A study in Red, and a study in Blue
As many of you know, I’ve been struggling with the Hassle-Blad (hyphen intended) for the past year, because of all the technical issues with the stupid thing (you can tell I really love it).
To be fair, the system is extremely old, and I doubt it’s ever been serviced properly, if at all. So If you can recommend someone who knows what they’re doing (Hassleblad UK seem to want to charge me £400 alone to just service two film backs – I don’t think so), please do get in touch.
I seem to be attached to the system right now though. I love composing in square, although I know it does not work for everything. If I look at my ‘style’ of work, I often shoot portrait orientation and I believe this is because it allows me to use a lot of foreground as well as sky in my shots. Square does not allow for this, unless you get further back, or let a lot more ‘stuff’ come in the sides of the frame.
In the above set of four images, I made a beautiful study of Laguna Colorada on the Bolivian altiplano. At 4,500 metres, the air is extremely thin here, and we were all struggling for breath. But the light! Those intense red evenings seem to be something that happens a lot there. My guide did say though, that we had an exceptionally beautiful evening there. Still, the subject is rather minimalist, and when you consider making four images – to work as a set, rather than individual scenes, a story forms – and for some reason, the entire set becomes stronger than the sum of its parts.
While I was running the Patagonia trip in the southern hemisphere winter, I made these studies of the Perito Moreno glacier. We had a very wet journey out there and everything was looking very gloomy. There was most definitely a low mood to everything and the cloud had come down to obstruct the backdrop view. Years ago, I would have been disappointed, packed up my camera and headed for the cafe, but I feel I know my subjects and light better. I loved the tones that the cloud were producing. Everything was glowing – the glacier had taken on an eerie luminance in the soft morning twilight.
Seeing these images only confirms to me that I need to continue with square – it is something I am growing into.
I still love 4×5 very much (which is what the Mamiya 7 is – the negative has the same aspect ratio as 4×5, despite being labeled a 6×7 camera). So I’m fully aware that I will continue to shoot 4×5 aspect ratio as well as square. So often we think of replacing one thing with another (I’m thinking of that phrase – ‘have you gone digital yet?’ ).
It’s been about a year now of getting used to the Hasselblad and the square format. When introducing something new into my workflow – I feel I need to give myself time to grow into it, in order to find out if it’s for me. I can’t tell straight away if it’s not.
I think that we need to give ourselves more than a few months, perhaps even years to discover if we have the aptitude, or leanings towards a certain format – patience, and allowing ourselves the time to get fully into something, can only help reap artistic dividends, I feel.
Very much like these Bruce. Wish I could go to Bolivia some day, it looks like and extremely tranquil place.
I think these images would look great printed as a group in the way you have presented them, I can see you are really enjoyig the square format.
Comment by Simonhi — 29 August, 2012 @ 11:45 am
Thanks Simon,
It’s nice to hear from you again.
Bolivia is one of the most seriously underrated places for making images. But I think that’s because of the altitude, and that you can only get there on private tours – there are no road markings, nothing.
I reckon in a decade from now, it will have become the new ‘Iceland’.
Glad you’re enjoying the square format images. I still love my mamiya 7 very much (I cuddle it at nights!). :-)
Comment by Bruce Percy — 29 August, 2012 @ 5:36 pm
These are really lovely Bruce. The reds are especially amazing!
Maybe a sillly question, but why did you not get a Mamiya 6 instead of the ‘Blad? That would have given you a familiar technique based on the “7″. Maybe you wanted a new tool for the new format? It is interesting how a different tool can work differently in our brain. When I was maybe 11, I began learning to play guitar; then when I was about 16 I learned to play bass. It’s funny but I could only read bass clef when I had that bass instrument in my hands. All other times I had to transpose to treble clef. Somehow holding that instrument put my brain in a different place. Anyway that probably has nothing to do with you and the Hasselblad. Maybe you like looking down at that WL finder – certainly an asset when you are low down.
I really have been enjoying your recent blog entries! They are nice meditations and i find them inspiring.
JM
Comment by jmotzi — 29 August, 2012 @ 7:46 pm
Hi John,
I’ve been toying with the idea of the Mamiya 6, as my dear friend Darren has one for sale with the three lenses.
But I think I felt I needed to ‘shake things up a bit’, and I wondered what Through-The-Lens would be like, as I don’t normally see through the lens at all with most of my picture making activities. Plus I felt I wanted the option of being able to ultra-wide (40mm) to telephoto, and also close focussing, which are two things the Mamiya 7 does not excel at. So I think it was a combination of things….. and serendipity; a good friend of mine in Canada had the entire Blad outfit with three lenses and she practically gave it away to me. So I felt this is perhaps where I should go with it.
I agree, different camera systems can make you think differently. The process or workflow can stir things up for me, and I’m not sure sometimes if that was a good move. But as I’ve said, it’s taken me about a year to get comfortable and I now feel the Hasselblad is really starting to work for me, as I think these images now testify.
Loved hearing about your experiences with bass-clef, and treble-clef. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on this.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 29 August, 2012 @ 8:05 pm
Hey Bruce,
Beautiful images! I particularly like the ones from Bolivia…one rarely sees those types of colors on the ground, very nice.
As for camera repair, I would recommend these guys http://www.precisioncameraworks.com/
They are here in the states, so it may take a bit with shipping and such…worth a look!
take care,
Raynor
Comment by raynorcz — 29 August, 2012 @ 8:41 pm