Chris Coffey

My work is project based – some taking over 15 years to complete – vs. the common ‘greatest travel hits’ that is so prevalent in photography. This approach involves learning a subject before taking a camera to it as well as doing the research about the subject before and afterwards. In some cases the finished images are a portfolio but the narrative thread usually results in a monograph length body of work. My approach is slow and methodical as well, using wooden field cameras built between 1920 and 1960, making large format negatives (4′ x 5′ up to 7′ x 17′) and hand printing the work in a traditional darkroom. This results in a tonal scale and archival life that far exceeds any other way of working. More importantly, this contemplative approach to making each print is a continuation of the communion that began in the field during the learning about the subject and the initial exposure on the negative. My desire is to bring the passion and intensity of the what I felt in the field to the viewer – not just a record of what it looked like.