So...why large format?

     Something that happens quite frequently when I go to shoot the Graflex is, it tends to draw a crowd. This is generally a positive experience as people seem genuinely interested in the camera and it's history and use. Most people have never seen such a camera and the device tends to fascinate people. Particularly younger folks. They tend to look on curiously as you set up a shot, but sooner or later they come by as their curiosity gets the best of them.
     Most know it's old and that's the first comment they make. "That's an old camera." Or, "What is that?" I even had one person think it was some sort of video camera as the back of the Graflex has a hood that pops out and looks something like the hood of a video-camera monitor. Then comes the next question or rather statement. "It shoots film?!" and "How does it work?" To which I patiently and enthusiastically explain it to them. Most people, particularly and encouragingly young people really seem to appreciate it. But then comes the inevitable question. "So, why do you shoot it?"
     It's a valid question. "Why do I shoot large format?" Well, there are a number of reasons. Today's society is so fast paced and technology driven that I think we forget to take time to slow down and enjoy much of what is going on around us. I've sat at our local Zoo and have seen people go to an exhibit, take a picture, look at it on the screen and then walk off. They never took the time to enjoy the animal in front of them. To observe it's behavior. So for me it is a way to slow down. It is in a way my own personal form of rebellion against our "forever rushed" society. But, it is much more than that.
     Shooting large format makes you think. It is very contemplative. You generally will think about what it is you want to shoot and plan for that shoot. It may be for only one location or subject and maybe only one exposure. There may be no capture of any image, the conditions may not be right. You tend to know your subject. You may learn the history or the geography of a place; it's significance, or you may know it in a physical sense as you travel over the land and learn it's features. You scout and explore the hidden places, the secret groves and streams that few people ever venture. You may visit a place several times and see something new each time. The purposefulness of the format forces you to contemplate what you are doing, what you are photographing. I find too, that when you are under the darkcloth, you shut the world out. It is just you, the camera, and your subject. Not only is the light diminished, but sounds are muted as well, you become more isolated.
     It is also very reflective. I find when I shoot that my mind will drift and think about a location and how it affects me. What is it about a place that I am trying to record? Why does black and white reflect that better than color, and vice-versa? Which film will render better? I will also find myself thinking a lot about the location and/or my subject long after I'm gone. The format makes you more a part of what you are photographing, you not only take away an image, you take a part of "it" with you. And you leave a part of you there. I still find myself thinking about places and people from when I first starting shooting large format. I can't say that about other formats, at least not as often.

"Snake Fence"
Pacemaker Speed Graphic 135mm Optar, Arista EDU 200.

   

                                                                             "Murfree Springs in Summer"                                                                            Pacemaker Speed Graphic, 135mm Optar Lens, (Objective Tilted for effect) Ilford HP4+

     It makes you a better photographer, as I have said before, you have to be mindful of everything. It's not like shooting an advanced 35mm SLR or DSLR. Even shooting them manually is still faster than the Graflex. But the technology can make you a little complacent if you're not careful. It slows you down. You don't have a lot of built in advanced technologies to assist you. You have to adjust your style of shooting to fit the camera, and once again think ahead and be creative.
    The other very important aspect is simply image quality. The sheer size of 4x5 film lends to a better quality image for a variety of reasons. The negative is simply much larger than that of 35mm/full frame sensors and medium format, to say nothing of APS-C size sensors. A "full frame" sensor or 35mm negative is approximately 1.33 sq. inches. While a 4x5 negative is 20 sq. inches! Almost 20 times greater, and 4x5 is the smaller of the large formats. 5x7, 8x10, and even larger sheets of film are available to produce unbelievable quality for those who know to produce them.

4x5 Large Format Negative vs. 35mm "Full Frame" Slide

     Each type of camera, whether they are small format, medium or large formats all require and produce different forms of visualization. Each has it's own unique qualities, and each photographer at some point gravitates toward one to take photographs. I find large format unique and very enjoyable. To see the image on a ground glass before composition is a special beauty in itself and the inverted nature of it makes one view the image in a new and different way. You pay closer attention to edges, shapes, and composition, than through a smaller format viewfinder. 

     So, for all of these reasons and more is why I have come to enjoy large format. I have only just begun my large format journey, but it has been a wonderful trip so far. The deep contemplation and reflection associated with it is a tremendous  advantage in my mind. And the flexibly of the Gralfex to be able to shoot handheld if need be aids in the flexibility and transition. I hope that if you are interested in photography, that you will give the larger formats a try. Film is much more forgiving than most realize and there is a special type of freedom found in this contemplative approach to photography.

Thanks for reading and until next time, search for beauty and creativity in the great world around us!

Bob