square format masters, please...

[sanmich]

Hi All

I am considering starting a photo project involving shots of urban/semi urban areas in 6x6.

I have a very small visual culture of PJ/35mm style but I am completely ignorant of the masters of the genre in the square format or on urban/industrial landscape (Part of the fun is learning, right?)

What photographer should I "learn"?

Thanks! 🙂

 

[le vrai rdu]

i have seen some very interesting photos from clemens kalischer

 

[Keith]

I asked a similar question a while ago when I first started using 6x6 and got directed to several very good exponents of the square format ... Dianne Arbus was one that really impressed me!

 

[pesphoto]

RFF's Todd Hanz is pretty darn good.....

 

[nikon_sam]

This is going to sound soooo silly and or "New Age-ish"...but you should "Learn" the photographer that's in you...
Take the camera out and view the world through it (with/without film)
You should be able to frame your shots just like you would using a 35mm type camera...
If it looks good in the viewfinder you should be good to go..the hard part in shooting with a TLR is getting comfortable with holding and framing...how to move/tilt/angle or whatever you call it to find your shot...The TLR's image is backwards so get used to that and remember just because it looks good in the viewfinder it may not work when printing...flow, angle and other related things...
Learing this camera is just like any other...it's going to take time...

 

[Keith]

This is going to sound soooo silly and or "New Age-ish"...but you should "Learn" the photographer that's in you...
Take the camera out and view the world through it (with/without film)
You should be able to frame your shots just like you would using a 35mm type camera...
If it looks good in the viewfinder you should be good to go..the hard part in shooting with a TLR is getting comfortable with holding and framing...how to move/tilt/angle or whatever you call it to find your shot...The TLR's image is backwards so get used to that and remember just because it looks good in the viewfinder it may not work when printing...flow, angle and other related things...
Learing this camera is just like any other...it's going to take time...

We shouldn't automatically connect 6x6 to the TLR camera but for some reason we often do just that. I started off shooting 6x6 with my Iskra rangefinder and wasn't overly impressed at the results I was getting ... they were so so! I've been using a small 6x6 Voigtlander Brilliant lately which is not really a TLR but works pretty much the ame way ... except it's scale focus.

My results with this quirky little camera have been far better instantly than I was able to achieve with the Iskra over several rolls of film. I think looking down and seeing the imaged in reverse not to mention every camera movement creating the opposite effect on the viewing screen of what you are expecting, really makes a difference to the way you compose!

The square format has a lot to offer ... but it certainly requires a different approach if you're going to get it to work for you. 🙂

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A lot of people have used square format. As others have mentioned, Diane Arbus used a Mamiya C330. Richard Avedon used Rolleiflexes before he switched to the 8x10 camera. Those two did mostly portraits though. You might look at David Plowden, he used a Hasselblad for all of his work, which might be closer to what you're looking for.

I like the square format myself. A lot.

 

[venchka]

Square is good. Even better, the 6x6 negative is more than large enough to crop to just about any aspect ratio you want. I am finding out that many of my 6x6 negatives look best cropped to 5x7.

Good luck!

 

[andrewteee]

Flickr is an easy way to sample a large set of square pictures. Though perhaps not many masters, it might provide some inspiration. There are several square groups, or you can search for tags related to 6x6, such as hasselblad or 500cm or rolleiflex or the obvious square or 6x6.

I am a deep fan of the 6x6, and someday hope to own a Hassie of my own, but more and more I'm drawn to 6x7. Just a little more room to breathe without being too wide.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Fritz Henle could make a Rollie sing and dance. Bunny Yeager shot dozens and dozens of Playboy Magazine spreads with her Mamiyaflex, but she also had other commercial clients and she shot most of those gigs with that Mamiyflex too.

Go to a second hand record shop. Flip through a box of 33 RPM records, the big 12 inch discs. 99% of those album covers were shot on 6x6 Ektachrome 120. Shooting square takes a bit of getting used to but it's doable.

 

[HMFriedman]

Michael Kenna

 

[dazedgonebye]

Shooting square takes a bit of getting used to but it's doable.

Seems the most natural thing in the world to me. I almost never crop from square to rectangle.
Just developed a roll of 6x6 and only 1 shot would benefit from a crop. Of course, nothing at all could help some of them. 😀

 

[Thardy]

Phil Borges

 

[sanmich]

Thanks a lot for the answers

In my current process I don't reframe (started as a snobbish nonsense, now it's a habbit)
I would feel extremely awkward to shoot pictures, and reframe them each in another way.
What I'm trying to say is that I mean to learn the "rules" of the square.
I had former experience with TLRs and never felt really comfortable.
I just need to go to school...

 

[aizan]

you may find these photographers interesting, for either their use of the square format and/or their approach to photographing the urban/industrial landscape: robert adams (the new west), ed ruscha, william eggleston (2 1/4), rinko kawauchi, henry wessel, lewis baltz, anthony hernandez (waiting, sitting, fishing and some automobiles) , diane arbus, alec soth (dog days bogota), francesca woodman, bernd and hilla becher, thomas struth, ralph eugene meatyard, lise sarfati (acta est), edward burtynsky, o. winston link, david plowden.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Not necessarily 6x6 although a lot were taken in the 80's with a Rolleiflex. Look at <http://www.johndavies.uk.com/metropoli.htm>

 

[35mmdelux]

Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Victor Skrebneski, Mary Ellen Mark.

 

[sanmich]

Just had a look at Michael Kenna's work.
It took me a few minutes to reconnect my lower jaw to the rest of my body.
That's what I am talking about "playing by the rules of the square" ...

 

[sanmich]

And thanks to all of you...

I have homework for half a year now 🙂

 

[35mmdelux]

I feel comfortable with a Hasselblad and lenses 60mm-120mm. The resolution of Zeiss MF is amazing. My two-lens kit these days is an MP/35mm Summilux & Hasselblad 501CM/100mm/3.5 Planar. The 100mm allows me to work fairly close-up providing some fabulous portraits; excellent bokeh as well. With the 'Blad, I keep it simple & "compact" using the WLF.