Getting back into film.
Why I’m shooting Large Format film in addition to medium format digital.
I have to admit, I have become the laughingstock of my local photo community. I recently announced that I’m getting back into shooting traditional film photography (in addition to my digital work as an Ambassador for Ricoh/Pentax Digital Cameras). Nobody is laughing at my choice to shoot film… these days, film photographers are rare and almost revered for keeping the art form alive. They are laughing at me because in 2007 when I was hired to be an Official Photographer for the National Park Service and started an 80,000 image project using only digital cameras, I very publicly declared film to be out-of-the-mainstream and clearly in my rear-view mirror.
I had seen teenage photo-shooters walk in to my favorite camera store and ask if they had “…this cool new thing called film…you “old” guys probably wouldn’t understand” which made me really begin to talk down film as something that Luddites and wanna-be’s were doing. I talked people out of shooting film…and I chastised my film shooting friends for “just trying to be hip…what’s next, a record player?”
( Full disclosure, I just bought a record player and a bunch of classic country albums…I know, right)
Fast forward to today and it would appear that I not only have to eat about 15 pounds of Crow, but I owe my film friends an apology. I’m sorry I trashed the way you chose to express your art. I was wrong. There; I said it.
Why the change of heart? Well, in a single word: History. I have a new project I’m undertaking and in order for it to have historical credibility, I will need to shoot this entire project on film, while backing-up each image with a shot on my Pentax 645Z Digital Medium Format camera.
The concept of the project is fairly simple while the execution is daunting, expensive, and frankly overwhelming a little bit.
I’ve decided that since the 79th anniversary of Ansel Adams’ famed “Mural Project” is coming up soon, and that 79 Years just happens to be the average lifespan of an American, that I should go re-shoot Ansel’s entire 1941/42 Official National Parks portfolio, shot-for-shot on the same day and hour that he did. That way, I can present his 150 public domain photographs next to my modern images in a book and gallery exhibits so everyone can observe what has changed in our National Parks over the course of one lifetime…not in the abstract; “Miami will be under water in 500 years”, rather, I can display images that illustrate what changes will happen over the course of OUR lifetime.
I think maybe this new way of demonstrating change in our parks might catch the attention of people who otherwise ignore environment change ( or are skeptical about the information presented in the news). With two sets of photos taken under strict conditions, on the same day of the year, and oh yeah, with the same 8x10 Deardorff film camera…people might believe their own eyes?
I think we can all admit that on the surface, that sounds like a really enjoyable project to do! Imagine! Literally following in the footsteps of the greatest conservation photographer the world has ever produced!
It is in fact, fun…but…
It turns out, the logistics of shooting film aren’t as easy as just declaring “I’m going to shoot large format film now!”. Procurement of all of the gear needed, both before the “click” of the shutter and after has been challenging. They don’t make 8x10 enlargers any more, I had to searhc high and low for a used one…and a nearly 5000 mile round trip to Sedona from Richmond was just “Step one” of thousands of steps I have taken in setting up my darkroom. I would have to rent a building to use as a studio/darkroom, and luckily I found an empty bank building to rent in Richmond, not far from home. I set about piecing all 300 parts of the enlarger, developing station, print washers, water tables, and timers together to make a space where I could develop and print images…and not just ANY imageseither, mind you . THESE WILL BE DISPLAYED NEXT TO ANSEL ADAMS’ PHOTOS! They have to be made to the highest standards I can achieve. Everything I’ve collected for this project is used gear from across the United States and as far away as Japan. I managed to find a very good version of the Deardorff camera and some lenses from Ebay. I feel like every day is a treasure hunt, and that includes hunting for film and chemicals.
I’m still very far from declaring that film is Superior to digital photography or vice versa. They are simply different processes that both record the reflected light of a scene. Film shooting simply takes more effort, which is perhaps one reason it’s both admired and rare.
And in the end I think the effort will be worth it. Upon completion of the 15 months of research and 9 months of actuall shooting the “official” photos, I’ll have 150 matching images from each both Ansel and me that people can observe closely . They will be able to compare both sets of images in a truly apples-to-apples manner. Each set will have been shot by just one person with a very strict set of standards and recording, using the same model of camera and film type, NOT digitally manipulated and then hand-printed on silver based paper. The archival nature of analog photography also really adds to the historic nature of this project and hopefully, 79 years from now, another photographer will be undertaking a similar project using my images. The images will be very similar in their quality, materials and even the position of the sun when they are captured.
Oh, there’s one more similarity; Adams’ former assistant Alan Ross has signed on to the project team as Senior Advisor, so I know I’ll be getting the very best advice and counsel from someone who knew Ansel well. He told me that Ansel Adams would actually be proud to know his images were still being used to help save the National Parks and that he’d offer his blessings.
If THAT’S not motivation to start shooting film again, I don’t know what is.
Original sets of my prints from this project will be donated to The National Park Service, The Department of the Interior and The National Archives. I have partnered with the National Park Trust as my official National Park Support Organization for this project.
For updates on the project, visit www.79Years.com
