Michael Crouser is a B&W-centric, film shooting and quite successful professional photographer.

His work is energetic, artistic and thrilling.

And intensely timeless.

Crouser’s books, Dog Run and Los Toros, were shot entirely on 35mm Tri-X film, as is his powerful new project, The West, about ranchers in Colorado.

Crouser’s B&W photos are all printed in the traditional (silver gelatin) process in his darkroom. (Dog Run was shot entirely with a Nikon F4 and a 300mm 2.8 lens.)

There is a strong movement among pro photographers of going back to shooting film, for both personal projects and pro work.

Crouser never stopped shooting film. 

He, of course, shoots digital for much of his pro work, which he describes as a “Mixed bag of industrial commercial, advertising, editorial. Print sales are also a good bit of my income.” (He splits his time between his native Minneapolis and Brooklyn, NY.)

B&W film photography is most definitely alive and quite well, thanks to artists like Michael Crouser and to Kodak, which supports his work.

Crouser talked with bwphotopro.com about his B&W film work:

I’ve always felt like B&W represents my own personal voice and expression. I find myself strongly drawn to the possibilities of B&W. And the more you hone your aesthetic choices, the more your personal voice emerges. I teach finding your voice in photography; it’s what’s important, and B&W is the direction that’s most personal and expressive for me.

(Crouser teaches at ICP and the Santa Fe Workshops.)

How you say something with photography is as important as what you say. I’ve always been into traditional printing and darkroom work.

Why B&W? Trying to explain that is like explaining why people like punk vs. country music; its what touches your creative sense.

B&W is a highly expressive medium, and it depends totally on composition and light. I appreciate the depth, softness and lack of distraction by colors.

As for using film in the digital age – it is all photography; digital is just a different set of tools, and has its place and purpose. Digital serves a great purpose professionally and it is fun, working in Photoshop, etc. But it is not something that really appeals to me as a way of working in my craft. When you’re working in a personal artistic direction you have to chose the paints, instruments and clay that appeal most to you and your process.

My choice is B&W, and Tri-X film. I’m grateful to Kodak, which has generously supported my work for many years.

Using film is a simple choice for me, an obvious thing. Kodak has been supporting my photography for years now with film and darkroom chemicals for a couple of projects. I’ve always used Tri-X; it is my film of choice.

My current project, The West, focuses on cattle ranching in Colorado, which is disappearing. I’m drawn to the dramatic, rough nature of the work. It’s a great B&W subject. I also find the subject matter sociologically interesting. I’ve been working on it for four years now.

http://www.michaelcrouser.com/

A DREAM DARKROOM: 30x40-inch Traditional Prints

Michael Crouser tells us about his B&W darkroom:

My studio space is about 800 sq. ft., one-third of it is used for my darkroom. It’s not big by commercial standards, but it is the largest darkroom setup I have had.  

I have two Beseler 45 enlargers, one is mounted on the wall for printing up to 30x40-inch prints, onto an adjustable table I built from steel shelving parts. The other is still on its original baseboard. The cold light heads (fluorescent light sources, long favored by serious B&W printers, including Ansel Adams) are Aristo D2.

Beyond that, my setup is pretty standard. I use an assortment of lenses that I've had for over 20 years... I have Dunright & Vogel archival print washers, hot and cold water filters, Thomas Duplex safelights.

I built some 30x40-inch print drying racks out of the same shelving system that hold my enlargers.  On top of the drying rack system are my print washers. It might seem a little counter-intuitive to have print washing and drying in and on the same structure. I know some people have wet sides and dry sides to their darkrooms, but part of the fun of building a darkroom is being creative with limited space.

There is no space for 30x40-inch trays however, so after much trial and error I built a large tube system for developing 30x40î prints. When I do this size, I work on them with a friend...otherwise that size wet paper is just too fragile for one person to handle without damaging it.

We have a system that involves one tray, some plastic tubular mounts for the paper and a series of large PVC upright tubes that hold the chemicals. I also made one of the tubes into a print washer. That took a lot of trips to the plumbing supply store before I got it right. But that is really a part of the fun of darkroom work; making custom tools and implements. I really love my darkroom. It has everything I need. 

My approach in the darkroom is to think of the negatives as raw material. Cartier-Bresson (who, famously, did not print his work) said, "Hunter's aren't cooks," but I tend to agree more with Ansel Adams who said, "The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways". 

I try to be exacting in my prints for them to fit my vision. But it is not science... it is closer to making nice mud pies. 

http://www.michaelcrouser.com/

(All Photographs Copyright Michael Crouser, All Rights Reserved,

No reproduction permitted without written Consent.)