way back to the US.

The film was shot in Super 8 and includes recordings we made from the car radio. Before the trip, we recently watched Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March which influenced the sequencing. Alex is an award-winning filmmaker and producer – see more at Vimeo and his work profile.

VOLCANO WATERMELON WEDDING CAKE from Alexander Wolfe on Vimeo.

Here’s the flyer for the movie which was shown around the Boston area.

And here are a few photos.

Rings

Not exactly sure where this is from, possibly Lisbon or Madrid. Not looking very expensive but powerful in what they mean, I love photographing rings on displays like this, often on sidewalks from street vendors with the light and gold so bright and shiny and romantic.

This was taken while traveling from England to Ireland and down to Morocco. Just me and a camera bag full of Nikon lenses and Kodachrome 64, a Eurail and Youth Hostel pass, a copy of Let’s Go Europe, and a sleeping bag. 6 weeks on the road meeting people and photographing morning, noon and night, such was the life of a twenty-something in the 80s between jobs looking for adventure with nowhere else to go.

Dublin

Along the coast, Dublin Port where the ferries land this was taken. After staying up all night with newly met friends playing guitar on the ferry drinking endless Carlsburg beers, the next morning walking onto Ireland for the first time it was quite the beautiful spot and this lad having parked his bicycle and just looking out on the peaceful ocean scene, a truly beautiful city and country Ireland is.

London

Somewhere in London, a city of classic architecture and statues back in the 1980s. While traveling from city to city down to Morocco I spent my days looking for photos and this one appeared in an odd way, a backlit statue emphasizing the form and adding to a haunting sense of ancient Greece. Though the facial expression can’t be seen I think it can be felt, making it even more poignant.

Embrace

In Lisbon by the Tagus river, I believe… two young lovers in an embrace oblivious to the industrial tankers nearby. Traveling to Lisbon for the first time in the 1980s, I had taken an overnight train from Madrid. It was enchanting indeed with the seven hills. I remember going for drinks with people I met from the train to a beautiful restaurant-bar on the Barrio Alto in a building from the 15th century – eclectic food and jazz and wine and far from home.

The Queers

Bobby Goodreau was the lead singer for the Queers before Joe King took over and Joe is still at it to this day last I heard. The first time I saw Bobby was at Johnny D’s in Allston, not to be confused with Johnny D’s in Davis Square. This place was an old dive bar with boxing photos and a mixed clientele, to say the least. If memory serves me right Bobby was swinging from a chandelier singing the infamous Queers anthem “This Place Sucks”. It was amazing.

Bobby went on to play with the 8 Balls (4 guys in a band, get it?). I have a recording of him covering Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting by Sir Elton. Couldn’t beat Bobby’s attitude and energy – those were the days.

This photo was taken around 1986 at Chet’s Last Call in Boston which was a bar on Causeway Street across from the Boston Garden. Chet’s didn’t have a liquor license so they sponged it off of the Penalty Box which was another bar right below. You can see the letters behind Bobby saying “Chets”.

Chet’s was a true underground hole in the wall. Jack Stevenson put on many a film night there showing films by Bunuel, Kenneth Anger, and other notables. The photo was used for promoting Queers shows as well as movie nights put on by Jack.

Tom Climbing

This was taken with a Bolex 16mm film camera. Kodachrome 25 most likely shot single frame. It’s from a slide show installation called The Adventures of Tom. This was taken after I had met Tom at Andover and is in Hadley MA when he was a student at UMass. Tom is a talented musician and the soundtrack included a song he wrote called Flashy Flashy about Edie Sedgewick.

Blue Anne

This was taken for a studio lighting class at RISD. It was mostly a portrait class and fashion-oriented taught by Paul Krot. Anne was in Apparel Design. It was shot with a 4×5 camera and Ektachrome transparency film.