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[Fred L]

I think another issue or nit is that he's using the term 'culture' when in reality, imo for most of his subjects, it's a lifestyle or way of life or 'a people'. He refers to lifestyle in an interview so I have no idea why he still calls it vanishing culture other than it has more gravitas. Cowboys aren't in my view a culture nor are veterans. As for Appalachia, do we need to look beyond Shelby Lee Adams ?

Fwiw, I think this project can be shot just as easily with ULF (as we on LFPF know it) but it wouldn't need that trailer with the big graphics.

[Jim Becia]

My idea of a vanishing culture would be elderly Californians who can't make ends meet. Larry Towell did an essay on this situation which is actually a national pandemic in the USA.

Larry Towell : http://www.magnumphotos.com/Catalogu...NN1106060.html
Larry Towell gets award for his continued commitment to humanity: http://www.arts.on.ca/Page4460.aspx

He did the job and didn't need $1.0M. I think that's the issue at hand here. How can a documentary or an art project justify a budget of this size and remain credible when these people would be better served being the recipients of funds. I think I'd sooner give my money to a food bank. People can eat canned beans or macaroni they can't eat film.

According to CS Magazine's interview (link in the Kickstarter project page) with Dennis Manarchy this project will take significantly more than $1.0M to complete… see Paragraph 2 in the link below : …"The ultimate goal for Vanishing Cultures, a project that would take an estimated $8 million to complete.."

http://www.modernluxury.com/cs/articles/the-big-shot

I don't doubt that Dennis is serious but the Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park does pretty much the same. And what happens if this entire exercise runs out of money or fails. It is possible.
I'm giving what little I have these days of my discretionary money to registered charities that are helping people at the ground level.

Jan,

I respect your opinion.

Not to sound trite, but elderly Californians (or for that matter) many elderly throughout the US have trouble making ends meet. I'm guessing this will be increasing not decreasing. Many projects/documentaries take money, some much more that others. People/organizations will support projects they deem worthwhile. It seems that Dennis will probably succeed with this project although maybe the Kickstarter part will not. Could that money be used elsewhere? I guess it could. I support Best Friends in Utah, an organization with a no kill policy toward animals. I suppose my money should go to other "people" charities, but that is one that gets some of mine, so does my college. I hope Dennis succeeds with this. Having read quite a bit about him and the project, it is more than just taking large photos. That is my take on this. Respectfully, Jim.

[Jim Becia]

I think another issue or nit is that he's using the term 'culture' when in reality, imo for most of his subjects, it's a lifestyle or way of life or 'a people'. He refers to lifestyle in an interview so I have no idea why he still calls it vanishing culture other than it has more gravitas. Cowboys aren't in my view a culture nor are veterans. As for Appalachia, do we need to look beyond Shelby Lee Adams ?

Fwiw, I think this project can be shot just as easily with ULF (as we on LFPF know it) but it wouldn't need that trailer with the big graphics.

Fred,

I looked up the definition of cultures. "The total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which are transmitted and reinforced by members of a group." I think that fits his project. Heck, this forum with its large format users is a vanishing culture. And your right, it could easily have been shot with ULF or just 8x10 or 5x7, or 4x5, or medium format, you can see where I'm going with this. For his reasons, he chose to go huge. I would think the UULF (Ultra Ultra Large Format) crowd) would be thrilled. I'd like to know more about the process, problems, what lens, etc. After reading his bio and other info, he certainly seems to have the necessary qualifications for a project of this type. Anyway, I hope he pulls this off. Heck, I'm wondering who go the film order? Jim

[Kirk Gittings]

To me this idea has been done over and over and over again-and does always have some merit as sub-cultures always to some extent are interesting. What does this guy bring to it? A humongous camera. Does that really bring more to an age old idea shot on say 8x10 except cost and complexity? To me its the self inflicted hero/handicap approach. I'm going to do x, as many people in the past have done, but I'm going to handicap myself to the extreme so when I pull it off I will look like a hero because I surmounted these incredible self-inflicted obstacles. Great PR move-weak art idea.

[Jim Jones]

Eugene Atget's record of the vanishing culture of Paris, done with little fanfare and little support, is more impressive. On a larger scale, the FSA of the 1930s brought more attention and aid to the vanishing culture of rural America than I expect from Manarchy.

[Kirk Gittings]

Avedon, A. Sanders, Danny Lyon (my favorite) etc. etc.

[Jan Normandale]

Jan,

I respect your opinion.

Not to sound trite, but elderly Californians (or for that matter) many elderly throughout the US have trouble making ends meet. I'm guessing this will be increasing not decreasing. Many projects/documentaries take money, some much more that others. People/organizations will support projects they deem worthwhile. It seems that Dennis will probably succeed with this project although maybe the Kickstarter part will not. Could that money be used elsewhere? I guess it could. I support Best Friends in Utah, an organization with a no kill policy toward animals. I suppose my money should go to other "people" charities, but that is one that gets some of mine, so does my college. I hope Dennis succeeds with this. Having read quite a bit about him and the project, it is more than just taking large photos. That is my take on this. Respectfully, Jim.

Jim, I have no problem with Manarchy doing this. I think diversity really is important. If not your college would receive less funds and you help save the life of animals. All good to me.

I just think it's possible to achieve a document like this without making photographs so large you have to stand half a football field back from the wall because the subject's iris is 6 feet high. Then there's a genuine issue about 'archiving' this work. Who's going to do that and how much will that cost each year after completion of the entire project. Or is this a disposable project for $8.0M ... maybe more?

A project on "disappearing cultures" could probably be done with a Hasselblad digital back and projectors "Candida Hofer" style and one or two assistants max. I think the unanswered questions are "what is the budget" and "who is this project really for"? To my way of thinking there are ways to deliver the message and with equal or greater impact that are easier than this proposed method. In the end it's about the image, not the camera. I'm a curious bystander. I wish him luck.

FWIW: Edward Curtis for his work and the FSA guys with their 8x10 view cameras are my heros.

Jan

[Brian C. Miller]

I found Charles Guildner's work very well done when it comes to documenting people. There's only a fraction of his work online, and it doesn't include some of his impressive stuff, which I saw hanging on his wall. Anyways, he did a documentary of one-room school houses in Nebraska, and the next year they were defunded and all the children were bussed to centralized schools.

Now, how is Mr. Manarchy going to compete with that when he is more than a day late and $7,950,000 short?

Mind you, Mr. Manarchy already has a camera built for 6x4-1/2 foot negatives. It's in his studio. There is nothing stopping him from going and starting on the project right now, which he isn't doing.

The only problem I see with the project is that Mr. Manarchy wants this to be, his words, "like the circus coming to town." This is more circus and showmanship than documentary.

[C.T. Greene]

Strange, how differently we each think . . first thoughts were 'what to h*ll was he doing for a lense? Reflecting to old b&w I had seen of [UULF] of early camera the size of a [car] wagon, which looked like a locomotive without a cowcatcher. Hmm, modern technology . . hydraulic auto-focusing via individual pistons setting [plane] tilt & swing? A cross-over rail camera that folds neatly into a self contained vehicle . . drive to shooting location, extending pads, [like a crane=> self contained tripod] . . . use of digital camera for viewing, metering, etc. Hmm. . could be quite a project but completely reasonable fully automated large scale camera, one man operation setting in the relative comfort of the driver seat . . .