As I said in an early newsletter: I love this idea of photographers sharing their New Year’s Resolutions. This year mine was to expand my creative practices and to challenge myself with new mediums.
So, this past weekend I took a 4x5 class at Photoworks at Glen Echo Park in DC. It broke my brain, in a good way. I learned about things like the Scheimpflug principle, tilt, shift, swing, and rise. I fumbled through both days this past weekend, learning to load film, loading a camera with a film back, and checking a whole bunch of things multiple times, including my focus on that ground glass — all before pressing the shutter. I laughed a lot about how much I didn’t know. It forced me to slow down. And it definitely made me respect those who do it really well, and in high-pressure situations, that much more.
(Now for the photos below: the ones on the far left and far right of me working with the 4x5 camera and under the dark cloth were taken by my classmate, fellow DC photographer Jen Packard. The second frame is a portrait I took on the 4x5 of my classmate Blessing, behind a clear sheet of plastic. The third one is cheating — it’s an image taken with my iPhone and processed in the Hipstamatic app to look like a 4x5. And the fourth one is that same still life, with the real 4x5 camera.)
I’m devoting this week’s newsletter entirely to some great large-format links.
Mad props to the über-talented Victoria Will who uses a large-format camera in her editorial and commercial work. Her work for brands like Carhartt and Redemption Rye is absolutely stunning and her tintype portraits of actors and directors at Sundance is now a book. I also really love this behind-the-scenes video of her at work with the 4x5.
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Big ups to Jay Clendenin, one of the best portrait photographers working at a newspaper. He constantly blows my mind when his gorgeous 4x5 portraits of celebs like Lady Gaga and Don Cheadle run in the LA Times.
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Lastly, a tip of the hat to the legendary David Burnett who photographs everything from The Olympics to impeachment hearings on his big camera. And I love the why. He said: “If you're shooting with film holders, you have created for yourself a major impediment. Nobody did that to you, you did it to yourself. And in a way, you could say to yourself 'well that was kind of a dumb move, why can't you just shoot cool digital cameras like everybody else?' And I've got Sony a7s and a9s and I love those cameras. But one frame, having the wherewithal and the guts to slow down and figure out when that one frame is supposed to be shot, that's the real deal.”
This is an interesting read on the Afghan box camera (kamra-e-faoree) and its demise. Which led me down a rabbit hole to the Afghan Box Camera Project where I was eyeing all of these gorgeous hand-colored images.
Ethan Moses aka Cameradactyl built a 20x24 “Polaroid” camera.
A good primer on choosing a 4x5 camera, in case you’re looking.
If we’re talking about incredible large-format work, there’s none better in my #photobook library than Richard Avedon’s In the American West.
Okay the hipstamatic iphone shot is cool but the real deal shot of the flowers looks so good.
When I went to photo school (2014) we were the last group that had to take a large format class and I loved every second of it. The cool factor, the challenge, the tricks. Loved it. And I'm grateful for your round up of links that I can explore. I can't wait to see what you do in large format!
When I finally stopped fighting the idea of being a photographer, I told people I wanted to make 8x10 portraits of people and print them in platinum. I wound up doing that. It's fun.