Luxcamera UK
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The Whole Plate Renaissance (Part I)
For silver based photographers in a
digital age, it’s a surprise to suddenly
witness a quiet backdoor revolution: RJ
Lam sets out to make sense of the
renaissance in the Victorian whole plate
format.
So what is the whole plate format ?
Background History:
The term ‘whole plate’ referred to the
format dimension of an area of 6 ½ x 8 ½
inch, or approximately 55 ¼ square inches
on which a photographic image was
produced. In the early history of
photography, photographic emulsions
shifted with technological development,
from collodion wet plates;
Daguerreotypes; expensive Calotypes and
cheaper patent free ambrotypes which
liberated photography from restrictive
patents. Then there were copper ‘tin
types’ and ‘ferrotypes’ – all representing
various technological changes in
photography. Remember the pace of
format changes from 35mm to 110 format;
‘disc’ format or APS format? These
miniature formats were increasingly
revised as technology developed (e.g. the
4/3rds digital sensor format). However
since the birth of photography, the one
constant factor which has survived over a
century of photographic innovations and
the rapidly shifting technologies of the
Victorian era was this format of 6 ½ x8 ½
inches – the whole plate format.
This format size has a particular elegance
for a rectangular format, being both adept
for landscape and portraiture work. It is a
‘large’ format with an image surface area
over forty times greater than the 24x36mm
area of a 35mm negative format. This
massive increase in image area imparts a
strikingly rich tonal scale which requires
no enlargement for visual appreciation.
As such, it is ideal for fine arts
applications, including specialist printing
techniques, or reproduction on a 1:1 basis,
a technique called ‘contact printing’
against photographic paper. On the other
hand, 35mm or medium format users may
need to familiarize themselves with an
introduction to large format and view
camera techniques* before fully
understanding whole plate format.
Alright. So what’s this about Whole
Plate?
For those less short than long in tooth,
harken back to the days of the
Daguerreotype, the first real viable
commercial medium available for
th
photographers during the mid 19 century.
Daguerreotypes were originally created
using silver lined copper plates. These
were designated the largest size of 8 ½ x 6
½ inches (approximately 215mm x
168mm), termed a ‘whole plate’ on which
the photographic image was exposed.
Early practitioners were never concerned
with obsessional precision; for instance,
the albumen print of Eugene Atget’s work
- Cour du Musée Carnavalet Hotel de
Sévigné, Nr. 3561 1898 (ca) measures 8
3/8 x 6 3/4 with other works such as
Senlis. Une cour du vieux Senlis 1903,
measuring 6 15/16 x 8 ½”. Nonetheless,
double whole plate sizes, half and quarter
plate sizes were reasoned from
permutations of this standard reference
size. And what a standard!
So did Whole Plate format not die out?
The whole plate format survived the test
of time, to become the reference format as
photographic technology shifted from
collodion wet plates; Daguerrotypes;
expensive Calotypes and subsequently
cheaper patent free Ambrotypes which
liberated photography from the constraints
of Fox Talbot. That was the 19th century.
Such whole plate sized images have since
been part of our collective consciousness.
In the United States, seminal works by
Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams, along
with Alvin Langdon Coburn and Samuel
Bemis remain major exponents of the
format. Photographs by English
practitioners such as Julia Margaret
Cameron; Henry Peach Robinson and
Henry Emerson can today be seen as
representative of various schools and
secessions exemplifying English whole
plate practice. Long after photographic
plates turned towards film, the whole plate
format endured right up into the 1960’s by
which time, most of us have been exposed
to whole plate images held in museum
collections. Like many things, the English
whole plate format suffered a huge set
back and relegation with national
decimalization in 1971. In the intervening
years, whole plate format probably never
died out so much as relinquished its status
as a commercial choice of format and
retreated into more arts based practices.
Given the vast numbers of vintage whole
plate cameras around, newcomers to large
format need no longer settle for ‘smaller’
large formats such as 5x4, or expensive
upgrades to 10x8”. The whole plate
format camera never went away!
So you’re defending a 6 ½ x 8 ½ sheet
area of film…isn’t that certifiable?
In a digital age of dwindling film
manufacturers and a contracting market,
and the inconvenience of few available
emulsions I hear you ask: “Why whole
plate format?”
Historically, the aura of the whole plate
format reinvigorates photographers with a
spiritual connection with those seminal
photographers who have shaped and
inspired the consciousness of modern
photographers. It is as much an aesthetic
choice as a practical choice.
Okay. So what are the practical benefits?
Touted as the ‘photographer’s format’, or
the ‘personal’ format due to its perfect
dimensions for 1:1 viewing, it is also an
ideal format for magazines and books.
Whole plate format encapsulates the ideals
of a ‘book format’ to many photographers
as it fills a niche as a personal format
which can be contact printed at 1:1
reproduction and appreciated on an
individual - more intimate – level, rather
than the extroverted attention seeking
mural print, or the overload of computer
screen images which show nothing of the
traditional qualities and value of the
photographic print.
The pursuit of an optimum balance of
negative size for contact printing and
alternative processes is one of its greatest
strengths, particularly when the weight of
the camera and equipment is factored in.
Like for like, the weight of a whole-plate
camera, versus 10x8” formats does indeed
seem to show us that small is indeed
beautiful. Yet too small is not: formats,
such as 7x5” seem too visually redundant
for alternative processes which require 1:1
contact printing with a negative, that is,
without enlargement. Then ‘whole plate’
represents the next format size most
adjacent to the 8x10” format without the
implied and accompanying inconvenience
if anh 8x10” format.
That’s great for the fine arts
photographer. But what about new
photographers to large format? Or those
without a darkroom?
For the new ‘retro’ photographer to large
formats, this is still great news. Here is a
format which is available affordably, both
second-hand or customized new. He may
not have a darkroom in this modern day
and age yet still yearn for a larger format.
Also dissatisfied with digital printing and
giclee prints, the whole plate format offers
a revolutionary choice. No enlarger is
required for whole plate format: the
negatives are sufficiently large and can be
contact printed. Whole plate format
potentially dispenses with the mammoth
requirement for a darkroom: in this
respect, it is an ideal large format for the
increasing urban population. Or those
living in confined space. Whole plate
format also offers a more ‘purist’ contact
printing without the kind of photographic
manipulation undertaken at the printing
stage. This ‘purity’ of approach towards
contact printing, makes a rebellious
statement against the modern and
universal tendency to manipulate images
in the darkroom, or manipulate images at
all. On the other hand, lest we forget
about the cost of large format work, whole
plate photography is equally an excellent
option for newcomers and hybrid
photographers who wish to avail of a
larger negative area for scanning, without
resorting to darkroom enlarging and its
accompanying enlarger expense for such a
large format. A cheap flat bed scanner
will reveal glorious image detail, with
higher end consumer scanners offering as
much as a 1,200 megapixel image capture
potential from a sheet of whole plate film.
It seems that the digital revolution has
brought large format to the masses by
reducing the cost of large format
equipment to an affordable level for both
passionate amateur photographers and fine
art photographers embracing a body of
personal work, to use.
I see. So what are the visual
characteristics of a contact printed whole
plate negative?
The attraction of large format photography
lies in the larger negative for the image
area, which therefore requires less
enlargement for the final print. Contrary
to common legend, the attraction par
excellence of large format and whole plate
negatives relate not to an increased
perception of sharpness in the image, but
rather, a lush and richer tonality and depth
of scale of the image, proportional to the
lack of enlargement.
I …..see. That explains it…
Time will tell if the revival of the whole
plate format is part of a wider
subconscious rebellion epitomizing the
ultimate rebellion against modern digital
trends and derivative digital multi-crop
formats by returning right back to the
historical root format of photography’s
illustrious halcyon era. Here is a format
which modern practitioners are resourceful
enough to pursue with wet or dry plate
techniques; alternative processes as well
as sufficient critical mass to persuade two
top film manufacturers and more to offer
whole plate sized film. In essence, the
digital era has made time ripe for a whole
plate renaissance which can even be used
in ‘hybrid’ digital applications. Expect to
see a parallel rise in the interest in
alternative processes such as collodion,
wet plate, cyanotypes, platinum and
palladium printing…
So what kind of photographer might use
a whole plate camera?
Black and white photographers!
The typical whole plate photographer is
closely linked to developments via the
internet. Sufficient users generate critical
mass to determine user input for niche
camera manufacturers. For instance –
Chamonix of China, take on board user
feedback very seriously to tailor custom
made whole plate cameras. The first batch
of Chamonix Whole Plate cameras has just
been released before summer 2008.
Argentum of Hungary similarly offer
hand-built cameras on a custom basis, as
do Ebony of Japan, however Ebony take
an exclusive high-end market approach
using the finest materials available for an
exquisite whole plate camera. Canham of
the United States, among others, also offer
whole plate camera options for those
wishing to buy a new whole plate camera.
Internet collaborations have enabled
sufficient purchasing power to convince
two of the larger film manufacturers to cut
film into whole plate format as either an
annual production run (Ilford), or a
threshold based minimum order on a
periodic basis (Kodak). This is a very
different way and philosophy for non-
whole plate photographers, who may be
more traditional in mindset, in expectation
of purchasing a box of film from the local
Walmart or supermarket. This is
technology – and paradoxically, whole
plate photographers are using technology
to keep abreast of changes. On the other
hand, whole plate photographers, by and
large, are little influenced by the consumer
advertising of big budget mass production
companies. It’s a niche.
“Large format”…”whole plate” – those
are big words! Is it a big gulf from
35mm?
Generally, a larger format camera, defined
as using a negative of 5x4” and larger,
requires competency and fluency with the
essentials of photography, such as
exposure control; composition and
application to photographic subject matter.
Add to that, the adventure of embracing
large format philosophy, which is as
exciting as it can be daunting, involving
the mastery of movements, image
covering power and other specific
technicalities related to large format
practice such as film holder/dark slide
management. Large format photography
need not mean bulky cumbersome
equipment, however its philosophy tends
to be geared towards the more
contemplative photographer. On the other
hand, classic photographers like Weegee
and Winogrand are renown and famous for
their impromptu large format street
photography work. It does not have to
mean ‘slow’ contemplative photography
either. There are introductory texts and
courses to large format photography.
Other internet fringe forum groups arrange
seminars and/or workshops and many
professional photographers still have a
fondness for individual large format
tutoring.
the internet and experiential practice. A
basic large format primer is a great
starting point. In the next edition, Part II,
the choices of whole plate equipment is
explored.
Remind me of the advantages then?
Whole plate format:
1. Ideal large format for those
wishing to use traditional film
emulsion without darkroom access
2. Provides an ideal starting format
for exploring ‘Alternative
processes’
3. Possess an optimum format size:
weight ratio in the real world:
lightweight yet substantial image
area
4. Ideal 1:1 reproduction size for
book publication/magazine work
5. Almost three times the image area
of 5x4” negatives and over forty
times that of 35mm
6. Many vintage whole plate cameras
still widely available at low cost
7. Can be used for hybrid digital
processes i.e. contact
printed/scanned with a consumer
flatbed for high quality poster
sized printing
Reference: Large format Primers:
Leslie D Stroebel: “ View Camera technique” 7th
Ed. Focal Press ISBN-13: 978-0240803456
Jack Dykinga: “Large format nature photography”
October 2001 Amphoto Books ISBN-13: 978-
0817441579

Steve Simmons: “Using the View Camera” Watson-

The majority of large format Guptill Publications, Inc., October 1992 ISBN-13:
photographers tend to be self-taught, 9780817463533
relying on the wealth of information on
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RJ Lam & Luxcamera UK © July 2008

Copyright and all rights reserved. No reproduction without expressed permission from the author.