5 Frames with a Large Format Camera – The Death of a Giant

I didn’t know that this silo’s days were numbered, I just liked the baked, dusty “Wall-E” vibe – if you ignore the plants (there weren’t any on Wall-E’s earth). Although the Intrepid isn’t a great choice for architecture, it’s a terrific choice if you have to lug everything even for half a mile. I used Fomapan 400, because it’s cheap like me and if you just expose it at 200 ASA and then develop it normally, many of its flaws disappear.

All of the photos here were printed on Ilford MG paper using E72 developer. For those interested in printing, I use a Saunders LPL 4500ii enlarger with a 135mm Schneider Componon S lens. I photographed the prints with my phone, and of course they now look a bit worse than the originals.

One day they started taking one of the silos down – the slow way with a jack-hammer on the end of a Cat. This made for some nice grey scenes and the whole process took more than a month, so I went back a few times. Here is one of them photographed fom the original location.

I wasn’t sure when the destruction would look optimal, so I kept going back. I like the hairy look of the rebar in this next one.

It didn’t last too much longer after this. I think the pile of rubble on the right is the remains of it. If I had to do it again, I would use D-23 more. I have a few more sheets from this scene that are difficult to print because the Rodinal gave too much contrast. I have a weakness for Rodinal, partly just sentimental nonsense.

Sometimes I wonder if I learned photography backwards: like many, I started with 135, graduated to 120, and finally 4×5. What if you start with 4×5, even though the deep end is very deep? This idea was planted in my head by a friend and we both ended up agreeing. Each image, each decision is remembered much more clearly, because each photo is really an event. Less time elapses before you see the result, because you can develop it that same day. No roll waiting inside a camera for maybe weeks or months. Also, individual processing of sheets removes a lot of compromises in development that you have to make with roll film. My 135 camera, a Canon A1, can be set to auto-everything and by the time I develop the film, I definitely don’t recall any settings and mistakes become impossible to troubleshoot. Just a thought.

I am on Instagram here, but I’m starting to get disillusioned with IG, so I don’t post as much as I should.

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