Six by Six: The format of a square

Ever since I first saw photographs from a Mamiya C330 on my sister Nel Dyer’s photoblog I have become a great advocate for this 1970s TLR camera, and it’s native 6×6 format. I’ve always found 35mm to be too narrow for a lot of applications, but the square format has always suited me well for some reason.

Some inspiring 6×6 users

Photographers such as Denis Boussard and Vivian Maier have shared a similar love for using black and white photography in this format with Rolleiflex cameras, but for me the adaptability of the Mamiya C330 has always made it a hidden gem. You can change to a selection of lenses mid roll, the image quality is exceptional, and there are many accessories such as viewfinders and grips available too.

Wherever possible I take my TLR on my shoots, and last summer I took the C330 to various re-enactment events. I used a mixture of Ilford films including FPf, Delta 400, HP5 and even Pan 50.

Tessa Smith in Leeds performing as part of The Honeybirds.

Days out photographing in 6×6

In April I photographed The Honeybirds in Leeds as they performed on Briggate. Using FP4 and the 80mm lens I photographed singer Tessa Smith. I really liked the depth of field in this shot, as it not only reduced any background clutter, but provided focus on Tessa as she sang on a very windy day in Leeds.

The Mamiya also came with me to the Haworth 1940s Weekend and proved to be an ideal camera for photographing the various re-enactors taking part in the festivities.

Troops in Haworth during the 1940s weekend. The square format provided an ideal press style for photographing re-enactors.

I was amazed with how the photographs turned out, as they had a strong period feel to them and super sharp details. The range of tones generated on medium format negatives of this size could be seen in the faces of the troops and their crumpled uniforms as they sat around in front of the church in the centre of Haworth.

The National Tramway Museum at Crich, Derbyshire hosted a 1950s themed event featuring classic cars, dancing and of course vintage trams. The 6×6 format was really at home here, as cameras using this format were frequently used in the ’50s for press photography.

A 1950s style portrait of a Gentleman at Crich Tramway, providing a sinister cold war feel.

I found that this portrait of a man at the Crich Tramway 1950s event provided a timeless, evocative image. The slightly uneasy feeling of such a dark character surrounded by the light ballast and the 1950s car in the background created a convincing photograph.

Later on in the year a 1940s themed event also took place at Crich, and after being suitably impressed with the results from my previous visit, I returned to photograph the re-enactors in their military uniforms.

An American army re-enactor sat in a Jeep at Crich Tramway 1940s weekend.

To me, this shot summed up the whole Crich tramway experience; the Army officer casually sat in his Jeep, the American flag waving in the background, and a blurred tram in the distance. I found that the 6×6 format is a challenge to use, but a highly rewarding one too. For this I used HP5, but I think that the Delta 400 film may have provided a better image quality.

A new favourite format?

In addition to the Mamiya that I took to the Crich 1940s event, I also carried the Graflex Crown Graphic camera with me. This is a large format 5×4 field camera, produced in the 1950s. It has a Schneider 135mm lens, which is equivalent to around 40mm on 35mm. The film choices for this type of camera are fairly limited, and I have used both HP5 and FP4. For Crich, I used FP4 and was blown away with the results.

Army officer with a 50 Cal machine gun at Crich Tramway’s 1940s event. Taken on the Graflex Crown Graphic with FP4.

The image quality from such a large negative is fantastic, and this photograph of a 50 cal machine gunner really stood out with the depth of field blurring through the image. the 5×4 is rather stressful to use, as with only around 6 shots available you have to be very careful to only fire when necessary. I found the aspect ratio of this format to be much better than 35mm, but I’m not sure it is quite as interesting to me as 6×6 is.

Further reading

I have a set on Flickr for my Mamiya C330F images, as well as Crich Tramway 1950s and Crich Tramway 1940s events images. A selection of images from The Honeybirds is available in the Portfolio section too.

Posted in: 6x6, Events, Film Photography, Medium Format