Karl B. 1990-1996 chromogenic print 30" x 40"  

Bridget B. 1993. chromogenic print 30" x 40"

"Yesterday was my Junior Prom which I did not attend. Ever since I was in the 9th grade, I’ve been thinking about the Junior Prom. What if I don’t get asked? And in the end I didn’t get asked. So I decided I was going to go anyway. Lots of people go without dates. I made myself believe I didn’t want a date. I had my dress, I had everything all ready to go and the second I woke up, I started crying. I cried all day. I was too humiliated to go by myself. My mom said I can take the dress back. Most of my friends went. I’m waiting for them to call and tell me how it was. The thing is I did have someone I could have asked but my parents wouldn’t let me because he’s black. My parents say I don’t need that kind of date. He’s just a friend but I talk to him every night. He’s the only black kid in his school and he hangs around all white people, so he’s just like me except for his color. I get so frustrated. I wish I could explain to my parents that despite what they believe— I believe something different. And I couldn’t tell him that my parents are prejudiced. He would have felt like crap. Because it isn’t his fault. So I just told him that I didn’t feel like going."

http://www.reframingphotography.com/content/adrienne-salinger

Here are two photographs from large format photographer Adrienne Salinger. These images are from a series of teenagers in their rooms published in a book in 1995 called My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms. Included is the information about the photographs, as well as one of the stories. As we were given the project to research large format photographer, it helped me with the series of photographs I had just shown in critique last week. I was inspired by how these photos are shot, they are almost raw but have enough of a pose to them that they can be well composed. She is a big inspiration with her style of photography, because it's something I used to shy away from but I'm now getting used to thinking like that.

I choose Brett Weston 

and John Shaw 

Brett Weston first began shooting with a Graflex 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" camera. It is abstract and its a study of line and texture.  John Shaw uses a nikon D4 and D800E camera. 

Research Presentation Proposal

The large format photographer that I chose is Ansel Adams. Ansel Adams photographed landscapes. He used a Box Brownie, Pocket Kodak, a 4x5 view, Zeiss Millifles, a 6-1/2 x 8, 1/2 glass plate camera, 4 x 5 camera, Hassleblands, 35mm, and Polaroi cameras. Ansel liked using a large format 8x10 camera but His favorite medium format camera was a 6x6. He liked how the large format changed the depth of field and how he could change the perception of the image.

 

The photographer that I chose who does not use a large format camera is Tony Sweet. Tony photographs nature, fine art, stock, workshops, and private instruction. He uses Nikon D800, Nikon D200 (dedicated to infrared), Nikon CoolPix A, and Fuji X pro 1 – w/ lenses 14mm; 18-55mm; 55-200mm; 60mm macro. Tony has work published worldwide in every medium.

Research Presentation Proposal

©Michael Ray

For my large format photographer I chose food photographer Michael Ray. He shoots with a Arca Swiss 6x9 view camera, which is a blend between medium and large format, with a digital back. He likes shooting in large format because you get all the tilt and swing controls with the view camera and the digital back provides him with large files to work with.

©V.K.Rees

For my other photographer I chose is food photographer Vanessa Rees. She is a digital photographer based out of Brooklyn, New York. She shoots with a Cannon 5D Mark II. She incorporates many different lighting and set styles with in her food photography including sections on her site for "Dark" and "Light" food.

Research Presentation Proposal

The two artists I chose for my research project are Gregory Crewdson and Ryan Schude. Both work in similar narrative styles, with a large production crew that helps them shoot. The use different photographic mediums, but either way the end result is an elaborate, stunning photograph.

Gregory Crewdson uses large format photography to help bring his elaborate narrative scenes to life. His distinctive use and quality of light in each photo sets his work apart from the rest. Each of his photographs evoke a quiet, solitary moment. He is a storyteller who directs every aspect of his photos.

Ryan Schude works in the digital format with a similar type of subject matter. He creates elaborate narratives with different environments, people, and props that require many hours of hard work with many volunteers. He tells not only one but multiple stories within the frame of one picture, which sometimes requires more than one shot. 

Research Presentation Proposal_Jason Ruoff

The Americans - Robert Frank

New York City - Stephen Shore

The two artiest I decided to focus on for my research project are Robert Frank and Stephen Shore. Both work in similar styles and with similar subject matter; they both focus on the "un-seen lives of American people." However, what Shore did that was much different then medium or small format shooters like Frank, was shoot street photography with a 8/10 view camera. He also went against f64 group by sometimes shooting in color. Shore did this because he believed that photographers should "go against that typical boundaries of photography."

Both artists used different photographic mediums and techniques but both focused on breaking away from the "photographic tendencies."

Research Paper Artists

The artist I chose who works in large format is Nicholas Nixon. He works mostly with people, including family, which I really enjoyed because I'm working with families in my senior project. Nixon's most famous works is titled Brown Sisters. Every year for 37 years he shot a photo of his four sisters. It's pretty amazing to look at the first photo and the last photo side by side to see how much they have grown and changed.

 

The second artist I found who works with a digital camera is Ugne Heniko. She did a similar project to Nixon's but instead of using sisters she used herself and her mother. By taking old photos of her mother she found and comparing them next to herself Heniko shows how similar looking her and her mother really are. 

The artist I am influenced on is Scott Blake. An artist who takes barcodes and other objects to form a pointillism image. Scott Blake was born in Tampa Florida 1976. Has exhibited in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Paris, Vienna and more. The creators of Adobe Photoshop recognized Scott’s work at the Adobe Design Achievement Awards held in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Each barcode is scanable and gives the viewer a way of interacting with the work. For his barcode work, Scott Blake takes well known images, and people, and coverts them into a barcode image.

Amy Goodman portrait made with 2,304 unique QR Codes that link to 9 years of "Democracy Now!" videos.

Landscape Memory

Thinking about landscape and memory made me think back this past summer when I went to New Hampshire to meet up with a bunch of photographers and hang out for a week. We were surrounded by so many beautiful landscapes - mountains, waterfalls, rivers, and lakes - that I knew I wanted to associate memories from these landscapes. This specific picture was taken at Ripley Falls in Harts Location, NH. Our group of 18 people hiked up to these falls and then dispersed in all different directions with our cameras. Some people climbed up near the top of the mountain, some went off to the side pool, and others stayed on the rocks near the bottom, and it was an incredible addition to the view of the landscape. Afterwards we all went to another waterfall just down the road, and I decided to stay behind and take in all the scenery with a few other of my friends. I felt so in peace at that moment, and that's what these pictures from this day remind me of. Memories of peace and new friendships.

Lanscape Memory

I chose a memory that goes with an interior landscape. This may just look like a nicely lit hallway but to me it's more than that. This is the hallway in the house my grandparents lived in until last July when my Grandmother died. I ran up and down this hallway more times than I could ever begin to remember. I've hid in that closet numerous times from my sister and cousins. I slept on the couch in the room off to the right every weekend for so many years. I also always admired the light during different times of the day in this hallway.

Landscape Memory

I had a lot of trouble coming up with a landscape memory until I thought about my hometown. Welcome to Canajoharie NY everyone! What you'll see in this photo is our famous dummy light. It's one of two that still exist today in the United States. The dummy light is such a central part of my town. I learned how to drive on these streets. I also learned how to parallel park, which was not fun. Behind the dummy light you'll see Canjo's main street. This is where I spent a lot of time hanging out with friends on weekends. This photo alone makes me think of all those memories I shared with my friends. We'd get hot chocolate at the local cafe during the winter and ice cream in the summer. Even though Canjo is such a small town we always found something fun to do. It's amazing how one photo can bring up so many memories from my past.

Welcome

Welcome to the communal blog for Large Format Photography.  This is the place for you to post your ideas, inspiration, success and woes.  Use this site as a way to communicate with your classmates and brainstorm.  Together we will spend the semester learning to love the view camera.  It will teach you patience, planning, structure and will make your arms really strong.

A couple reminders about posting information to this blog.  You will soon become a contributor to the blog, and have the ability to make posts and comments.  Whenever you post a photograph you should include the artist's name and a link to where the image was taken from.  To create the copyright symbol the keyboard shortcut is ALT + 0169 on a pc and Opt+G on a mac. 

When you post your own photos, be sure to give yourself credit as well!