Large Format Portraits

For many years, I was fortunate to live just a few miles north of the Mexican border in the lower desert of California between San Diego and Yuma, Arizona. I would stop in front of a home with activity going on, walk up to the adults with my 8” by 10” field camera open with the bellows pulled out, and ask if I could take their pictures. They never turned me down. 

Most of the time, the adults/parents wanted me to shoot their children, which I was happy to do. I used a lens intended for a 4” by 5” field camera on my 8” by 10”, resulting in an ultra wide-angle picture. People of all ages made a guess as to where the edges of the photo would be, and lots of times, parents and neighbors would stand just outside the perceived frame, avoiding being in the photo.  However, the ultra wide-angle shot included their spontaneous actions. 

And that's what I love the most about these photos. An 8” by 10” photo is usually not spontaneous at all, but these photos often have fun action at their edges. Neighbors chatting, children watching, or a parent supervising the shoot with arms folded sternly. 

Sometimes, I was invited to shoot inside a home. Often, the main room off the front door was simply the bedroom, filled with several beds. People slept together, sharing beds and the space. Privacy was at a minimum, especially if their front door was a curtain.  Theft didn't seem to be much of a problem, and I wonder if it was because of their humble existences. Or maybe they watched out for one another. This wouldn't surprise me.

As with my newspaper shoots, I was fortunate to be able to learn a few things about the life my subjects were leading through the activity of shooting their pictures. Their lives are tough. The climate alone is more than most of us would be willing to endure.  

I see some of my photos and wonder if that woman/man/child is still alive. Some looked my age at the time, yet so much older. It's a hard life in Mexicali, Mexico.  Imagine what life would be like without all those electrical gadgets that many U.S. households have. Mixmaster. Oven. Frozen foods. Fast foods. Bathrooms. 

On top of the extreme climate, this area is earthquake-prone, and the last one that I experienced, the “Easter Quake,” was over 7 on the Richter scale. Massive. Thus, the stucco exteriors are heavily cracked and could be quite dangerous during ensuing rumbles. 

You would think that, with so few personal belongings, their lives would be simple, but they are not. Finding work that pays enough to live on isn't easy in Mexico. Every day is a challenge. Yet, many people seemed happy at home, even content. So even though what I saw of their living conditions was tough, I enjoyed the generous spirits of everyone I shot. 

Then, one day I learned that a mother was accusing me of shooting pictures of children in order to kidnap and sell their children. I was devastated, and I never went back to shoot in neighborhoods again.