The Photographer

[Matt. K]

This guy didn't want to talk much so I snapped this and moved on. I thought to myself "Film is dead Mate! Even if the old gear looks great".

[Oneputt]

Matt the mood in that shot is just great. I found myself looking at it intently without knowing why. Beautiful.

[blacknstormy]

Matt - I'm with Oneputt - beautiful shot. I wish he had a really old tripod though .... the newish one looks too, well, new ?

[Finch]

Matt, this is one surreal photo.

WOW!

I really, really love this one.

Congrats

Cheers

Michael

[Alex]

Matt, this shot is stunning. Looks like a painting.

Alex

[Slider]

Matt, that is one helluva great shot. Almost like showing the end of an era using the tools of a new one

[Ronza]

Looks almost ghostly, very cool shot.

[Big V]

This is good!!!

[sirhc55]

Is this one of your early photographs Matt - circa 1920

[Dug]

Film is far from dead!

If I had the money I would be using one of these cameras. they are just soooooo good to use.

[Ivanerrol]

You see the Photo students from R.M.I.T. in Melbourne in the retail shopping area where I work using them. They use P&S digicams for light metering.

[Alpha_7]

I love the ghost like treatment to this shot Matt. Lovely stuff.

[stubbsy]

Matt

A very productive day for you, with another superb shot from Bare Island. A strong narrative with the perfect treatment. When I see images like this (and some of your others from there) I realise just how far I have to go in improving my skills. Humbling and exciting at the same time.

[Sheila Smart]

Love it, Matt. It has POTW written all over it. Well done indeed.


Sheila

[Antsl]

[quote="Matt. K"]This guy didn't want to talk much so I snapped this and moved on. I thought to myself "Film is dead Mate! Even if the old gear looks great".

Beg to differ on that thought....

Digital is a fantastic medium and it is letting amatuers everywhere learn a lot more about photography in a short time, simply because you can see your results immediately and make adjustments to get the image right as you need to. It is a great tool for learning, shooting reportage work and commercial work. If you were serious about being remembered as a great art photographer when you die though, then I would be quietly taking a lesson from this guy.

To begin with, that old gear does things that digital can't do for the moment including full movements and a format that offers better lens options and resolution than most medium format digital sensors on the market.

That negative, when processed properly, will last a lot longer than most digital formats ever will.

The final printing process will probably afford its own value to the final image, particularly if the photographer makes the image on Fibre Base paper. Fibre Base prints have a better tonal range than most other processes.

Each print is likely to be unique in its own way and as such it will have a higher value if you go to sell it through an art gallery.

The integrity of the process also adds value to the work... it is unlikely that he will be clooning out backgrounds or pasting in skys and so again, the work is worth more than a digital print.


That photographer did not say much to you simply because he has to work harder to get the image (no instant image review on the camera).
Rather than bagging the guy for working in this format, why not get familiar with what the process is really capable of. Go to a good gallery and look at some decent traditional photography on the walls. At the moment this format would represent less than 1% of all the images being made at the moment but it is a siginificant 1%. My work is in the permanant colleciton of two public galleries and it was all shot on 120 black and white and printed on fibre base. My next serious exhibition will also probably shoot on black and white 120, simply because it has a quality that I am yet to achieve in digital.

A colleague of mine is also working in 4 x 5 (similar or same format that the guy in your photo is using) and one of his selling points is that he is working in 4" x 5". His day rate can vary between $2500 to $5000. We both use digital but we also shoot film when we are getting serious about what we are doing.

Film is not dead, it is just becoming the exclusive medium of those who can actually take a photography without an LCD screen for a crutch.

[mikephotog]

I love my D70, but will never get rid of my old 'blad. Even if I only have the 80mm lens nowdays.

[Matt. K]

Antsl
My Linhof and my Hasselblad are gathering dust in a storeroom because their day has come and gone. Sure...it's sweet, romantic and nostalgic, like piano rolls and 72rpm records...but for making images its digital all the way.

[stubbsy]

A gentle reminder to anyone considering furthering the debate about "Film Is Dead". That is VERY off topic and would be better in a thread of it's own so I've created one here. Now back to Matt's image please.