Are we all here?

[jb7]

Bringing together a few recent threads, encompassing The Rules, The Forum, View Camera Magazine, What We Shoot, the Implosion of Large Format Film Photography, the dwindling demographic of the Elderly, Hirsute and Male...

Are we all here? Is there any chance that this forum attracts only the chattering classes, the Internet savvy, and that there's a much larger user base out there, possibly reading View Camera Magazine, and not complaining if the latest issue is a bit late?

Possibly not arguing about getting getting gear at a fraction of its value, but buying new if possible, and supporting the general industry as a whole?

Maybe, more interested in pursuing their interests in large format photography than engaging in social media?

Perhaps we live in a type of Flatland, where we're not aware of the other side of the page; in my own case, most current comment comes from this site, but I get the magazine as well...

Is the perception of large format photography skewed by those who shout the loudest, the longest, and the most frequently? Or is there a parallel world where people are content to read the magazine and get on with it?

If anyone knows the answer, I'd like to hear it...

[BrianShaw]

Every gathering of humans (meaning more than 2 in the same place at the same time, whether physically or virtually) is skewed by those who shout the loudest, the longest, and the most frequently.

[E. von Hoegh]

Bringing together a few recent threads, encompassing The Rules, The Forum, View Camera Magazine, What We Shoot, the Implosion of Large Format Film Photography, the dwindling demographic of the Elderly, Hirsute and Male...

Are we all here? Is there any chance that this forum attracts only the chattering classes, the Internet savvy, and that there's a much larger user base out there, possibly reading View Camera Magazine, and not complaining if the latest issue is a bit late?

Possibly not arguing about getting getting gear at a fraction of its value, but buying new if possible, and supporting the general industry as a whole?

Maybe, more interested in pursuing their interests in large format photography than engaging in social media?

Perhaps we live in a type of Flatland, where we're not aware of the other side of the page; in my own case, most current comment comes from this site, but I get the magazine as well...

Is the perception of large format photography skewed by those who shout the loudest, the longest, and the most frequently? Or is there a parallel world where people are content to read the magazine and get on with it?

If anyone knows the answer, I'd like to hear it...

Yes. But, I don't read VC magazine.

[BrianShaw]

... and, sure, I can name two or three who are NOT here. Two have been banned and one suffered a stroke and has been recovering for the past 3 years.

[E. von Hoegh]

Johnielvis isn't here either. ;)

[vinny]

Where's frank p?

[36cm2]

Dave's not here.

[Tim Meisburger]

No man, its me, Dave, open up...

[Bernice Loui]

I don't believe so. There was a time before View Camera Magazine that view camera photographers where mostly dis-connected and forgotten and worked mostly solo or in their own world. I do believe View Camera Magazine did much initially to bring view camera artist together and make their work, their image making tools more public. The came the web, which further brought together others..

But those who participate in on-line spaces are the ones interested in this specific type of interaction.



Bernice



Bringing together a few recent threads, encompassing The Rules, The Forum, View Camera Magazine, What We Shoot, the Implosion of Large Format Film Photography, the dwindling demographic of the Elderly, Hirsute and Male...

Are we all here? Is there any chance that this forum attracts only the chattering classes, the Internet savvy, and that there's a much larger user base out there, possibly reading View Camera Magazine, and not complaining if the latest issue is a bit late?

Possibly not arguing about getting getting gear at a fraction of its value, but buying new if possible, and supporting the general industry as a whole?

Maybe, more interested in pursuing their interests in large format photography than engaging in social media?

Perhaps we live in a type of Flatland, where we're not aware of the other side of the page; in my own case, most current comment comes from this site, but I get the magazine as well...

Is the perception of large format photography skewed by those who shout the loudest, the longest, and the most frequently? Or is there a parallel world where people are content to read the magazine and get on with it?

If anyone knows the answer, I'd like to hear it...

[BrianShaw]

I haven't received my copy of VC yet. Did I have to send in a renewal to get them?

[Tony Evans]

I did not receive a renewal notice and find I no longer receive it. Apparently we must remember to renew on each anniversary. Another VC management problem?

[BrianShaw]

The renewal notice once was a B&W post card, which was easy to not see amidst the large amount of "junk mail".

[E. von Hoegh]

I wonder how many users of large format cameras just ignore the web? I know at least one. His daily driver is the same car he's been using the past 50+ years, a 1928 Packard.

[Jan Pedersen]

The VCM renewal notice came in the mail yesterday. It is green/yellow this time.

[E. von Hoegh]

Perhaps we're all here because we aren't all there...

[Vaughn]

I'm still here, but it appears that here took a hike...

[Drew Wiley]

Haven't subscribed to VC for ages. Got tired of it being routinely padded with generic superficial redundant equip reviews. I don't know about gathering on flatlands. Haven't
set foot on flat land for a long time except a couple weekend business trips. I'd probably
fall over on even ground. As far as us all being contentious and cantakerous, I think that's
inherent to survival. Those with the bigger, heavier cameras and tripods can outclub
and potentially outlive the more youthful and fleet of foot and their cell phones. What would you choose in the gladiatorial ring?

[E. von Hoegh]

Haven't subscribed to VC for ages. Got tired of it being routinely padded with generic superficial redundant equip reviews. I don't know about gathering on flatlands. Haven't
set foot on flat land for a long time except a couple weekend business trips. I'd probably
fall over on even ground. As far as us all being contentious and cantakerous, I think that's
inherent to survival. Those with the bigger, heavier cameras and tripods can outclub
and potentially outlive the more youthful and fleet of foot and their cell phones. What would you choose in the gladiatorial ring?

Two-handed broadsword.

[BrianShaw]

What would you choose in the gladiatorial ring?

Nikon F3 with MD-4 motordrive and a strong strap.

[BrianShaw]

... and a very powerful flash.

[BrianShaw]

I shall now ban myself for 12 minutes for having mentioned a small format camera on a large format forum. See you later!

[E. von Hoegh]

How did you arrive at 12 minutes?

[BrianShaw]

I'm impatient. That is as long as I could bear to be away.

[Preston]

I'm impatient. That is as long as I could bear to be away.

Oh, I thought it was the time it takes to read VC in the loo. ;-)

-p

[Brian C. Miller]

What would you choose in the gladiatorial ring?

Flame thrower.

Really, though, of course this forum doesn't encompass everybody who uses a view camera. How many of the real pros, like Fatali, post here? Last time Fatali posted here, there were quite a few rude posts made. Not nice, not polite, and not having anything to do with his desire to get some holders for his camera.

But this is a place of discussion, not of verbal combat.

[jnantz]

I haven't received my copy of VC yet. Did I have to send in a renewal to get them?

its been 2 months already ? ;)

[John Kasaian]

I'm not here. I'm actually a hologram:rolleyes:

[IanG]

No, because we can't agree about everything and the site is too West Coast biased :D

Until there's moderators from other Continents and minsets the site won'treally grow.

Ands then there's the hiding away from world politics and so on. . . . . . . . . Some of us make political points with our images but the moderators don't allow that, it's called censorship.

Just my thoughts.

Ian

[civich]

jb7,
Interesting questions. The problem with living in flatland is (like here) though we can conceive the idea of a parallel universe we can never experience it. But if you are the pioneer who breaks through, send back a post-card. - Chris

[jb7]

Thanks for the replies-

So it seems the question hasn't been answered, maybe can't be answered, as pointed out above- though an unexpected benefit of this thread is that it could be used as a tool to calculate the percentage of forum members who think they're funny...

VCM doesn't seem to have a problem attracting advertisers, and ultimately that is the only thing that keeps it alive-
So at least the advertisers seem to think it's worthwhile...

[Roger Cole]

What the hell is a west coast bias? I've never seen any opposition to east coast scenes, urban scenes, whatever people want to post.

Nor do I give a damn if black and white photos of trees, rocks, water and mountains are considered hackneyed and passe by some. I like 'em. (I like other photos as well though.)

Certainly we're not "all" here though.

I subscribed to VCM back in the 90s. I used to pick up a copy at the local Borders now and then :( as they carried it. I've held off subscribing again due to the reports of problems with answering email and managing subscriptions. Apparently the publisher is much more responsive to phone calls, but I'm one of those people who will email all day long but would almost rather have my eyeballs scooped out with a rusty spoon and served on ice cream than call someone I don't know on the telephone. Almost.

[ROL]

I'm still here, but it appears that here took a hike...

Exactly the case when I'm not here.

[ROL]

...reading View Camera Magazine, and not complaining if the latest issue is a bit late?.
If anyone knows the answer, I'd like to hear it...

No point in complaining about VCM. I'd just be happy if the publisher got a spell–checker.

[Jim Galli]

I'm still here. Barely. Finally got the lens vault with every eclectic lens on earth there and represented in triplicates, enough film in the freezer to last until 2052, and a plethora of cameras in sizes and formats to span almost anything named in the last 150 years . . . and I can't think of anything to take a picture of.

Hungry babies in Haiti and Uganda, and my general ignorance of things said at the end of Matthew 25 suddenly seem more important.

[Jody_S]

No point in complaining about VCM. I'd just be happy if the publisher got a spell–checker.

I'm still working through my pile of mags that I bought from another member last year (this year?). Every now and then I see something that I've never seen before; a new angle, a new exposure technique, a new vision. And the interviews/articles from the photographers seem much less edited or scripted than anything else I've ever seen.

[ROL]

So it seems the question hasn't been answered, maybe can't be answered, as pointed out above- though an unexpected benefit of this thread is that it could be used as a tool to calculate the percentage of forum members who think they're funny...

Really? I read your entire rambling comments–posed–as–questions post several times without gleaning exactly what you were getting at. But then I am stupid and funny, by my own admission.



VCM doesn't seem to have a problem attracting advertisers, and ultimately that is the only thing that keeps it alive-
So at least the advertisers seem to think it's worthwhile...

...or at least the increasingly prevalent portfolio authors, hmmmmm? (Oh, I get it now?!? The question is regarding VCM.)

[E. von Hoegh]

What the @#!*% is a west coast bias? I've never seen any opposition to east coast scenes, urban scenes, whatever people want to post.

Nor do I give a @#!*% if black and white photos of trees, rocks, water and mountains are considered hackneyed and passe by some. I like 'em. (I like other photos as well though.)

Certainly we're not "all" here though.

I subscribed to VCM back in the 90s. I used to pick up a copy at the local Borders now and then :( as they carried it. I've held off subscribing again due to the reports of problems with answering email and managing subscriptions. Apparently the publisher is much more responsive to phone calls, but I'm one of those people who will email all day long but would almost rather have my eyeballs scooped out with a rusty spoon and served on ice cream than call someone I don't know on the telephone. Almost.

Where would you find that? You'd have to go to an antique store to find a carbon steel spoon. I don't think they've been made in a hundred years, even then they were often tinned to prevent rust - I have a utensil set from a mess kit dated 1918, and it's all tinned carbon steel except for the aluminium knife handle.

[Jim Galli]

Where would you find that? You'd have to go to an antique store to find a carbon steel spoon. I don't think they've been made in a hundred years, even then they were often tinned to prevent rust - I have a utensil set from a mess kit dated 1918, and it's all tinned carbon steel except for the aluminium knife handle.

There's a great story of when Henry Ford built a Model A manufacturing facility in Russia. The Russians were fascinated not by our cars, but by our eating utensils. They had no spoons. So quickly a smart Russian set one of the stamp mills up to make spoons. Steel spoons.

[jb7]

Really? I read your entire rambling comments–posed–as–questions post several times without gleaning exactly what you were getting at. But then I am stupid and funny, by my own admission.



...or at least the increasingly prevalent portfolio authors, hmmmmm? (Oh, I get it now?!? The question is regarding VCM.)

Really? You read the entire post?

Well done...

[Bill Burk]

Well, I'm still here... Possibly for another year since I've provisioned a modest supply of film and paper.

Sure I think I'm funny but my kids don't.

It's possible my photographic talent is not developing at the same pace as my writing.

But I keep plugging away.

[al olson]

. . .

Perhaps we live in a type of Flatland, where we're not aware of the other side of the page; in my own case, most current comment comes from this site, but I get the magazine as well...
. . .



Flatland? Really? I have not visited there for 50 years. (Sounds like you read the book.) After I became a 3-D form I have not been able to go back. Nowdays I view my prints outside the space.

[BradS]

I'm still here........Hungry babies in Haiti and Uganda, and my general ignorance of things said at the end of Matthew 25 suddenly seem more important.


Watch out Jim, you might get banned for both politics and religion....Jim....Jim....hello? are you still here?

[Struan Gray]

I have met a few LF photographers who simply bought a set of modern gear at retail and used it, sending their film for development and printing as if it were rolls of 35 mm holiday snaps. Some were good photographers, some were bad. All were dull to talk to, about gear or anything else.

There's no shame in chattering.

[rdenney]

I am sure there are those who neither read magazines nor follow Internet forums. And I'm sure that magazines and forum audiences only partially overlap. I expect there are chattering avenues outside both.

I occasionally read VC in its first 10 years or so, and I bought (here) a collection of them covering a dozen years or so starting in the mid-90s. But it's hard to sustain a one-way communications path in the age of interactivity, and I'd rather do it, or discuss it, than read about it.

I feel the same way about music. Why read about it in a magazine when I could be discussing it with friends, or actually making it?

Written books and articles are good for getting up to speed on a topic, but once the learning curve levels off, other avenues are more satisfying.

Rick "easily bored" Denney

[MIke Sherck]

I know a number of large format using photographers who are aware of this forum but don't participate here. I know of one who had never heard of it until I told him about it. Personally, I haven't seen a copy of View Camera magazine for more than a year, since Barnes & Noble stopped carrying it.

So yeah, I think there are probably quite a few more LF photographers out there than there are here: this is, I feel, a limited subset of the species. It is my belief that a lot of the sort of folks attracted to large format are the same types who tend to be loners. The Midwest Large Format Asylum, who have put up with my nonsense for many more years than seems reasonable, has more than a hundred names registered on the forums but only a small subset of them participate in discussions and an even smaller number show up for outings. Not complaining, mind you, just noting that there are more of us than one would think just by collecting the names of people who participate by paring comments or showing up to photograph as part of a group.

Mike

[azdustdevil]

You are probably right Mike. We are a limited subset of the species. But who cares? I have not had time to post here but now that I'm officially retired, that may change. I'm also stuck in a sterile little town with so little to photograph. Oh, yeah, there is a little bit, but to get the best shots, I have to drive somewhere, and the price of gasoline is not my friend.

[rodrigotibyrica]

Hello, I was really curious about this thread and thoughts. I started on Large format in the past couple years, and just recently I was talking to a friend ho loves LF as well, and we exchanged lots of questions and etc...

I guess most people avoid trying to know those classic and perfectly technical "modality", is that everyone thinks that film is done... Mainly now that Kodak is not here anymore, people think that this might not endure. So people are afraid of buying new gear, and after some short time, they will need to sell in a really small price. But me and this friend, we think that LF maybe one of the only kind of film camera that might not disappear because we can still make our own emulsion to ourselves, prints, nor to mention the alternative processes that we're able to learn and do.

My thoughts is that this is the kind of photography that will endure, mainly in fine art because It's were those techniques can be explored.

About the social media and all this, I think we're trying to see the future, to see where is the end... So, I agree and would love seeing more LF photographers at the streets, making projects and all this.


So maybe I'm just passionate about LF but, I really hope that we past forward all this knowledge (mainly you much more experienced guys), for those people who are really interested on this big toys.

:)






Bringing together a few recent threads, encompassing The Rules, The Forum, View Camera Magazine, What We Shoot, the Implosion of Large Format Film Photography, the dwindling demographic of the Elderly, Hirsute and Male...

Are we all here? Is there any chance that this forum attracts only the chattering classes, the Internet savvy, and that there's a much larger user base out there, possibly reading View Camera Magazine, and not complaining if the latest issue is a bit late?

Possibly not arguing about getting getting gear at a fraction of its value, but buying new if possible, and supporting the general industry as a whole?

Maybe, more interested in pursuing their interests in large format photography than engaging in social media?

Perhaps we live in a type of Flatland, where we're not aware of the other side of the page; in my own case, most current comment comes from this site, but I get the magazine as well...

Is the perception of large format photography skewed by those who shout the loudest, the longest, and the most frequently? Or is there a parallel world where people are content to read the magazine and get on with it?

If anyone knows the answer, I'd like to hear it...

[MIke Sherck]

You are probably right Mike. We are a limited subset of the species. But who cares? I have not had time to post here but now that I'm officially retired, that may change. I'm also stuck in a sterile little town with so little to photograph. Oh, yeah, there is a little bit, but to get the best shots, I have to drive somewhere, and the price of gasoline is not my friend.

Who cares, indeed? Were I the last photographer on Earth with a view camera, I'd still use it. It just works the way I do.

I vacillate back and forth re: I live somewhere dull and have to travel somewhere to take pictures. At the moment I'm of the (youthful, perhaps uninformed) opinion that finding a photograph is as much a state of mind as it is a place or time. Sometimes you do have to look harder, though. :) Good luck from one dull small town resident to another!

Mike

[Roger Cole]

Hello, I was really curious about this thread and thoughts. I started on Large format in the past couple years, and just recently I was talking to a friend ho loves LF as well, and we exchanged lots of questions and etc...

I guess most people avoid trying to know those classic and perfectly technical "modality", is that everyone thinks that film is done... Mainly now that Kodak is not here anymore, people think that this might not endure. So people are afraid of buying new gear, and after some short time, they will need to sell in a really small price. But me and this friend, we think that LF maybe one of the only kind of film camera that might not disappear because we can still make our own emulsion to ourselves, prints, nor to mention the alternative processes that we're able to learn and do.

My thoughts is that this is the kind of photography that will endure, mainly in fine art because It's were those techniques can be explored.

About the social media and all this, I think we're trying to see the future, to see where is the end... So, I agree and would love seeing more LF photographers at the streets, making projects and all this.


So maybe I'm just passionate about LF but, I really hope that we past forward all this knowledge (mainly you much more experienced guys), for those people who are really interested on this big toys.

:)

Kodak "not here anymore?" They're not in good shape, I'll grant you, but they definitely still exist, and still make large format film (if you care to pay for it.) In fact as far as I know they're the ONLY source for large format color negative (at a tremendous price.)

[Roger Hesketh]

Regular posters on this forum are I believe a very small subset of people who indulge in large format photography. One just has to look at large format sales on Ebay and the prices that large format equipment makes and prices seem to me to be higher than they were a few years ago. Well for Petzvals anyway. It seems inconceivable to me that the market could be be so bouyant if it was only supported by such a small group of people many of whom including me have more equipment than they really need anyway. Many people also have multiple interests and a life outside large format photography.