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THE SWINGLENS CAMERA EXPOSES FILM in an unusual way. Instead of exposing the entire frame virtually at once like every other camera, the swinglens shutter is a slit which sweeps incrementally across the frame. To make an equivalent exposure, the swinglens takes about 60 times longer than a conventional 35 mm. So, for example, during a 1/30th second exposure the various parts of the film are exposed for about two seconds.
I didn't really understand the full potential of this until recently. When I first got the camera a few years ago I treated it normally. I tried to keep shutter speeds short to minimize camera shake so that everything would be sharp and perfect. The few times I moved the camera during slow exposures, I dismissed the results as mistakes. But gradually these mistakes grew on me. When the last winter (2004) brought with it its subdued light I found myself shooting at 1/30th (2 sec.) almost all the time, sometimes deliberately rotating or shaking the camera during exposures. The results were wonderful, with straight lines turning into waves and various parts of the frame sharp or blurred. I find the pictures sort of dreamy and ethereal, like underwater photos. For me, they create a certain mood of release. I can never plan out exactly which parts of the photo are sharp and which are blurred, and so I'm released from worrying about it. This was my mood when I made them and it's the mood they create when I look at them. Motion Studies last update: April 2003 |