The Gutter

While the gutter might be a perfectly hospitable place for my mind, it’s proven to be quite a hostile environment for my photographic prints.

That’s because, more often than not, those prints are destined for publication in ULTRAsomething magazine.

And since ULTRAsomething magazine is a full-bleed, perfect-bound publication, it has a spine that inevitably swallows the centre of every photo that spans it.

Even if I’m not so banal as to place the main subject in the middle of the frame, I’m often banal enough to put some other contextually important object there.

So every time I prepare a new exorcism, I grumble about how many photos get rejected simply because some vital element will disappear into the gutter.

And then I remember I have a website, and that websites don’t have gutters — so any photos with centre-oriented content can be published online and thus remain unscathed and unsullied…

… and all is well…

… until I remember I much prefer the photos be printed, which leads right back to magazines and the same old gutter issue…

… until I remember I could also sell prints, which by their very nature also don’t have gutters…

… and all is well…

… until I remember I don’t have a large enough audience to support a photographic print business…

… and so, instead, I write an article called “The Gutter,” simply so I can moan about it.

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©2025 grEGORy simpson

ABOUT THE PHOTOS : This is just a random smattering of quickly assembled recent photos, all deemed ‘gutter hostile’ for magazine publication. I probably could have illustrated this article with 80 photos, just from last year alone — such is the extent of this affliction:

Dichotomy was shot in Tokyo using an Olympus OM3Ti with a 40mm f/2 pancake lens on FP4+ pushed to ISO 200, and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50

Edo Machine was shot in Tokyo using an Olympus OM3Ti with a 21mm f/3.5 lens on FP4+ pushed to ISO 200, and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50

Appropriation was photographed with a Fuji Natura Black 1.9 using HP5+, pushed to ISO 1600 and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50.

Hex Peg, Square Hole was photographed with an Olympus OM3Ti and a 21mm f/3.5 lens on FP4+ pushed to ISO 400 and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:25

20 Naked Men was shot using a Fuji Natura Black 1.9 on HP5+, pushed to ISO 1600 and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50.

Bright Idea was shot on a Fuji Natura Black 1.9 using HP5+ pushed to ISO 1600 and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50

Cause & Effect used a Nikon S3 with 50mm f/1.4 on HP5+ at ISO 400. Developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50.

Multitasking was photographed with a Pentax MZ-S with an 85mm f/2.2 Soft lens on HP5+ at ISO 400. Developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:50

Hardcore was photographed in Tokyo using a Fuji Natura Black 1.9 loaded with HP5+, pushed to ISO 1600 and developed in Microphen stock dilution.

Phoenix in a Nutshell was shot with a Leica M6TTL and a Minolta 28mm f/2.8 Rokkor lens using FP4+ pushed to ISO 400 and developed in Rodinal (Blazinal) 1:25.

Forever Diamonded is a Tokyo selfie shot with a Fuji Natura Black 1.9 on HP5+, pushed to ISO 3200 and developed in Microphen stock dilution.

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