Having had an education in cartography and having worked in this job for more than ten years, in 2006 I decided to change my way of life and finally do what I have wanted to do for more than two decades.
Trying to combine travelling, exploring and photography, I have now set up an "old fashioned", analogue working environment, using Large Format Camera Equipment, a Toyo View 8x10" camera for outdoor photography that does not require extensive mobility (or the use of sherpas, 4WD vehicles, helicopters..), and the more mobile Toyo Field 4x5" and Linhof Super Technika 5x7". Still, even with these somewhat lighter cameras, the whole equipment often adds up to a weight that is difficult to move. Not to mention the difficulty of trying to capture moments that do not even last half as long as it takes to set up the camera, or, like in Iceland, ghastly circumstances that make you spend most of your time and energy trying to save the camera from being washed or blown away..
Yet, there is something contemplative about the way one has to work with this kind of camera equipment. Using the 8x10" camera, I take my time exploring the area I am visiting, before I start packing up, hoping to find the same conditions that made a scene interesting when I got there in the first place. If they are not, it's a matter of waiting and hoping..