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Gerald Donovan's HUGE Photographic Prints

By Rain Noe - June 14, 2013

in Photography

Pro photographer Gerald Donovan isn't really content with the Instagram level of quality you and I might be fine with. "I...use what is quite simply the best digital still image equipment money can buy," writes Donovan, referring to his collection of Rodenstock lenses, ALPA cameras and Medium Format Digital Back. Of course, you and I could buy this same equipment and never get Donovan's results; to see some examples of what 40 years of shooting experience brings, check out these shots of his awesome Burj Khalifa Collection.

The globular panorama, by the way, was just made public yesterday to Gizmodo; Donovan had previously Photoshopped out the Burj itself for aesthetic effect, but decided to throw it back in. (You can see the Burj-free version here.)

Ironically, while most photographers are happy to have us publicize their digital shots, Donovan may or may not be; sometime last year he realized his top-of-the-line equipment produces images no monitor can do justice to.

...In mid 2012 I made my first print from the new medium format camera system and had an epiphany. It is simply not possible to convey the quality achievable with this camera system digitally. Nothing compares to seeing these images in print. So, I made the decision to cease sharing small digital representations of the images I had created.

Donovan is now selling prints in very limited editions—we're talking low single digits of each image, then they're off the market—and in very large sizes; Donovan's printed in sizes exceeding six meters. "Very few people will ever have one of these prints on their wall," he writes. "And you're going to need a big wall."

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Lucky

11 years ago

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What a prink.
It doesn't matter what equipment you use, so long as you make a good image. And some of these, not good images. And his self-importance just makes him seem like more a prink.
And before anyone gets upset over my critique, he's most likely using a Phase One back on a Cambo Super Wide, if I had to guess, beautiful, yes, but hardly anything to tout around like a golden goose. Right, back to justifying my critique...I've seen gorgeous images come out of the Taksim Square protests, taken with an iPhone. Damon Winter, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, put his Hipstamatic images on the front of the New York Times. You can take a gorgeous photo with a Holga or even a Pinhole.
The tools don't matter. The content does. And these photos...meh. Tetsugo Hyakutake takes much more moving images using much less "impressive" equipment. It sounds to me like this photographer has done his best to play on the need for those in wealthy middle eastern areas to have the most expensive crap, no matter what the cost, or reason.
*cough*dubaipolice*cough*
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