We now call the “UOP Water Tower” simply Burns Tower. When Joel penned this on the sleeve in 1962, he may not have known about the Burns dedication.
The dates from Joel on this sleeves are Nov 1962-June 1963, possibly the timespan of his 4×5″ construction negatives in this particular sleeve from the Jessica Fong’s Collection of Dardis negatives.
From the University of Pacific website we borrowed the following screenshot:
Some of the images are shot on infrared film, which results in darker blue skies and lighter colored green foliage.
Infrared film view of the same view clearly shows a different interpretation of the view when it comes to overall rendering.
Last water tower construction image from Joel in this series shows an almost completed water reservoir, central to this design. This negative is on regular film. Joel made sure to capture a tight crop of the scene.
To complete this blogpost, we retrieved few more images from the UOP website for continuity. FIrst one is of the ribbon cutting for the Burns Tower, still under construction
Last image is a very nice color rendition of this imposing Gothic Tower. Photographers for the last two images are not listed on the UOP website.
Joel wouldn’t be Joel if he didn’t include few other images in this sleeve. I’m assuming these are from the same time period, 1962-1963.
Two images below. One shot on regular B&W film stock, The second one is the same church on infrared film. Based on evidence so far, Joel engaged in systematic experiments comparing infrared film with regular B&W film for visual contrast.
“Daniel Harter and his carpenters built this church on Church Street in downtown Jackson in 1868. In 1853, Armstead C. Brown sold the local Catholics his former residence, which they had been using for church services and it sufficed until 1855 when a new church was built. The 1862 fire consumed that building and in 1868 the current church took its place. A new bell arrived in 1870 but in 1878, it was blown down along with the belfry and cross, which wasn’t replaced until 1894. St. Patrick Catholic Church continues to house it’s faithful to this day.“
The rendition of foliage on the infrared film is striking, as is the detail in the sky. Light clouds, more like water vapor, become visible. This is definitely a print-worth photograph.
Last two negatives are most likely part of a 1963 Stockton Regatta. Joel has more images from this event, these seem to be lost in this particular negative sleeve. No further references written down by Joel.
The boat in the background is the “Islands Mariner”.
Cheers !
Finding Joel Pahl Dardis 