Large Format Portraits — An analogue experience for everyone

There was a moment in the workshop, while we were developing the first portrait on paper, when someone said: “Wait — you can actually see the face.” Yes. The face of the person standing in front of you, appearing in black and white inside a tray. It’s wonderful the first time. The fifth time too.

How it went

At Cameras & Films we brought our large format camera — the Woody, an old 4×5" wooden camera — and spent the morning making portraits. The setup: part of the group posed, the other part photographed, and we rotated.

The whole process: load the sheet in a black cardboard sleeve, slot it into the camera, focus under the dark cloth, meter the light, shoot, pull the sheet. In the darkroom: develop directly onto photographic paper, no enlarger needed.

For everyone

The workshop title says “for everyone” and we mean it. You don’t need to know anything about large format. The camera is imposing at first — it’s big, it’s wooden, it has a black cloth — but within ten minutes you’re using it.

All you need is the desire to do things differently.