To call Francis Ford a fixture of the Milwaukee photo-culture would be a serious understatement. Frank, a Milwaukee native, has been photographing for nearly 40 years, always creating unique portraits in a style all his own. Having (in my mind) made a mark with his skillful large-format portraits, Frank has very, very successfully made the transition to digital capture.

Frank currently has a show on display at Milwaukee’s Cedar Gallery –what he calls “The Lifeboat Show.” I was lucky enough to meet with Frank recently, and to make his portrait at the gallery.

A couple quotes from our morning’s conversation…
+(re: Photoshop)..it can get you date..(really) Photoshop can do anything.”
+(re: the digital transition)…”a friend described it like this…digital technology is the train and it’s pulling away from you at the station. You can chase the train, maybe almost keep pace with it, but you’re never gonna fully get on it.”
+(re: darkroom printing)…”a (photo-)print in a (darkroom)tray is still a romantic thing. Computers are not a romantic thing, in any way, shape or form.”
Simply put, Frank rocks.

A prologue to a new chapter in my life, the return to England. It has been two months since I arrived back home after five years on the island of Tanegashima and surprisingly, the transition back into English culture has been relatively smooth. There are times of course, that I wish I was back in Japan but they are becoming less frequent as I re-discover the country I once knew.

I began looking at things in a new light. Carpets and wallpaper seemed alien to me after living in an apartment where tatami and fusuma were the norm. Chopsticks and soya sauce have been replaced with cutlery and HP sauce.  Rubbish bins with their wonderful green lining are a novelty – everyone seemed to take their litter home with them in Japan.

As I begin my new life back in England, I also begin a new phase in my photography – large format! Unlike my use of 35mm and medium formats, shooting with an old view camera is a slow and meditative process and one that I have fallen in love with.   The below photographs were taken with a Graflex Speed Graphic and an old WWII lens that was originally designed to take aerial shots of enemy targets!

A new environment for sure, but my passion for film photography hasn’t wavered and expect lots of new work here on my photoblog.  I am keen to exhibit my work and meet fellow photographers both on the Wirral and in Liverpool. If you are reading this and would like to meet up for a cuppa and some photos, please get in touch!

More photos

A day after the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy in Manila, I decided to take a look at the devastation it left behind. I went to visit the system of rivers that swelled up in and around Marikina, Cainta and Pasig. I brought my 4×5 along and 5 film holders loaded with enlarging paper.

Everything was still quiet. The rescue operation was still going on and the survivors were taking their well-deserved rest in the evacuation centers. I went to Marikina River, the Manggahan floodway and the Pasig rivers which are near where I live.

I took these pictures which belie the destruction they have caused the day before.

The Marikina River.

Across the Manggahan Floodway.

The Pasig River  in Cainta

The Pasig River in Bagong Ilog, Pasig

Today I developed (myself) my first 4×5 black and white negative!!!! It looks like bad because i snapped this photo on my macbook, and the subject matter itself isn’t fantastic. Our instructor told us to just take our first shot together looking out the window. But I’m still excited!

Taken with a Crown Graphic loaded with Lucky 4×5 enlarging paper.

C’est à Boran sur Oise. C’est assez rare de pouvoir approcher ce genre de batiment d’aussi près tout en restant sur le domaine public. J’aime assez les photos de sites industriels. A ce sujet, il y a un joli site d’amateurs qui postent des images de toute l’Europe, des sites modernes et anciens. Il y a surement plus de numérique que d’argentique mais bon. J’en aime particulièrement une, bien que pas forcément spectaculaire, c’est celle-ci. Toute une ambiance, on ne voit pas franchement les installations, on devine qu’elles ne sont pas loin. Cela me rappelle le secteur des mines en Lorraine.

MPP VIII - Symmar-S 150 mm - 4x5 - Fuji Provia 100F

Photographed by refractionless

Titlis (3,238 m) is a mountain in the Urner Alps of Switzerland. It is located in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland, overlooking Engelberg and is famous as the site of the world’s first revolving cable car. The cable car system connects Engelberg to the top through four principal stages (Gerschnialp, Trübsee, Stand and Kleintitlis (3,020 m). The last part of cable car way leads above the glacier. In Kleintitlis, it is possible to visit a glacier cave.
From wikipedia.

Wista 45DX field camera, Schneider 90mm F:8 Super Angulon lens, 20 year old Tri-X Pan, Rodinal 1:200 for 90 minutes.

– License

Hoje terminei uma nova engenhoca. Uma mistura de câmara 3×4 com um back 4×5″ para filme em chapa.

São seis lentes que disparam de uma só vez. Mas a câmara pode ser rearmada indefinidamente, ou seja, basta tampar uma ou mais lentes na hora da foto para deixar aquela área do filme intocada, depois destampar essas e tampar outras que já foram expostas. Enfim, dá para inventar um modo Lomo Action bem lento para a câmara 3×4.

O foco é fixo e fica a mais ou menos 1 metro. O diafragma vai de f/8 a f/22, chique! Há provisão para flash (PC e Hot Shoe): uau!

Teste? Ainda não, mas em breve.

A câmara veio com um back Polaroid instalado, foi só desaparafusá-lo e recortar tanto a câmara tanto o novo back com um serrote para que os dois encaixassem. Funcionou. A boa e velha cola quente deu um jeito. Por cima dela colei pedacinhos de GatorFoam preto para dar um toque gambiarra na câmara e garantir que a luz ficará fora e o escuro dentro.

Descobri que a alavanca de armar o obturador por ser usada em conjunto com o disparador para “travar” a câmara “acidentalmente” aberta, o que pode ser bem bacana para fazer o foco e planejar as imagens. Idéias!

Cela fait un certain temps que je n’avais pas posté, non pas que je manquais d’images, encore que, mais je ne les avais pas fait developper. Je suis loin de mes ambitions d’origine, une image par semaine.

Ici, nous sommes revenus à Gennevilliers, c’est un endroit que j’aime bien. Comme j’aime bien ces batiments en brique qui se dressent seuls, sans frères siamois.
Dans le coin, tout ou presque est en attente de démolition. Cet immeuble au fond d’un petit passage est vide alors que son voisin est encore habité. Pour combien de temps?
J’ai passé une heure devant ce garage à attendre que la voiture qui encombrait le passage parte. J’ai même pas vu durant ce temps, que le portail empiétait sur le batiment, c’est un peu dommage. Par contre, les deux pompes à essence valent le coup d’œil.

MPP VIII - Symmar-S 150 mm - 4x5 - Fuji Provia 100F

Kirill has some really beautiful captures in his relatively small flickr photostream. He uses several formats (6×6, 4×5, 8×10) to diversify his portraits and nudes. His pictures have a very peaceful vibrance to them, either because of the soft focus or his model’s soothing facial expression, most likely both.

lots more amazing work on his website

This started as a mistake.

I bought a 4×5 camera from eBay. I saw the pictures, and the read the descriptions. It was being sold very cheap, a Seneca b. A very old field camera. The lens is also a Seneca, very old and has very small full aperture, f/8. It arrived quite speedily and was delivered to my doorsteps. A very lucky transaction. Until I opened the box and discovered that it is not a 4×5 but a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4  camera. It was a beatiful camera, indeed, but I thought I could never use it, because one of the most difficult film holders to find are the 3×4s. Then I remembered that once, I got hold of a bunch of assorted film holders which I left with Jay Javier, so I picked them up one day and found out that only three holders were working. That means 6 shots. I could go on a walkabout  with just 6 shots. That means I will have to think a lot, before I shoot.

Here are three test shots.

I loaded them with 3×4 sheets of enlarging paper. Exposed using a very low ASA rating, and developed with D-72.

Eric Sales, a friend from Rangefinderfilipinas gave Bing Tan one of the last boxes of 4×5 Polaroids to play around with. Bing in turn gave me half of a box. Luckily, I have saved my 4×5 Polaroid adaptors from the 1980’s. I used up all the remaining films on Michael V during our taping of Bitoy’s Funniest Video.

This experiment is nothing new. What I find interesting with this technique is that I can use an ordinary flatbed scanner to scan large format negatives (4×5, 5×7 and 8×10).  If I were using film negatives, I would have to resort to more expensive options like buying a large format negative scanner, or use a medium format negative scanner to scan the film by sections and then stitching them together.

I find this simpler, although I can’t use a red filter for better-looking skies.

I loaded my Speed Graphic film holders with enlarging paper and exposed using a rating of ASA 25. After a couple of tests, I learned that the paper is more responsive to fluorescent light than incandescent. This is what came out after developing th paper on D-72 for 1 minute, with a dilution of 1:2.

I scanned the paper negative and inverted it using Mac’s Preview editor. This is what came out.

Here are a few more shots.

.

.

My first day light photo using the same technique. With a Nikkor wide-angle lens.

.

.

.

.

In the next photos, I used studio lights, and an old Anastigmat lens. At full aperture of f/4.5, the exposure was 30 seconds.

If there was one photograph to sum up the last four years it would probably be this one:

Alan and Jim – Under Tent

This is really my first attempt at a psuedo-self-portrait with the 4×5. My partner Jim has always mentioned that we never have a large format portrait of us, until, the moment finally arrived.

It just so happened to be a final hurrah weekend with close Bear friends outside of Rochester. The state park we visited hosted a wedding tent. I knew in my head that I wanted us to be holding hands, but what I didn’t realize was the subconscious image that was really burned into my head.

The Arnolfini Wedding by Jan Van Eyck

I suppose I tend to make these little subconscious references to art history.

R.I.P.: Fuji Acros 4x5

I’m disappointed, but it’s not the end of the world. Unfortunately for Fuji, this now means that Ilford gets ALL of my black and white business. And before the hell-bent digital camera crusaders blurt out “FILM IS DEAD!”, let me assure you that many emulsions are still available in all formats (with new emulsions still being released). The loss here is specific to those who prefer the convenience and weight-savings of carrying black and white packet film over multiple film holders on long hikes and backcountry saunters.

It would appear that nothing can really be done about this, as many a letter and email (mine included) regarding previous business decisions have fallen on deaf ears over at Fuji. Your choices are to complain (likely without results) or start shopping for a new emulsion. Best of luck either way.

You can read more about this topic over at the Large Format Photography Forum (an excellent resource for large format photographers).

UPDATE, Nov. 16, 2009: reader Doug asks if I have found any alternative to using multiple 4X5 film holders. There used to be more than one alternative, but from an availability perspective, only ONE choice now exists: the Grafmatic sheet film holder. Although they are long out of production, these are readily available on eBay for $50-70 or so. I own one, but have only ever used it for demonstration purposes during my Introduction to Large Format Photography workshops. The operation is just slightly clunky, and I’m not fond of the fine metal shavings that are produced by friction/moving parts within the holder. Fuji made the short-lived Quick Change Holder (which had plastic instead of metal septums), but it is no longer available and I have never seen one on eBay. For me, there are currently no decent alternatives, so I’ll be sticking with multiple film holders for now.

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.