going back going forward
White Tree
More than a few visitors to the recent opening of my nude show were surprised that all of the prints on the wall were shot with film. In fact, one was even made as late as 2005 with an old Burke and James 5×7 view camera, using film large enough you can hold it up to the window like it was already a print. Even with all the digital photography in our lives, there is still something special about shooting with film. I have recently been pulling out my medium format equipment, and I have images in my mind’s eye destined to be made with the 5×7. I have a shelf and a half in the freezer that is stuffed with film. And I’ve even arranged the darkroom sink – moved the ink cartridge filling equipment – so I can develop some 5×7 paper negatives.
I was reminded of the sentiment and the sensibility when I read Mark Tucker’s recent blog post… http://marktucker.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/went-blind-again/#comments
Make sure you read the comments too, for these photographers are bringing something to discuss that is serious to them. There seems to be a wave bouncing off the shore of digital work, getting many reenthused with film and the machines that expose it. We all have our own reasons, sometimes logical or simply an aesthetic loneliness.
White Tree was made with a film-shooting plastic Holga camera in 1994. I am printing this one 20×20” – one of 10 pieces for a gallery show in Iowa in July.