The Time Traveling Photographer

In May of 2020 I bought an old Graflex 3x4 RB Series B, After a once over by my friend Graham who runs Graflex Parts, I was excited to get started shooting, but the question became what to shoot, I could just take it with and make my usual shots of my surroundings but I wanted to do something with more intention so I looked to history.

My camera, in particular was made as part of a batch in 1936. At that time the United States goverment had just started the Farm Security Administration and it’s mission to document life at that time during the Great Depression. One of the more preeminent photographers of that program was Dorthea Lange who used a camera very similar to the one I had just purchsed. I decided to do a series of portraits using my new camera.

After getting my film magazine repaired by Jerry’s Graflex Garage and purchasing the required media (Dry Glass Plates) from Jason Lane I wanted to start. Alas it would be over a year before I actually took my first image with my new set up.

After wandering around for a while hoping people to ask me about my strange camera,I ran into Greg and Michelle near the parking lot by Mill Ruins Park in Minneapolis. After talking briefly I asked for a portait and they obliged. The resulting plate can be seen here.

Since I did not get as much attention as I wanted (I’m a horrible introvert and want people to ask me about it, I not approach them), I wanted to add something to get more attention so for my next outing I decided to dress to match my camera with a 3 piece suit and classic fedora.

While I don’t always wear the outfit when shooting with this camera, it certainly does add a lot of fun.