[LargeFormat] The Big Digit

[rstein]

Dear Friends,

    Just prior to disappearing into the darkroom for the day and losing the
cares of the world - you can tell that I do not get out much - I thought I
would mention a comment I heard in passing at a recent costume society
meeting.

    The speaker was using a small digital camera to try to capture a
medieval dress in all its glory. He was a little frustrated at the delay
between the time he pressed the button and the actual exposure - verified by
the firing of the tiny on-board flash. I consoled him with the thought that
at least the model wasn't out on the fighting field with a sword and shield.
He'd never capture the peak of the action that way.

     He wasn't fazed. He said that as he could just wipe them off when he
got home and use the camera again the next week without spending money on
film he would just blaze away regardless.

    I mentally contrasted this with my own performance the day before in my
studio taking naughty French postcards. You know, frilly knickers and
corsets and long black stockings - and that's just me - you should see what
the girls wear....

     No, I mean contrasting me setting up a dressing table shot or a
chaise-longue shot with all the curtains, pot plants, props, lights, etc.
and then setting up a 4 x 5 Linhof with an Imagon lens and trying to imagine
what aperture I actually have when I set the diaphragm at halfway. And then
posing the girls and coaching the proper or improper expression from them.
And then focussing and resetting the lens and loading the DD and pulling the
slide. And then concealing my hand with the shutter release so that the
models do not react differently just before exposure.

     And then the shot. Right on. Right on for time, exposure, pose, light,
colour, atmosphere....And as I have spent a scandalous amount on one sheet
of Polaroid film at the start of the studio sequence I can be confident that
I have it in one.

    Now, I must admit that I will never be able to own a digital back for
the Linhof. I cannot imagine having that kind of money to spend for that
purpose. If, however, the earth turns inside out and I find the suitcase
full of cash - well, am I going to be a better photographer and turn out
better work because of it? I kind of doubt it.

    The very expense and time investment of the film system coupled with the
wet darkroom system compel me to take care - care I might be tempted to
eschew did I have that magical ability to discard the image for free. I am
not saying I need the lash of poverty to make me an artist - Heaven forbid -
but I think the very capture medium exercises a healthy discipline on me.

     Is this a great debate and are there any takers? Remember that I am a
modified amateur in this art - I don't earn a living by it but I find ways
to make it pay for itself and let me spin off my own vision for my own
purposes. One of the purposes is naughty postcards. I am hoping for an
actress in pink tights next and a girl in a camisole riding a pennyfarthing
bicycle.

    Uncle Dick

PS: Later in the year I am opening Le Chat Noir - the most exclusive
bordello in town - for one day. I shall take pictures of the girls and make
cabinet pictures. Applications for positions on the staff may be made over
the internet.