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I stopped by the New York Photo Festival last Thursday and saw the Object Lesson talk with Kathy Ryan and photographer Richard Learoyd. It was really interesting. The images are amazing, weighty and there is only one of each in existence. His process is unique, in that the portraits are made with camera obscura techniques onto photographic paper at 1.5 times life size. He has a 50 inch developer that he develops the paper in immediately. Some other points that interested me:
-The paper is about ISO 3 and the light source borders on illegal due to it’s power requirements.
-After developing the paper he decides in about 10 seconds if it is worth keeping. If it is not he destroys it using spray paint. He used to use a scalpel. Kathy asked him if he ever regretted a decision and he said no.
-He likes to shoot the same people repeatedly for years.
-The plane of focus of the lens is approximately one-quarter inch wide.
Images were projected so I never saw any of the actual prints. I imagine they must be intense.
Apparently there is a book available at the McKee Gallery and I’m sure it is worth its cost, whatever that may be. Also I believe there is an interview with him in the new issue of Aperture, which I’ve not seen, but will be worth the read.
photo: ©Richard Learoyd
photo: ©Richard Learoyd
photo: ©Richard Learoyd
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