Page 9 - Demo

760 mm x 45 mm%u2014somewhat larger than a 35-mm camera%u2019s 35 mm x 24 mm negatives%u2014so it yields sharper enlargements. When photographing buildings I often use a shift lens (also called a perspective-control lens), which can be adjusted to remove any vertical distortion (keystoning) caused by perspective. I almost always use a tripod.I tend to use Ilford FP-4+ film, but have also used Kodak T-Max (100 speed) film, and I process the film myself in a conventional wet darkroom that I installed in our home. I also do my own printing%u2014on Ilford Multigrade RC paper%u2014and generally treat my prints with a sulfide toner. Toning helps preserve the prints, and it produces a slight sepia (brownish) coloration which I believe is in keeping with the subject matter. I%u2019m often asked why I don%u2019t use a digital camera and an ink-jet printer. The answer is that I have nothing against digital photography, I simply prefer using conventional film and working in a darkroom. Similarly, I have nothing against color film, it%u2019s just that I prefer blackand-white. Showing less (black, white, and tones of gray, rather than a rainbow of thousands of colors) helps me get to the essence of my subjects. Over the course of photographing the counties of South-Central Indiana, I shot nearly two hundred rolls of film. Together, Lynn (an accomplished artist) and I had a difficult time selecting the specific photographs for these pages because there were just so many compelling images to choose from. In laying out the book, I decided on an organization starting with homes, then buildings associated with livelihood, followed by means of transportation, and finally ending with images reflecting the larger community.I%u2019ve purposely not listed specific locations for my photographs%u2014for several reasons. First of all, many of my subjects are on private property, and I don%u2019t want to encourage trespassing. Also, I quickly learned that the road names shown on signs (when there were signs) were sometimes different from the road names on my maps, so I probably couldn%u2019t give an accurate location if I wanted to. And, finally, Lynn and I found it most enjoyable to serendipitiously discover interesting places on our own, accidentally, without any inkling of what would be around the next curve in the road. So, we%u2019d like to encourage others to take a destinationless, meandering drive through Southern Indiana to see where it leads them.John Bower