Intro to Large Format Cameras with Paper Negatives

This workshop will introduce participants to 4x5 and 8x10 field cameras, and to shooting paper negatives. We’ll be using darkroom paper as negatives instead of film, and tray processing them onsite. Paper negatives can be digitized to obtain a positive image, or contact printed in the darkroom. We will shoot portraits or objects in the studio, depending on weather shooting outside may also be an option.

The operation of several cameras will be covered, plus the basics of tray processing silver gelatin (black & white) paper. It is helpful if participants already understand how shutter speed, ISO and aperture work together to control exposure (sometimes called The Exposure Triangle), but this is not mandatory. It is optional to bring props or costumes for portraits, or interesting objects if you prefer to shoot still life. Participants will leave with a minimum of two paper negatives.

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Clare Samuel is a visual artist from Northern Ireland, now living in Tkaronto, Canada, She holds a BFA in Photography from Toronto Metropolitan University and an MFA from Concordia University. Her work has been exhibited and screened nationally and internationally, most recently at Belfast Exposed, OBORO and VU Photo. Her work focuses on connection and distance between the self and other, as well as notions of social division, borders, and belonging. Spanning mediums such as photography, video, text and installation, her projects are often a dialogue with the idea of portraiture. She is a co-founder of Feminist Photography Network, a nexus for research on the relationship between feminism and lens-based media.

Host or Publisher Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography