Why Photographer David Burnett Shot 4×5 Film at Impeachment Hearing (opens in new tab)

> Burnett’s stock archive, we should note, includes coverage of the Watergate hearings in 1973, an impeachment hearing that felt, Burnett says, less “tribal.”

I won't pretend to know much about Watergate or what he meant by "tribal", but I thought it ironic that hearings about one party literally tampering on the property of another, felt less tribal.

They didn't mention the 4x5 look, 4x5 is huge [0] and gives you an insane amount of detail with shallow DoF, perfect for portraits. What cracks me up every time is that his camera uses a lens made for reconnaissance planes during ww2 [1]

I'd encourage anyone interested in photography to try film, gear is quite cheap these day (I just bought a medium format lens for 100$, it used to be sold for 1500$ less than 30 years ago), it's quickly getting more expensive though. You can easily develop your own film at home and scan it yourself too

[0] https://www.thephoblographer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/... [1] https://lommen9.home.xs4all.nl/aero/