TEMPORAL LIGHT iMAGES
Cameras and Equipment
I, in past, enjoyed using a wide variety of cameras but the advent of the 10x8 system has really changed the way I view this equipment. I have paired down to the minimum to enable me to concentrate on what I enjoy best and also what I intuitively know supports the way I work and indeed forces me to work in that way. Large format field cameras slow me down and force a more considered approach. They allow me to explore the landscape and only stop and set-up the equipment when I recognise something that I really want to photograph. I am no longer "gathering" images, I am seeking images that will fit as part of a body of work that will be coherent. They are what I see.
90% of the photographs i make going forward will be with either the John Nesbitt 10x8 or the 7x5 (sometimes with a 5x4 back fitted). All my lenses fit onto both cameras but only 2 provide coverage at 10x8 fully, with my widest lens getting closer to it than I first imagined.
The Field cameras
(10x8 and 7x5 together)
These 2 cameras really make me tick. Both made by John Nesbitt in the 1990's. John was a camera maker from Wales and is reputed to have made 150 cameras in total. I initial acquired the 7x5 with a 5x4 back to give a multi-format camera. Then in 2026 I was lucky enough to acquire the 10x8 which was John's personal working camera. Both of these are beautiful items to own and even more beautiful to be using.
Movements and
Control of the Focal plane
With a view camera or "field camera" such as these, manipulation of the focal plane becomes a tool that allows both optimum focus to be deployed as well as creative de-focus. The camera shown (the 7x5) shows rear standard back tilt to control perspective and/or focal plane control. The front standard shows swing and tilt to control and manipulate the focal plane (this is a deep subject so not one I will go into here). A lot of this control though is done (by me anyway) by iteration, repeatedly making adjustments, until it is right for the image in mind.
Under
the dark cloth
Viewing an image on a large ground glass screen is an experience in itself. It is upside down and flipped left to right and without the darkcloth pretty dim. But once the eyes have adjusted, it is alive! I can honestly say I no longer consciously experience it as inverted, it does not occur to me anymore it just "is". It is rare if nobody stops and asks me about these cameras now, they do appear as if they are 100 years old so I have a practised (now), explanation of the heritage (1988 ish)...and the concept (based on gandolfi designs initially). Not surprising I suppose as in all the time I have been using them, I have never come across another photographer using a large format camera. So unusual to see for non-photographers as well !
Why do I
use these cameras?
This is a question I am often asked and the answer is not straightforward. I often think "image quality" is a key, and it is, but, having used a high resolution Sony mirrorless in the past with prime lenses it is not the full answer. For me there is no digital v film debate as such as I use a hybrid process - scanning the film and processing digitally ( with a LOT of restraint I should add.)
It really boils down to "slow photography" and the need to consider each step and exist in the moments of making images. I can pretty much remember the making of so many of the negatives I have made. These cameras force me to be in those moments and without it images made feel hollow to me.
