Sebastiao Salgado now uses digital but with a film work flow

[pachuco]

I may be late to the game posting this but I was really fascinated with this article and about the digital process Salgado now uses. Especially how he prints:

http://rfman.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/an-evening-with-sebastiao-salgado/

 

[sirius]

For a body of work, it is pretty important that they look like they came from the same camera, unless the change in camera is done intentionally.

I agree that traveling through airports with film cameras is a real drag now.

 

[Mephiloco]

For a body of work, it is pretty important that they look like they came from the same camera, unless the change in camera is done intentionally.

I agree that traveling through airports with film cameras is a real drag now.

I've had no problems travelling with film lately. The last few flights I was on I wasn't even asked to take out of my lead film bag.

 

[dufffader]

I've had no problems travelling with film lately. The last few flights I was on I wasn't even asked to take out of my lead film bag.

i fınd that it's because in some airports they can 'see' through lead lined bags and tell there are film canisters insıde. I now leave my bag at home when travelling.

 

[Chris101]

i fınd that it's because in some airports they can 'see' through lead lined bags and tell there are film canisters insıde. I now leave my bag at home when travelling.

Put your film in a plastic baggie, without the plastic canister. Many airports will hand inspect them for you, especially if you tell them you are pushing it to 1600. If you put it in a lead bag, they will turn up the x-ray power to see through the lead.

 

[Tuolumne]

i fınd that it's because in some airports they can 'see' through lead lined bags and tell there are film canisters insıde. I now leave my bag at home when travelling.

They can, and if they can't they amp up the x-rays until they can. Makes using a lead bag counter-productive. You just might be getting a higher dose of x-rays with it than without it. Certainly higher than a hand job, which has no x-rays.

/T

 

[amateriat]

I never carry a lead-lined bag for film, just a clear zip-lock bag, and never a problem. Of course, I've never had to have 50lbs of film hand-inspected, either.


- Barrett

 

[JoeV]

...Certainly higher than a hand job, which has no x-rays.

/T

Exactly!! 😀

~Joe

 

[newsgrunt]

consider yourself lucky 😉

 

[pachuco]

Another interesting part is that he went with Canon and presumably autofocus. Also, that the Leica S2 is of interest to him, and no mention of the M8 or M9.

 

[35mmdelux]

Whatever rig he uses no doubt he'll get some great shots.

EDIT: Most of his famous work was shot with the R6.

 

[Haigh]

I put tri-x through scanners but separately from everything else and like some here have said, in their clear plastic containers. Even when scanned several times I have not had a problem.

 

[Frank Petronio]

He's an admirable man and a hard worker, but, frankly, his photos are kind of predictable and tiresome. At least I get tired of merely looking at all those sad faces. I'd like to know what sort of pharmaceuticals the guy is using more than his cameras? A normal person would have thrown themselves off the cliff if they saw what he saw.

 

[Turtle]

Airports are not necessarily a huge issue for 10-50 rolls, but when you have 500 rolls of 120 representing six months of work, 'risk' takes on another meaning. He did aparently lose about 500-600 rolls due to radiation affects. not sure where or how, but I think I read that somewhere. Now that would HURT!

I do not buy the idea that 2-3 passes through hand baggage scanners reduces quality to 35mm levels as is neither makes sense technically nor reflects my many experiences with film and airports (and up to ten plus passes). Its not 2-3 scans I worry about but many more, or// the one BIG one with a scanner set up for hold baggage but used on your hand luggage... in which case it is all over in one scan 🙁

 

[craygc]

Once again people start talking about operators of hand luggage scans being able to turn up the power, which for lead lined bags or otherwise is not an option these machines have.

Hand carry on x-ray scanner units perform a single scan with most machines today being dual-energy type scanners. Dual energy type scanners pass x-rays first through your bags, etc, then through 3 barriers which in turn filter out high, low and pass-through energy. The detection from these 3 filtrations are then compared in the system's computing modules for interpretation and display.

Within these scanners the initial power level of the scan beam is usually within the range of 140 to 160 kilovolt peak. The colour changes you see on the screen are merely differing representations of metal, organic and inorganic objects achieved by performing additive and subtractive transformations on the different energy levels calculated from the filterings at the 3 barriers of a single pass scan - although operators can reverse an object back into the beam for another scan. The scan energy level is set on these machines and cannot be arbitrarily increased by an operator.

 

[Frank Petronio]

Some X-ray in East Bezerkastan might be quite a bit more powerful than it needs to be, so maybe that is what caught him?

 

[Turtle]

or they used a scanner normally used for hold luggage. There seems to be more than a few anecdotal accounts of this happening and of all the airports in the world, Paris CDG was mentioned by a number of people who had film ruined in one or two scans. nowadays you rarely see the film safe symbols on scanners even in first world airports.

I would love to know how expensive Salgado's workflow is!

 

[gavinlg]

He's an admirable man and a hard worker, but, frankly, his photos are kind of predictable and tiresome. At least I get tired of merely looking at all those sad faces. I'd like to know what sort of pharmaceuticals the guy is using more than his cameras? A normal person would have thrown themselves off the cliff if they saw what he saw.

I agree 100%, I find his work predictable - not taking anything away from him or anything, just my opinion.

 

[ooze]

Once again people start talking about operators of hand luggage scans being able to turn up the power, which for lead lined bags or otherwise is not an option these machines have.

I asked an x-ray scanner operator whether they can increase the power and he said "no". My impression was that this was an honest answer.

 

[Turtle]

Presumably hold luggage scanners, which do fog film in one pass, can also be used to scan hang baggage. In some countries where they scan baggage going OUT of the airport, like Dubai and Kabul, the machines are HUGE in order to cater for the large packages and suitcases. Excuse the French, but this is when I sh1t myself. Smaller hand luggage machines I dont worry about, but these huge behemoths make me think I am putting my baggage thru hold baggage scanners. Since they have appeared I have stopped bringing film into Afghanistan by air when i travel and get it through military mail and test each order to ensure no fogging. So far so good. I know they scan because they keep opening my packages (I guess bags of powder (Xtol) and little 120 rolls look kinda suspicious... or at least they would be going the OTHER way! Who would import drugs into Afghanistan 😀

Few machines are marked and often operators in foreign countries would say 'yes, no problem, perfectly OK' if you asked to sleep with their sister while pointing at your film, so I never feel confident when they tell me that the scanner, sized to scan the Titanic, is perfectly safe. This is where HUGE pockets are useful because security teams covering the exits of these airports never seem interested in pockets. In Dubai at least they are too busy looking for pink fury handcuffs and other similarly immoral material!