Size Matters

James Aponovich in his studio, Manchester, NH, 2004

Ultra large format photography is the topic for Sept. 7^th

PHSNE’s meeting topic for the first meeting of the new program year is a big one: ultra large format photography.

On September 7 Gary Samson, Chair of the Photography Department at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester, NH, will demonstrate the equipment he uses for his own ultra large format work — 12x20 and 11x14 Wisner cameras, with appropriate lenses, film holders and accessories — and talk about his procedures for developing and printing his images.

Gary Samson-

Gary will also discuss the history of ultra large format photography and photographers — such as the great western landscape photographers Carleton Watkins and Timothy O’Sullivan — who worked with very large format cameras and plates.

Gary’s own ultra large format work is included in numerous public and private collections including the Currier Museum of Art, the University of New Hampshire and the National Archives.

This fall Gary will be on sabbatical in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia making black and white landscape photographs with the 12x20 camera for inclusion in a forthcoming book on Cape Breton.

Gary, a graduate of Boston’s Franklin Institute, worked for many years at the University of New Hampshire and took his present position in 2001.

-From snap shots, September 2008.