Emmy 25 Ladyboy Sex Worker, Thailand 2008

Very interesting work. Welcome to APUG, Gerry.

Thanks Mike, I try to be as interesting as I can be! : ) It is fun to find a site devoted to all formats and that is also film based. It allows me to shoot and post basically all my images. The other cool thing is there are so many knowlegable people here, learning tons of stuff!

they live in a harsh world, so ruff is where there at..thanks for your note

Was there a reason you chose 4x5 for this series? I'm not knocking it, as it's interesting and solid work -- just wondering why that and not 6x6 for example.

OK, going to go check out your site now

hmm.. good point Colin actually the first time I did any photographs on this subject was in 1999 with a Mamiya 6 (6x6 rangefinder) I also used that camera in 2003. In 2007 I shot a 8x10 in studio and really liked the larger negative so I wanted to do something with a large negative on location and the biggest thing I could carry to the short time rooms and on the street in my bag was a 4x5 Razzle. I carried a razzle 4x5 with flash and quantum battery along with a mamiya twin reflex with flash and battery and 6 grafmatic backs plus 120/220 film for the twin...I ALMOST DIED! carrying all that gear in the Thai heat. I might go back to 2 Mamiya 6s as you suggest in the future, lots lighter!

These are the 6x6 Mamiya 6 shots

http://gerryyaum.com/bargirl.html

Funny how what seems like a good idea back home turns into something else on location!

I packed a 4x5 camera plus holders/film/tripod/etc to both backwoods China and Cuba. I'm glad I did, but next time will streamline things a lot...I can't imagine packing that much gear to Thailand, especially some of the areas you've covered so well.

It seems you've found a good middle ground for this work, in terms of format. Thanks for the info!

Am wondering how it will go next time, thinking of going back to 35mm! I really do love printing that large 4x5 neg thou...did some 16x20 prints this week that were quite wonderful to look at. I guess each format has its good and bad points.

Funny, but...I forget the hassle of hauling the gear when I hold that negative back home afterwards.

Or as my friend at the gym likes to say, "Pain is just weakness leaving your body."