Look at today's New York Times in the Week in Review section. There is amazing spread of photographs, and article by Tyler Hicks, shot in black and white with the panoramic Xpan. An even more amazing online multimedia is on the website.
The Xpan seems to be a signature look for certain New York Times features. It is a treat, and a wonder, that that they remain committed to displaying work in this format. Panoramic has a power of encompassing an environment that is attention getting and poetic, and not just because of the novelty. It is a challenging format to compose within, and Hicks is masterful at it.
Wow, very enlightening. Makes me feel very fortunate to live here in the US.
Posted by: Jeff Henderson | July 06, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Amazing photos & equally amazing camera. So how long will it take for someone to come out with a totally digital version of the camera?
Posted by: John | July 06, 2008 at 09:42 PM
A couple reasons I think that unlikely. Panoramic suffers from a DIY cult aura (the Linux of cameras), though the Xpan was a product that broke through that barrier for a time. There's going to be only a tiny consumer base. It's a hard format to publish, as I found out when I was trying to sell my book of Ireland panoramics. It doesn't lend itself to a conventional book format.
And pans are so easy to make now from stitching conventional digital files. It's almost the only way I still work in the format.
Posted by: Doug Plummer | July 07, 2008 at 08:50 AM
I'm glad you posted this. I had not yet come across it in my various stumblings around on NYTimes.com.
Speaking of, I'm officially curious about your thoughts on this: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/great-photo-on-flickr-getty-images-might-pay-you-for-it/?em&ex=1215748800&en=a64e3a6f37dc61fd&ei=5087%0A
Posted by: romanlily | July 09, 2008 at 01:46 PM