Large-format analogue photography

Wednesday 28 May 2025, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 3,246 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

I regularly hear that a photographer has gone back to using an analogue camera. Sometimes 35mm, sometimes medium format. Every now and then, you come across a photographer who shoots large format. I met one at my last masterclass in the French department of Tarn.

It is great to see someone working with an analogue camera. This can be 35mm film, which we now consider full-frame, or larger. Medium format is appealing, as these cameras can often be found second-hand at attractive prices.

During my masterclass in the French department of Tarn, the final edition because it was the last time, I had a participant, Patrick Marquetecken, who photographed exclusively with analogue equipment. In medium format, with a Bronica and a Kalloflex twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera.

It does not stop at medium format. Patrick, who you can find on his own website, also photographs with a Chamonix large format camera. With this, he makes photographs on 4x5 inch (approximately 10 x 12cm) negative plates.

Large format in the wild. A remarkable sight.
It is impressive to see such a camera in the wild. It is fascinating to follow the photographic process. From looking for a composition with the help of a smartphone, to carefully measuring the light with a separate light meter. And then setting up the camera.

Old meets new: a modern smartphone for finding compositions, measuring the light with a separate light meter, and photographing on a light-sensitive plate with the technical camera.
It is not a process that takes a few seconds. Patrick spends half an hour to an hour making a single photograph. Meanwhile, the rest of us using modern digital photography have already taken another 100 photographs.

A cloth is needed to see the image on the ground glass. Under the cloth, you look at the ground glass with a magnifying glass to check the focus.
It does not stop once the photograph has been taken. The work continues at a later time. Based on the unique exposure, a carefully considered development process is chosen using the notes on the settings. This is unique for each photograph.

This is also where the major difference lies compared with photography on rolls of film, whether 35mm or 120 film. A single development is carried out for all the photographs on the roll. For the negative plates from the technical camera, the process is unique for each photograph.

This means that the whole process, from composition to exposure and from development to printing, is perfectly tailored to each photograph. This gave me a good idea of how someone like Ansel Adams worked. How everything from exposure to the zone system was used.

It was educational to watch Patrick at work. We will have to wait a little while for the results, as they take a considerable amount of time. In the meantime, I recommend taking a look at his own website.

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