In 2005 - 2007, I had the opportunity to exhibit several of my large anamorphic prints in the juried Around the Coyote Fall Arts Festival. Hundreds of artists filled the Flatiron Building and adjacent commercial locations in Wicker Park.
I was intrigued with the possibility of creating large versions of the imagery, since details in smaller prints I had made with inexpensive consumer scanners and printers could not produce the desired results.
The negatives produced by the Omniscope camera could be difficult to work with. One issue is the variation of the exposure. Across the face of the film, there is roughly 1.5 stops gradient between the edges of the film. This will be explained in a separate post on the camera later. The negatives are from medium format film, and approximate the 6cm by 17cm format.
Once scanned, the high-resolution images were printed, using a LightJet printer that fires lasers to expose either Kodak Endura or Fuji Crystal Archive photographic paper. For each show, I had to produce two or more new prints. Three candidates were missing, and I was stuck using the consumer-grade scanner. The prints from the LightJet were acceptable, yet didn't have the look I'd hoped for.
Pinhole images can be surprisingly sharp. They are diffuse by nature. This characteristic, distortion, or whatever you prefer to call it, can be used in creative ways like any other optical property. Control of the depth of field is commonly used to emphasize a face in portraiture, as the eye is drawn to the detailed parts of an image. Another characteristic of pinhole imagery is a near-infinite depth of field - in relative, practical terms. My Nikkor-M 300mm large format lens has an aperture ranging from f9 to f128. At f128, the lens is approaching the relative size of a pinhole aperture, and has an amazing depth of field. I'll post an image using the lens at f128... when I find it... showing a fence with adequate focus at about three feet from the lens, with a building in sharp focus about a half-mile away.
Here are the three 'lost' images. They are not particularly impressive in this small format for the web, so you'll have to imagine the detail and subtle nuances of a high resolution print at about 40 inches wide. The original files are scanned at 300 dpi with an image width of 65 inches. Imagine that on display - I may try one that large. I will not pay for the framing, however... I'll settle for a few tacks.
Abstraction of the Abstraction
Under the Cloud Gate sculpture, by Anish Kapoor, is the omphalos, a highly polished concave chamber that distorts and reflects. It looks like this...
Under Cloud Gate, prior to polishing the seams
Leica IIIf
Click for larger view
Click for larger view
I wondered what this distorted world would look like when imaged with the Omniscope. An abstraction of an abstraction...
An Alien Presence
Omniscope, Ilford FP4 Plus film
Click for larger view
This was taken after the seams were polished. The camera was on a low tripod near one end, where I had to stoop low enough to stay out of the way. Tripods are not welcome under the sculpture - I happened by when it wasn't noticed, or they didn't care since I was well out of the way.
The Other Ones...
Alien Presence II
Click for larger view
Gehry Bandshell
Click for larger view
Next - the Omniscope.
