The grand-grand-grandfather of this friend of mine went to Brasil when young and made fortune. I’m talking of something on early XIX century.
He then return to his motherland and build this huge farm. With some residential houses, for him and family and for their workers, warehouses, barns, stables and even a small chapel. And when I say “small” I’m referring to its height. Being a short guy, he builds it according to his size: the front door has just 1.70 meters height!
Somehow, trough time, the family lost it all and now is abandon and partially in ruins.
My friend’s idea was get there and do, now a days, the same pictures he had in the family album and boxes. Done since there is photography, showing festivities as weddings, christening, crops celebrations and so. And it doesn’t mater if the motives were about the landlord or their workers.
Remember that, until some 40 or 50 years ago, photography was something special, reserved for special moments and for wealthy people. Not wide spread as today.
So we when on a weekend and camp just outside the complex, using the still existent well for water.
Having the photos on our hands, we scout the place, deciding which picture belonged to each building, at what hour was done and divided the all set of photos into two groups: one for each one of us. His wife didn’t care for photography and their daughter was too young to help us.
Next day, Sunday, we start shooting. Looking for the exact position of each photo, trying to get the same light. Everything equal except time: persons and ruins.
At some point before lunch, we found ourselves with that strange pain in our back. Both of us. And we laugh to each other due to the position we had to make those pictures: neither standing nor knelling. Just halfway and bending over.
At lunch we talked about it. The only explanation we got was the size of the original owner, but he was dead long before the first pictures were done. We even decided to use our tripods in order to see if every one were made at the height and perspective. And save our kidneys.
And most of them were, if not the exact same height, at least similar.
It was just when returning to Lisboa that we found the “why” of that. A quite natural “why”, but only the history of photography explain it.
---If you read this far, I suggest you don’t read anymore for a while. Can you find the answer by yourself? Could you, if you have been there with us, saved us time and pain?---
The reason for that strange position of us resides on technology.
On those days, late 1800s early 1900s, every photograph was done with large format cameras, 9x12 or 13x18, even larger. And those cameras needed, always, a tripod. Impossible to do any other way.
Later, they used some roll film cameras, those from Kodak or other, looking like a box or, other models, folding cameras with bellows. And the viewfinder was a little and single lens on a corner with a mirror inside. We trough it vertically and had the camera chest levelled.
Even later, they had those marvellous cameras, the TLR (Twin Lens Reflex). Also chest level operated. Like Rollei, Yashica, Bronica and others.
Try to have your eyes chest levelled and you will find yourself as we where: neither standing nor knelling. And with some pain on your backs!
If light is what we capture and memory is its reason, perspective is how we do it. It is our main tool, besides our eyes and mind.
Texto e imagem by me
He then return to his motherland and build this huge farm. With some residential houses, for him and family and for their workers, warehouses, barns, stables and even a small chapel. And when I say “small” I’m referring to its height. Being a short guy, he builds it according to his size: the front door has just 1.70 meters height!
Somehow, trough time, the family lost it all and now is abandon and partially in ruins.
My friend’s idea was get there and do, now a days, the same pictures he had in the family album and boxes. Done since there is photography, showing festivities as weddings, christening, crops celebrations and so. And it doesn’t mater if the motives were about the landlord or their workers.
Remember that, until some 40 or 50 years ago, photography was something special, reserved for special moments and for wealthy people. Not wide spread as today.
So we when on a weekend and camp just outside the complex, using the still existent well for water.
Having the photos on our hands, we scout the place, deciding which picture belonged to each building, at what hour was done and divided the all set of photos into two groups: one for each one of us. His wife didn’t care for photography and their daughter was too young to help us.
Next day, Sunday, we start shooting. Looking for the exact position of each photo, trying to get the same light. Everything equal except time: persons and ruins.
At some point before lunch, we found ourselves with that strange pain in our back. Both of us. And we laugh to each other due to the position we had to make those pictures: neither standing nor knelling. Just halfway and bending over.
At lunch we talked about it. The only explanation we got was the size of the original owner, but he was dead long before the first pictures were done. We even decided to use our tripods in order to see if every one were made at the height and perspective. And save our kidneys.
And most of them were, if not the exact same height, at least similar.
It was just when returning to Lisboa that we found the “why” of that. A quite natural “why”, but only the history of photography explain it.
---If you read this far, I suggest you don’t read anymore for a while. Can you find the answer by yourself? Could you, if you have been there with us, saved us time and pain?---
The reason for that strange position of us resides on technology.
On those days, late 1800s early 1900s, every photograph was done with large format cameras, 9x12 or 13x18, even larger. And those cameras needed, always, a tripod. Impossible to do any other way.
Later, they used some roll film cameras, those from Kodak or other, looking like a box or, other models, folding cameras with bellows. And the viewfinder was a little and single lens on a corner with a mirror inside. We trough it vertically and had the camera chest levelled.
Even later, they had those marvellous cameras, the TLR (Twin Lens Reflex). Also chest level operated. Like Rollei, Yashica, Bronica and others.
Try to have your eyes chest levelled and you will find yourself as we where: neither standing nor knelling. And with some pain on your backs!
If light is what we capture and memory is its reason, perspective is how we do it. It is our main tool, besides our eyes and mind.
Texto e imagem by me
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