These three pics are from my father's book of large-format portrait photography: his grand-daughter Selkie; his friend Graham; and me.
My father is old-school when it comes to photography — cue heated cross-generational debates at the dinner table. He shoots with a Rosewood 54 and a mahogany wholeplate, which basically means he only gets one shot per shoot – so you better stand really, really still when you're posing for him or be prepared to feel the wrath of Bruce rain down upon you. This method of working is completely alien to me (my preference being to snap two or three hundred shots at a time on automatic and then airbrush the shit out of them in Photoshop afterwards) but it's always exciting to have to wait and see the finished product when he's done with the dish-developing. Yes, dish-developing! With liquid and stuff.
You can flick through the first 15 pages of his book and order a copy here. There are some other people in it you might recognise too.
Wow.
ReplyDeleteHe really knows his lighting...
what a beautiful book!
ReplyDeleteHe's got you as "designer and photographer", which is fine, but he's missed "blonker" and "busker" and "poet" and "film maker" and "foxy ginger babe".
ReplyDeleteThe whole 'false identities' thing is that people are showing their 'other' side in the pictures, like their guitar or their blonde wig or whatever, but then the title has their actual job instead. Er, I think.
ReplyDeleteAnd the day my father describes me as 'foxy ginger babe' is the day I curl up and die. But thank you, Tim.
Beautiful photos! There is something special about film photography - I do both (only 35mm nothing crazy with plates like your dad!) but there's something nice about the process of developing and printing film - it feels handmade, there's all that suspense waiting to see how the photos turn out and it feels magical watching the image appear before your eyes. Anyway your Dad's book is lovely - I think the photo of his grandaughter is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWell, his methods may be suspect, but the results are outstanding. Does this prove the photographer's eye is an inherited trait? It's a strong suggestion.
ReplyDeleteSelkie is spectral and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteObviously your family has talent. I, on the other hand, come from a long line of people who take pictures of their fingers blocking people's heads.
ReplyDeleteI found a little something that's more up to speed for my level of "talent."
The stillness comes through.
ReplyDeleteWow these are really, really beautiful. He's got a way with lighting + processing.
ReplyDeleteHoly Sally Mann with the large format cam! These are gorgeous.
ReplyDelete