Giving up the view camera---am I nuts?

[C. D. Keth]

The one issue I consistently find myself coming back to is how I perceive others, their pictures, and their rationale behind format etc.

For example...

Barbara Bosworth shoots 810 color, inkjet prints but at fairly normal sizes so makes me feel that the power of the format is lost in the final product....In a more related scale, Ben Horn does the exact same thing. 810 color and drum scanned but printed at 13x19, that’s weird to me....Alec Soth shoots 810 color and specifically describes himself as a book artist, so an 8.5 x 11 book justifies the need to shoot 810 color?

In addition to the way large format forces you to work it also has a significant effect on people in front of your lens. Anybody who has shot in any fairly crowded area can tell you that. Apparently Avedon moved to and then continued shooting 8x10 chiefly because he liked how intimidating it was to portrait sitters. He felt he got something different out of people compared to other equipment he used in the past.

[Tin Can]

I like that idea

I like 8X10 and larger simply for the big GG

I can see better

In addition to the way large format forces you to work it also has a significant effect on people in front of your lens. Anybody who has shot in any fairly crowded area can tell you that. Apparently Avedon moved to and then continued shooting 8x10 chiefly because he liked how intimidating it was to portrait sitters. He felt he got something different out of people compared to other equipment he used in the past.

[dodphotography]

I like that idea

I like 8X10 and larger simply for the big GG

I can see better

I totally agree... my 810 pictures are better than any other format. Simply because I’m way more aware of small, minute details in the composition etc.

I also agree with how it breaks down so many barriers due the sheet size of the “old looking camera”


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[Drew Wiley]

I don't care what Avedon did or didn't do because I dislike his pretentious style of work. A significant strategy of his was simply to wear down his sitters until they were outright exhausted, and then catch them in an unwary haggard moment, and then call that a revelation of their inner soul; BS. But it is true that people seem to cooperate a lot more with a big camera because it looks serious. And I like 8x10 for several reasons, including the large ground glass, the greater ease of retouching a big neg, and the fact that 8X10 film is practical for both contact prints and enlarger use.

[Bernice Loui]

Agree with Drew on Avedon.. One of the reasons Avedon used strobe has to do with it's HARSH nature of lighting. It has been said, Avedon would have his sitters close their eyes, then open them just before shutter release. Closing the eyes causes the iris in the eye to open, then the sudden power of the strobe would capture the sitters eyes in a way that would not have been.

IMO, this does NOT capture the soul, essence and honest personality of a portrait sitter. It is more of photographer_artist contorting their subject (portrait sitter) as an object to meet their image goals.

Do not have any of Avedon's books in the library.

As for 8x10 film format for portraits, there is a very long history to this. 8x10 allows ease for negative fixing and more. It makes a nice contact print... IMO, the best soft focus lens images are 8x10 contact prints. Once the soft focus lens image is enlarged beyond 2X the unique and special image qualities are lost. Plus, the 8x10 ratio works well for portraits.


Bernice

I don't care what Avedon did or didn't do because I dislike his pretentious style of work. A significant strategy of his was simply to wear down his sitters until they were outright exhausted, and then catch them in an unwary haggard moment, and then call that a revelation of their inner soul; BS. But it is true that people seem to cooperate a lot more with a big camera because it looks serious. And I like 8x10 for several reasons, including the large ground glass, the greater ease of retouching a big neg, and the fact that 8X10 film is practical for both contact prints and enlarger use.