Oryx, April 2014

I shot this photo of Oryx in the spring of 2014 at the Armory in Seattle (a location you’ll likely see a lot of here).

That past winter I’d been lusting after Rolleiflex TLRs. Beautiful, old fashioned medium format cameras. Something about them just grabbed me and I knew I had to get one. More than a little drunk over Christmas vacation, I bought one off eBay. Not the 2.8 (which I would still love to own some day), the 3.5 (c.1951 based on the serial number). I was afraid it would have lens separation or some other fatal flaw and was thrilled to find out that, aside from some cosmetic issues, it was in great shape.

This was the first time I used it on a shoot, and this image and others from that morning confirmed everything I was hoping for from the camera. The images had that 3D look I only seem to find in medium format photography, but with a beautiful vintage rendering, just like you see looking into the ground glass viewfinder. Cinematic. Timeless.

Since I was still pretty new to medium format photography I figured I’d splurge on the film — here Kodak Porta 800 — to give me the best odds of getting something good. If I have the funds, it’s still my top choice for color film, especially at this speed.

And it really captures Oryx’s look to my eye. Beautiful in a way that’s a little distant, a little detached, but also kind of exotic and sensual. The pleats in her top, the position of her fingers on the chalkboard frame. But most of all the light.

I’ve shot in this studio space probably dozens of times and the light always blows me away. It can be so creamy and dreamlike (as in this photo), or like something out of a Vermeer. In the later afternoon it can be more stark, but it’s always interesting, and the play of light and shadow keeps me coming back year after year.