I believe it was Bill Brant that claimed to place his newly processed contact sheets in a drawer for a few months stating that by looking at the images later the mind was clear from distraction and you could look at the images with fresh eyes, or words to that effect.. (Brant also claimed to look at his images upside down to see if they where balanced, but who looks at prints upside down. Someone also suggested to me to look at the prints in a mirror, if only to drive yourself a little potty. The things people make up!)
I have always tried to do the image waiting game where possible and in fact have only just got round to printing up my 108 project I shot well over a year ago. I don't usually wait this long, but the contacts left me cold at first and I was unsure of the 6/17 format. Personally I think small panoramic images look completely naff, long and thin like a limp sausage, but once those babies are printed they really come to life and I was left wondering why I had not printed these beauties sooner.
I was first drawn to the panoramic as I find it a challenging format. Although made especially for landscape photography it can render scenes quite lifeless and flat if you simply snap away like it was a big fun camera. Verticals and Horizontals need to be straight and you really need to think where the horizon is going which is not too dissimilar to shooting 10/8". Light and exposure are also key factors as you can easily have opposite ends of the light scale in one frame as its so flaming wide. But if you get it right, the results can be breath taking. (have a look at Wim Wenders images and you will see what I mean)
I think its safe to say I like the idea of the Panoramic photograph, but its not my main camera of choice. Its more the weekend camera and something I might take to places I have visited before. Its a bit like the old classic car that sits in the garage. It looks nice, Its not practical, theres not many around, but most of all, its a bit different.
3 comments:
I look at images upside down on the ground glass when I'm composing, so why not check it on the print? The visual harmony that you can sense in a right way round print becomes all the more apparent upside down, I find.
Not that I'd chuck it immediately if it didn't work the wrong way up, but it can still be interesting to see how images can work/not work. Do take you point though, it can send you mental.
You might look at the image upside down on the ground glass. But you don't see it as being upside down. (or back to front for that matter)
My point is that you would never hang a print on a wall or look at it upside down on purpose. People always try to come up with fancy ways of looking at things and its usually not the photographer.
All we need to do is look. As for the mirror thing......Give me strength.
Thanks for the comment.
It frequently is the photographer though:
I remember an interview with Meyerowitz where he actually recommended readers to try looking at Cape Light images upside down, as he originally saw them in the ground glass, and experience the images as they are boiled down to abstract forms. I know it sounds like a wind up but I tried it on few and it was pretty remarkable. One image in particular, where there's just sea and sky and a couple of tiny figures on the horizon, looks like an alternate reality when turned the wrong way up.
Cartier-Bresson encouraged the same method with all photographers he took on at Magnum too.
Also, Todd Papageorge in his book Passing through Eden actually used a a couple of pictures the wrong way up - pretty radical but really effective in his case.
Sorry Marcus, not just being a smart ass for the sake of it, I genuinely think there is some worth in this practice, however ridiculous it sounds. Its a trick that's been use by painters for centuries after all. Try looking at an Edward hopper upside down and see how rigorously its been composed.
And I also never forget my mirror whenever I'm out photographing either (joke joke)
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