Why does the US seem to produce LF photographers?

[Ian_5357]

Just thinking...

Without wishing to offend any currect practitioners, it seems to me as a European that the US has produced the vast majority, if not all of the renowned, esteemed large format photographers. I'm sure I needn't catalogue them here but my list at least doesn't include anyone from outside of north America.

Is this a gap in my (self-)education? (If yes, please point me in the right direction.)

Or perhaps this concentration of talent does exist? If so, why? Is there more exposure to the large format ethos, the tradition and its proponents in the US (looking at the users lists on this forum, 90% seem to be from north America)? Is US LF photographic education better than Europe? Or could it be something more mundane, such as access to affordable equipment? Perhaps a younger nation has adopted a younger medium more readily than "old Europe" with its tradition in painting, for example?

I'd be interested in your views.

Ian

[Dan Fromm]

http://www.galerie-photo.info/

[Emre Yildirim]

This could be said about other areas (i.e. medicine, science, music, film) outside of photography as well. Where are all the major art works and art museums located? Where is all the money? Who has the current edge?

While I don't have a good answer to your question, I can speak from personal experience. Having grown up in Germany and now living in the US, I see myself having much more opportunity here at a younger age that I could've ever had in Germany. Would I be shooting LF right now if I still lived in Germany? Probably not. I would probably not be able to afford it, and most certainly wouldn't have time for it.

There is this high level of convenience that we have in North America. For example, I'm 23 years old and 90% of the photos I take nowadays are 4x5. This is just a part-time hobby for me; I also have school and work that I need to worry about. I live in a small Oregon town with a population of 135,000, yet there are two photolabs here that will do same day E6 processing (up to 8x10) and they stock up on in-store LF film. I can get drum scans and high-end digital prints and even traditional B&W printing, with a turn around time of just a couple of days. Most importantly, the cost is fairly decent; I pay $1.50/sheet for development and sometimes even get discounts for being a good customer. These photolabs are 10 minutes away from me.

There are other things, like you mention for example, the availibility of equipment. If I need some sort of specialized equipment, I can just order it from B&H and it's here on my doorstep within three days. It's also much cheaper, since we don't have any sales tax here. All these factors enable me to shoot more LF and develop my skill. They allow me to get better at LF photography.

But let me also say that we're very good at marketing ourselves. How does a photographer become "renowned"? Isn't it solely dependent on what other people say about that person? Maybe it's Americans who make these American photographers famous

I've seen amazing photographs made by people throughout Europe, Brazil and Russia, but we never really hear about them. Why? Because currently, I think the English speaking world has a monopoly on the art scene.

[Walt Calahan]

I share Emre's belief in the cultural factor, as well as industrial infrastructure.

[Frank Petronio]

The reason we have alot of large format photographers is capitialism, relative prosperity, materialism, competitiveness, the desire to have/be the "ultimate", the best, the most, and especially the largest. Also a large number of OCD enabled engineering types who use LF as a way to commune with nature. And a good education system between numerous books, workshops, schools, and the net.

I think the positive aspects outweigh the negatives. The results are beautiful.

[medform-norm]

So it boils down to one thing: in America everything is bigger and better? Hmmm.

I don't think all the money is in the US either, seeing how much this country is in debt with nations like China. It may soon be that all the money has travelled eastwards to such moloch as China and India. I also think that the statement that "all the major art works are in Amera" is open to objections.

With Imre's background as probably a second or third generation Turkish immigrant in Germany, the move to America has been a wise one, with all the discriminations he would have had to face over here. (Which is a real shame and not someting I am proud of).

[Donald Hutton]

Having lived on four different continents in the past ten years, I am of the opinion that there is nowhere else that photography in general has the same appeal and appreication at almost every level that it has in the US. From the photographic record which Americans (that is obviously a huge generalisation, but I think it's accurate) tend to keep of their families all the way up to the kind of art they decorate their homes and offices with, photography is just a bigger, more widespread medium here than anywhere else I have been. I would expect that LF interest is really just an extension of this.

[Henry Ambrose]

I'm with Emre and Frank but also suggest that the "Adams" factor plays large. You take a bunch of people who came here from all over the world looking for something better, then mix those folks with Adam's example and you're gonna get a bunch of LF photographers (and small cameras too) who think they "can do it too". Its part of the dream we share.

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. What languages can people here read?

Ian, you may be a poster boy for anglophone ignorance of nearly everything done by people who don't speak or write English.

[Walt Calahan]

I'm glad the group is recognizing Eddie Adams here. Grin.

Me, I'm more an Elliot Porter fellow.