560000 by Alastair Thain

I always find myself fascinated by artists that make their own gear to fit their work-flow and achieve the compelling results they do. Alastair Thain is such a photographer. As an idea partly inspired by the US military, that used large format cameras equipped with powerful airborne flashes to photograph the Vietnam jungle at night, so does Alastair build his own custom made camera constructions to photograph his scenes. Mounted in a stable construction into his car, it enables him to travel at night and take pictures without being noticed.

His series “560,000” captures scenes of regular people in London, while supposedly waiting for the bus or something like that. These are highly detailed very wide angle shots that are both compelling as they are dynamic in composition. Imagine driving around with this heavy and elaborate construction and huge lights, just to find these single ordinary moments and frame them with such quality. Inspiring, isn’t it?

560,000.00 Hours, London 2004 © Alastair Thain

4,6000.00 Hours, London 2004 © Alastair Thain

The 9×18 camera used to do 560000.