Silver & Light

After watching this video, my view on photography has definitely changed. What makes this video so great is not only the fact that he makes such large prints with the world's biggest mobile camera.. it's the fact that he does it all by hand, each one unique in it's own right.

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Being able to hold something that big and knowing YOU made it with your own two hands really does add up. The fact that you get to see him both succeed and fail goes to show that this kind of work isn't easy. In mere seconds, a wet plate can turn into useless scrap metal. I can't imagine the kind of thrill you get when making wet plates, but the results definitely pay off.

When Ian mentioned how digital suddenly swooped into the scene and suddenly everyone had digital, it made me think about the gear i've got now. Made me think about how dumb the constant bickering between Canon and Nikon fanboys sound. I always dread answering the question, "what gear do you use?", does it really matter? Haha.. better equipment won't make you any better than you already are unless you shoot more. Nowadays though, i'm leaning towards the idea that.. as long as it works, shoots, and produces images at a big enough size, i'm happy. None of this, "Canon shoots better" or.. "Nikon has better glass" or "Nikon magic" shit. A camera's a camera, and at the end of the day people no one really cares what you use, as long as it looks good.

I'd personally love to do this myself, but if i recall correctly.. in an interview with Chase Jarvis, he quoted the price of each print costing roughly $500. This goes to show how much Ian Ruhter is dedicated to this kind of photography. Like he said, why enlarge when you can shoot big to begin with?