Women using Large Format

[Sandy Sorlien]

Howdy guys, I have only been reading this forum for three months and have just acquired my f irst view camera after a 20-year photography career with smaller formats. Are t here any other women on this forum? The names all seem male, except the occasion al Pat who is indeterminate. Arca-Swiss customer service just answered one of my posts by calling me Mister Sorlien, an odds-on bet, but wrong. Do you think LF is a male-dominated realm, and if so, why? It can't be only the weight of the equipment. Sally Mann uses an 8x10 and she is a small woman, so we can do it if we want to. I must say I feel extra vulnerable using my view camer a. It attracts a lot of attention and some weirdos want to talk to me, using the camera as an excuse. If I am uncomfortable in the situation, I can't just walk away, I have to take time to pack everything up. Being under the dark cloth is an intimate viewing experience for making pictures, but I can't wait till my bin ocular viewer comes so I don't have to use the dark cloth. I imagine men feel a bit vulnerable under there, too; anyone could walk off with your other equipmen t in two seconds and you wouldn't even see them. (I think Virginia Beahan and La ura McPhee have the right idea, working as a team!) I am usually a very intrep id person, but this does concern me. Maybe the combination of large format plus computer savvy produces the large pe rcentage of men on this site. I know men are supposed to be "tech-heads" but I a m very interested in tech talk if it pertains to a problem I need to solve for i magemaking. I would be interested to hear from men or women about these issues. Cheers.

[Stefan Geysen]

I agree about the vulnerability-when-under-a-darkloth. A couple of years ago, when I was taking a picture of a building in the centre of Antwerp, someone stole my 5? Minolta meter attachment out of my case while I was under the darkcloth. On another occasion,some drunks stood several minutes in front of my camera,shouting and chanting, thinking it was a video camera!

Why so few women in the forum? Maybe because being a techhead is mostly a male thing :-) Back in photo school,where the majority of my class was female, there wasn't anyone even remotely interested in using the view camera. Even a medium format camera was looked upon as a "studio only" camera...

Anyway, welcome aboard and happy shooting!

[Rob Tucher]

Hi! I've noticed also that there aren't many women, both on this forum and out in the field. It might be a question of the size of the equipment, the techi-factor, or some other things. But I have also noticed that women don't enter into smaller format photography as much either. I belonged to a Nature photography club for a while and 80% were men. Some of the women came with significant others yet did not shoot anything themselves. Why? I can't say.

I just did a job in which I had to photograph portals and tunnel details inside two mile-long RR tunnels. I had to walk through each twice with 75 pounds of 5x7 gear, stopping to shoot as I went. It might be the weight that would keep women from doing this kind of work, but there are other ways, like hiring a caddy. It wiped me out and I am 195 pounds, in good shape, reasonably spry (44 years old), and have been doing this kind of shooting for 20 years. It sounds like you went the lighter large format route, using Arca-Swiss 6x9. Large format is a taxing, tiring way to go if you get off the beaten path or away from studio or car, but the rewards of large format for clients and oneself are worth it.

As for security, we all have that vulnerable period under the cloth. My ears make up for my sight as much as possible. I also hire someone to watch my back when I am in nasty areas, if budgets allow. And, like you say, you can't just hang the camera around your neck and walk away. But some of LF lack of maneuverability is a strength. Thieves can't grab and run, and for the most part they don't even recongnize what you are using and therefore wouldn't know where to sell it for quick money. I had a carry-on bag full of large format lenses with me once when I was flying to a job. It was worth $15,000 or more, in a large Lightware case. The flight attendant would not let me keep it with me even though I only had the one bag and it fit through the gauge outside the plane. So I told her she could stow it in a compartment up near her station but that I held her responsible. At the end of the flight she was harried and just told me it was my problem but that she had it sent down to the belly of the plane.

I had no claim ticket for it and it was being shuttled around with no route stickers. I waited at the conveyor where luggage was coming out for an hour and a half and had already filed a lost-bag claim when it finally, and completely alone, came up. When I checked it it had obviously been rifled and everything moved, but everything was there. Obviously the potential thief who held my bag back saw no value in it and left it alone. Little did the person understand the value!

I've had people ask if I am a surveyor. Some people know what the stuff is but I like to work solo and without too much chit-chat. I've been threatened and challenged, but nothing has come of it. Pairing with someone is ok if you work similarly and at the same rate. I'm sure the weirdo factor is the most troubling for a woman because you would seem more at risk, but the most victimized group is males in their 20s because, for the most part, they tend to think about security the least and put themselves in worse situations out of confidence. I should know. I got tumbled pretty badly at age 23 (not shooting but out for a fun evening with friends), and I was in even better shape, looked it, and thought I could hold my own.

Think security, go with someone when you can (even a non-photographer who understands the slow nature of it), carry as little as you can while making sure you can do what you need to, and use friendly psychology to avoid interaction with weirdos. No real solutions here but your post intrigued me. Welcome.

[Paul Mongillo]

Welcome Sandy! I think the subject of women in large format has been lightly touched on in forum in the recent past, but I can't find it. I have no idea why women seem to be scarce in large format. I don't run accross many large format photographers of either sex in my wanderings. I did run across a couple (male and female) in Durbar Square in Kathmandu in October that were working together with a 4X5. I tried to strike up a conversation, but they were German and spoke no English and me no German.

I think we all get a little spooked if there are a lot of people around when under the dark cloth. There is so much equipment to keep track of. I have learned to keep everything in my pack when not in use or in the apron on the tripod where I can see it when under the darkcloth. I also use a large capacity waist belt to keep things in. I almost always attract a crowd in my foreign travels and if I am in a town or city here in the US someone always stops to see what I'm, doing. Most folks just don't see large format cameras very often. I have never had a problem though.

My gilfriend is also a B&W photographer (medium format). We work as kind of a tag team on our travels. She prefers to photograph people up close and I prefer landscapes, buildings and people set in their environment. I almost always attract a crowd so she usually has her pick of interesting individuals.

By the way, she is just not interested in checking out the medium format page similar to this one. She has never shown any interest in using my large format gear either. Again, welcome

[M.]

Not many women into Large Format because they've got better sense.

[Linas Kudzma]

Sandy, Late last year I saw the first woman in the field with a view camera. It was in a place called Ken Lockwood Gorge in New Jersey. I was going to stop over and saw hello, but she was busily setting up a shot so I didn't want to bother her (like everyone does me). Later she was gone. Not many females lugging around all this gear. They may indeed have more sense

[Trevor Crone]

Sandy, It is a great pity that there are not more women practicing the art of LF photography or indeed "photography!" I too used to feel a little vunerable unde r the dark cloth which is one reason I obtained a bellows focusing hood so that I'm now more aware of anyone around me. By the very nature of using LF, "funny l ooking" cameras, the slow deliberate act of picture making, attracts people who are curious as to what we are doing. May the light be with you, regards,

[Sandy Sorlien]

You may notice from my other posts that I did use my superior common sense to buy a small view camera, the Arca 6x9 FC (you 8x10 snobs no doubt think this is really an MF camera, but in all functional respects it is LF --- full movements and all that). This was mainly to use rollfilm and a wider format (6x9), but the lighter weight is very appealing. I fit everything into a small Jansport backpack, the kind my students use for books! I can hike pretty far with it. It's my wooden tripod that's a pain to carry. Thanks for the belt suggestion, I'll get one for my meter etc. Maybe I should add a can of pepper spray.

[Sean Billy Bob Boy yates]

Well on this forum Jacque Stackson occasionally contributes. She's a lady prof. and so kinda busy but she's out there with her 8 X 10.

As you say, there's Sally Mann, and Lois Conner and Linda Connor, Paula Chamlee...andwho else ?

A previous post about grumpy l.f. users encountered in the field pointed out that running into other l.f.'ers of ANY gender is kinda infrequent occurence.

[Paul Schilliger]

Sandy, there are at least two women who contribute in this forum. One is Jaque S taskon (jaque@cybertrails.com) and the other is here in Switzerland: Christiane Roh (rohcris@vtx.ch). It's always n ice to have other gender voices in the forum. Thanks for joining in!