The advantages of a 35mm camera is the fact that it’s light and easy to move around, 35 mm cameras are also quite cheap. You can also get 36 shots per roll of film which saves a lot of switching time for the photographer and is also more affordable. The main disadvantage is the fact that the photos are of quite poor quality compared to medium or large format photography.
Example of photo;
Mamiya RB67
120mm film
Can produce different size images
6x4.5cm, 6x6cm, 6x7cm, 6x9cm, 6x12cm, 6x24cm
This obviously decides how many photos can be fitted into a roll of film, anywhere from 16 to 3 images, depending on the size of the image.
The advantages of medium format cameras is that you have the balance of having quality images and a reasonably portable and adaptable camera. It is a lot more bulky than a 35mm camera but it produced significantly better images. The disadvantages of this camera is the expense of it, and to really make the camera quick and adaptable for studio photography the photographer would potentially need duplicate backs for the RB67 and these are expensive.
Example of photo;
Large format cameras
The formats are 5”x4” or 10”x8”
Film comes in separate sheets rather than on a roll, and one photo per sheet.
The main advantage of large format photography is the amazing quality of photos it produces. It is very large and not particularly adaptable, certainly not very portable. It poses complication or at least delay for photographers in a studio with limited time because the film comes in sheets and can only hold one photo per sheet, so it takes time to load the camera each photo. Everything is manual and so there is room for a lot of error, and everything is very expensive.
Example of photo;
Enlarger
An enlarger is a tool used in a photography dark room in the process of printing photographs.
A photograph negative is placed into the top of the enlarger and a light is turned on which projects the image onto a piece of photographic paper. Using a timer, the photographic paper is exposed to the light for however many seconds is needed and then the light is turned off, then the photographic paper is taken to be developed.
Self Portrait Photographers
Mariell-Amelie
She also shoots other models but self portraiture is her main concern.
There is only very brief information about her on her website, stating that she grew up on a small island in North Norway with her parents and a cat, which suggests that she wants people to know that she is a small-town girl who worked hard to get where she is today.
Her self portraits are all very different, she obviously puts a lot of effort into the shots and each one tells a story. The shots may include her in them, however she often has other things in them to make them look interesting and to make the frame look less empty and more balanced.
Mariell Amelie's website
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman is a self portrait photographer born in 1954 who lives and works in New York. She is most famous for her Untitled Film Stills work which consists of 69 photos of herself in different costumes and situations, and she poses as if in each one she is a different character from a different film. These were taken during the period of time between 1977 and 1980, and are all in black and white.
These, however, are not her only work. She has done many different series' of photos and gained worldwide recognition for her work. It is thought that her photography is concentrated on how women are viewed in society.
Sherman's father had a hobby of collecting cameras and taking family photos. She often used to play dress up, and so her upbringing reflects on her work. She was raised in Long Island and went to State University College at Buffalo, New York, where she studied painting. After a while she got tired with the limitations painting held and decided that photography was better, because then she could spend more time on the idea, rather than actually capturing it.
Evaluation
This is my finished piece of work. There are obviously problems with it, but problems I am able to explain.
To begin with, I took many more photos than this, however, due to no fault of my own, these photos did not come out. This is why I was truly limited with what images I had to work with. I thought that these images would come out, and therefore did not put myself forward to be photographed by the medium and large format cameras. I also believed that we were working with the photos we had taken, rather than the photos that had been taken of us by someone else, since taking credit for someone else's work did not seem right, it is not a 'self portrait' if someone else took it.
Basically the only photo I had left to work with is the photo of Ryan I had taken with the medium format RB67 camera. I positioned him at the edge of the frame on purpose, because I find that photos where the subject is at the centre of the frame look very dull and uninteresting, unless there is a specific reason for them being there. I also shot with the page layout in mind, and only wanted my image to be on one of the pages.
I did not do much editing on Photoshop except for adding a gradient so the page gradually faded to black on the right without any solid colour lines showing through. I also used the spot corrector to sort of a couple of white marks which were on my original print. Of course the text was added on Photoshop also. If I were to do it again or had a longer amount of time I would have chosen a different font and maybe positioned the text somewhere else, I get the feeling that the page is a little unbalanced with the majority of the text and the image on one page. If I had the opportunity I would have added some blocks of text on the other page, if it were for a real magazine the text would relate to the portrait.
Developing the photo was relatively easy since I've done it a few times before now. Of course I did a test strip before doing the whole thing, testing it 5 seconds at a time, the test strip came out like this.
The 15 seconds exposure looked good to me, however it could possibly look better a little lighter, so I did 14 seconds and it turned out the way I wanted it. I did not mind the dark shadows because I intended for a dark and moody sort of look.
Overall I am happy with my work, despite the complications. The only thing I am not particularly happy with is the text, but I spend a lot of time trying to work out where to put it and was still indecisive. Other than that I am pleased with the actual photo and the process in general, using the Mamiya RB67 was fun and an interesting experience.
(please note, I am not sure why some things are highlighted in white, (such as this, why?!) it seems to have spurred from me copying and pasting certain names such as 'Mamiya' and 'State University College, Buffalo in New York. These are the only things I copied.)
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