This past weekend I was at a large family gathering outside Ottawa to celebrate the 80th birthday of my uncle Martin. I brought along my 4×5 Speed Graphic with my 1860’s brass Petzval lens to get a portrait. Martin has had a most interesting life, with both joys and sorrows, and I think this lens once again managed to “get behind the eyes.” To me, it is as if he is contemplating his life in this image.

Shot on Ilford HP5+ film, pulled to around EI 200, developed in Tmax Dev