Why View The Forum? Out Of Country

[Raymond Bleesz]

I have noticed over the years that there are a good number of viewers from out of country---Swiss, France, Uk, Down Under, Iceland, Hong Kong elsewhere----viewers who often contribute & partake in the dicussions, etc.. This of course is very positive, in my opinion.

But curious to know, from far & wide, what's your take, opinions, observations on American LF photography in generalities or perhaps in specifics, from where are you posting from, and how is your LF photo work in your country different from Red White & Blue? From Colorado, USA.
Raymond

[Joanna Carter]

… your country different from Red White & Blue?

Well, the UK has a Red, White & Blue flag, France has a Red, White and Blue flag, Holland…

In fact, just look here before you assume that your federation of countries has the monopoly on those colours

[cowanw]

Q.-Tuan Luong: Born in France, from Vietnamese parents
Whose country is 'out of country'.
Working on the assumption that you are not trolling, I wonder if this will spark a discussion on the philosophy of American exceptionalism.
Regards
Bill

[Lachlan 717]

What a puerile thread.

[Raymond Bleesz]

My response, not at all a puerile question---as a former educator, I stressed to my students that no question is childish or silly, and I believe in that concept myself, hence the question.

If we dismiss the flag waving, and I am indeed aware of other colors being a historian, I ask those viewers who may not reside in this country, if they have an observation or two regarding "American LF photography" or American photography in general as compared to the existing type of photography in their own homeland.

My subscriptions to foreign photo periodicals certainly makes me aware that there are differences, but I would like to hear/see your words.

This is an honest question which should promote a discussion and not on American exceptionalism---quite the contrary.
Raymond

[Denis Pleic]

Raymond,
(provided your question is bona fide, not just trolling/baiting...)

First, I did not realize that LFF is in any way an "American" forum. There's nothing intrinsically "national" in photography, be it small, medium or large format - and the name of the forum does not indicate any national requirements or determination.

Due to sheer population size and the "lingua franca" of Internet, it is obvious that US citizens (and some Canadians, obviously), peppered with a few (select) British would constitute a huge majority on an English language photography forum. (The Brits and the others, please, take this as my feeble attempt of being witty.... no disrespect intended).

Since English is my second (acquired) language, it is obvious I'll be seeking English-speaking photography forums, and since I'm also interested in large format photography, this forum is an obvious choice, seeing that there are about three, perhaps four, large format photographers in the whole of my home country .

Now, if I were speaking German or French, there might be other forums (fora?) more relevant for me (being an European).

But, relevant in what way? Like I said above, photography is not nationally "colored" in any way. The only thing I can think of is product availability - but in my experience, for us Europeans (at least for us at the fringes of Europe), it's usually cheaper to order from the USA than from e.g. Germany.... depending on the package size and weight, obviously.

So, why am I here? Because I understand English, and can speak/write it fairly well, and because I'm interested in large format photography - same as yourself, I presume.

If you can show me what's so intrinsically "American" in your photos (apart from the obvious, i.e. scenery), perhaps I'll be able to tell you in what way I perceive it as being "different" from what I do here.

BTW, for my large format photography I'm using two Speed Graphics, one B&J "Watson" camera, with a motley collection of lenses (mostly American - Kodak Ektars, but also a Schneider here and there....), shooting 4x5 film (Efke, BTW, made locally - but I'd dare say that at least half of the forum members have at least tried the same film, regardless of the fact it's made in Croatia).

So, you should get used to the fact that we're indeed living in a global village - for us "last Mohicans" using large format cameras it is perhaps more obvious than those digisnappers with their puny sensors

Regards from Croatia - look it up on the world map

[IanG]

Where does it say this is a US Forum ? The internet is International.

Historically the US didn't make the huge switch to smaller formats in the 1930's in the same way as European photographers, and after WWII materials where often in shorter supply, in the UK for instance there were very few new cameras until the early 1950;s due to very heavy import restrictions.

The main out come of this was that almost no amateurs used Large formats in the UK until perhaps the end of the 1970's and more began to use LF as digital became more common.

In the US the LF tradition remained stronger so consequently there's far more users.

Ian

[jb7]

Regards from Croatia - look it up on the world map

yes, you can find lots of countries there- some people can even identify their own, even after the names have been removed ...

I was going to say what Denis said, well, except for the camera specifics- but there's no need now-

I think the main difference is in the Americana-
the National Parks, the old automobiles (we've only got cars, and they're not so pretty) the covered bridges, the skyscrapers (though the bigger ones are in the far east now),
the continental central plains with the big skies and clouds (there are others around the world, but with fewer big cameras to match) ... and so on.

The people, the portraits- now they're not so different- Are they?
The good ones stand out, and they're from all over.

btw, you don't specify your own location, so I'm not sure what country, or state, you come from-
maybe it's not so important?

[roteague]

Well, the UK has a Red, White & Blue flag, France has a Red, White and Blue flag, Holland…

In fact, just look here before you assume that your federation of countries has the monopoly on those colours

The only assuption the original poster made was the assumption that everyone would recoginze the phrase "Red White & Blue". To an American that is a recongnizeable phrase; referring to the USA. Try not to be quite so sensitive.

[Joanna Carter]

The only assuption the original poster made was the assumption that everyone would recoginze the phrase "Red White & Blue". To an American that is a recongnizeable phrase; referring to the USA. Try not to be quite so sensitive.

The French often refer to their flag as the "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge", which are the same colours in reverse order, but the Union Flag of the UK is also known as the "Red, White & Blue", as in the song

You might think I'm being sensitive, I might think that Americans are too limited in their knowledge of the world