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Interview with William Corey |
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Written by Patrick Jan Van Hove
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Saturday, 19 November 2005 |
Mamut: Hi William, thank you for talking to us. Let's start with an
easy one: How did you get involved with ULF photography?
W.C.: I began the Japanese garden project with a 35mm camera and immediately recognized that it was the wrong tool for the job. Although, at the time, I wasn’t quite sure what I was after I had this desire to go under the surface features of the gardens. I had hundreds if not thousands of combined impressions of the gardens that demanded great detail and fidelity. I began working with a 4x5 which made the clarity of the surface features much more evident.
This brought me much closer to what I was looking for. Then I looked through the viewing screen of an 8x10 and 'saw' something deeper. With that large ground glass there was less separation between what I saw in my head and what I saw on the screen. This helped to dramatically improve my compositions - and seeing better, I took more risks. But I still felt somewhat restrained. When I found the 8x20 I knew immediately that it could open up an entirely new world - new dimensions - a new palette. My compositions became more bold, more adventurous. Finally, I had the right tool for the job.
Mamut: And what a tool it is! Can you tell us a little more about your camera?
W.C.: It is an early twentieth century Korona that was pretty much in pieces when I found it. Along with a machinist and woodworker it was rebuilt almost identically to an 8x10 Deardorff. We did some extensive modifications to give a great deal more camera movements and more bellows extension without which the portraits would not be as intimate. The lens is a 1950's era Kodak wide field copy lens. It is the only lens I have ever used with this camera and I haven't found any reason to need another one.
Mamut: Many ULF photographers limit themselves to B&W photography, but you went the whole way and actually got a custom order of color film from Kodak. Was that hard?
W.C.: Until I began the Portrait series, I had always photographed in color. I see with a color mind and have no sense of the nuances in shades of gray. For my garden project I never gave a thought to not using color material. The logistics were actually quite simple; a single telephone call. Film is made in large rolls and if you
want to pay the additional costs for a special size Kodak will cut just about anything you want. Although I hear it is not as simple as it once was and the costs can be astronomical.
Mamut: Your garden project is still ongoing, but there have been great changes on the photographic industry, with a strong push towards digital. Do you worry about the availability of a film supplies for the coming years and the continuation of your project and have you ever considered digital as an alternative?
W.C.: The 'experts' keep telling me that large format color negative film will still be around for a while. But it seems obvious that it is only a matter of time before it is no longer sensible for them to manufacture it. Perhaps by then someone will be able to make a digital back for my camera. Anything is possible, but I sincerely doubt it.
Actually, whether it’s film or digital is not all that
important. To me a good photograph is all about a
wonderful composition. It’s that large viewing screen
that is important to me. It helps me see. I’d gladly trade
80% of film sharpness, for example, for a 5% increase in
visual acuity. When I can no longer get the film I'll end the project. I'm having a wonderful time with portraiture now. The large B&W film from Bergger is readily available and quite lovely. I'm learing to see in shades of gray. A garden, a face, it's all a landscape.
Mamut: "Banquet" format photographers, who use panoramic formats such as the 8x20 you are using often limit their work to horizontals, in good part due to the inherent difficulty of using such large cameras in "portrait" orientation. Yet a large portion of your images of Japanese gardens are verticals, and all of the portraits you present on your website are also verticals. What is it that you find so compelling about vertical panoramas ?
W.C.: I must have been strongly influenced by the traditional Japanese scrolls shape. I just find the dimensions of the long verticals entirely suitable for what I am doing. Except for the portraits, I never go out to photograph thinking I’m going to do horizontals or verticals today. I just respond to what the subject shows me. I do realize that I look for certain kinds of pictures, compositions that fit the format and it did take me a number of years to grow comfortable seeing in a vertical way. While it is a little awkward mechanically with a little practice just as easy as doing horizontals.
Mamut: The Japanese scrolls was actually what crossed my mind when I saw your verticals, do you think that you would have found the same vertical vision if you hadn't worked in Japanese gardens?
W.C.: Since I have been working on the Japanese project for almost twenty five years I imagine it has influenced everything I do artistically. Even when I make photographs of the Rocky Mountains there is a Japanese aesthetic behind it. It's funny. Even after all this time, I really don't know that much about gardens. But it has never been my concern. As an artist I was looking for material that would sustain my interest for a long period of time. In the garden I found an endless subject matter within clearly defined boundaries. I don't see a garden. I never cared to document gardens. I see circles of yellow and slashes of red and triangles of green. It's my job, my art, to form these pieces into a coherent story; a good picture. How far can I go? What if I try this? Horizontals or verticals are just ways of expressing what I feel. I never worried about how difficult it might be, or how expensive. I have been lucky enough to find something that has kept my interest for an awfully long time. I have had times of frustration but never boredom. After twenty five years I'm just at the beginning.
 Mamut: 25 years photographying gardens... How did that project got started?
W.C.: At the time, all I knew was what I didn't want to do or what I was not capable of. I had left fashion/portrait photography in NY and spent a few years as an abstract photographic 'artist' but ultimately found it too narcissistic. I had no knack for social documentary à la W. Eugene Smith style of photography. Many others before me, the Ansel Adams, Edward Weston style, had photographed beautifully the wonders of what 'God' had created. I didn't think I could improve upon what they had accomplished and I had no interest in getting 'lost' in the wilderness. I had this idea that I would be interested in showing the beautiful things that mankind and 'God' had worked on together... the good that we were capable of. I knew nothing about Japan. I heard they had beautiful gardens and figured that it might be a good place to begin. I kept learning and getting a bit better at it each year. I can’t wait to see what kind of pictures I’ll be making at ninety. I think it’s thrilling and I feel blessed to be able to look forward to life so much.
Mamut: You now work almost exclusively with the 8x20 camera. How has this tool changed the way you see the world and make photographs ?
W.C.: I am so comfortable with my tools; my camera, my lens, my film. I can simply concentrate on making photographs. The 8x20 has helped to define who I am artististically and given me a distinctive style. I have so much marvelous compositional space to work with in the rectangle. Good or bad I don’t have to sign my prints... people know that photograph is a Corey.
Mamut: Thanks William for your time, and good luck with the continuation of your projects !
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 December 2005 )
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