The Fashion Statement

'The Fashion Statement'Los Angeles, CA 1972

　

He had worked in the fashion industry in NYC before becoming homeless. He said his pants were made from old drapes. He folded up the jacket he is leaning on to keep the outside clean to give a “good appearance” to the world. He was homeless, but he still had dignity.

It was shot with a Toyo View 4 x 5 with Super Angulon 65mm (or was it a 75mm?) In any case, the Super Angulon lenses were beautiful little gems. I loved the wide angles back then and still do today…they are so all encompassing!

My view camera work eventually evolved to a pop-up focusing hood to replace the black focus cloth. I was just too vulnerable getting under the cloth in the areas I would shoot in. While the pop- up hood made a big difference, it still did not make the view camera a viable option for my style of shooting.

I call that period in my photography my ‘Edward Weston’ period. I wanted everything to be razor sharp. I was all about sharpness - that was where I put my pride. As I look back on the 4 x 5 images I produced…many of them were pretty boring.