Choosing a large format fine art photo

  Art Photography

Why and how to choose a large format fine art photography ?

Large size photo prints are prefered by many artists. Whether it be Jeff WALL, Massimo VITALI, Gregory CREWDSON or Stephen WILKES, they all use giant formats to immerse us in the heart of their pictures. You can search for a large format photograph for many reasons. The GADCOLLECTION Gallery give you its selection, ideal to convey the monumentality of a subject, to decorate a living room, a business hall or for the simple pleasure of the eyes.

When talking about large format, photographers first have in mind the large format cameras rather than the size of the prints. If you are a photographer and you are interested in large format cameras, we suggest you to read the excellent article on Tim Layton website. On the other hand, if you are looking for art prints of large format photographs, you have come to the right place. Here, we will only talk about large format prints and their contributions to the photographic subject.

The advent of digital photography, with its ever more efficient sensors, now allows high quality large format prints. Thanks to neutral ph papers and the choice of suitable inks, digital photography no longer has anything to envy to film. It allows photographers to print their photos in huge sizes. We therefore wondered what these giant prints could bring to the images, and in which cases to privilege them.

 

Photo of the american beach Santa Monica Pier, near Los Angeles, by Stephen Wilkes.

Stephen WILKES, Santa Monica Pier, LA, 2013, series: Day to Night - Santa Monica beach is a perfect example of photo needing large format print.

 

Large format: the dream size for landscape photos

If, like us, you love landscapes and they make you dream, the large format can be an excellent choice. It will allow you to easily get into the picture and explore every nook and cranny. Large photos also allow the landscape to unfold in space. This is how Mitch DOBROWNER uses it. This American photographer offers three types of formats: one small format at 40 x 50 cm (16 x 20 inch); a medium format at 61 x 92 cm (24 x 36 inch) and a large format of approximately 110 x 155 cm (43.4 x 61.1 inch) only for certain exceptional pieces, which require this type of dimension to express themselves to their fullest.

 

A desert landscape in USA by american photographer Mitch Dobrowner

Mitch DOBROWNER, Natron Sunrise, série : Landscapes.

 

A landscape photo of the storm series by Mitch Dobrowner, large mammatus are visible in the back.

Mitch DOBROWNER, Mammatus, series: Storms.

 

Massimo VITALI and Stephen WILKES, two photographers known for their artworks mixing landscapes and human presence, use large format to offer dozens of micro-scenes within the same photo. Like a painting by the Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel, we enjoy watching these moments of life captured by photography. The format becomes the means to highlight human activity in relation to the immensity of space and time.

 

Photo of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris taken from the Tournelle Bridge.

Stephen WILKES, Tournelle Bridge in Paris, 2013, series: Day to Night

 

Photo of Day to Night series by Stephen Wilkes.

Stephen WILKES, Bethesda Fountain, series: Day to Night.

 

Ipanema Beach photographed by Stephen Wilkes, showing the different hours of the day.

Stephen WILKES, Ipanema Beach, series: Day to Night.

 

Photography of the millenium park of Chicago in very big size by famous photographer Stephen WIlkes. It is not a poster but a huge photo showing, thanks to photomontage, different hours of the day.

Stephen WILKES, Millenium Park, Chicago, series: Day to Night.

 

Blue Lagoon in Iceland photographed by Stephen Wilkes.

Stephen WILKES, Blue Lagoon, Iceland, series: Day to Night

 

Fashion photography: big is beautiful

Fashion photography has always had a close relationship with the large format, through poster campaigns for example. Every fashion photos are designed to be hyper-graphic and to appear in the form of giant posters as well as magazine inserts. The condition is very often to be displayed full page, or better, in double page.

Thus, fashion photography must in essence take up all the space allocated to it. Following a work on its archives, Ormond GIGLI declined his most famous fashion photos in large size editions. We invite you to discover his iconic photographs that were groundbreaking for the fashion photography world.

 

Giant lips by fashion photographer Ormond Gigli.

Ormond GIGLI, Lips, 1960, 66 x 102 cm.

 

Fashion photo by Ormond GIGLI.

Ormond GIGLI, Girl in the light, 1967, 124,5 x 127 cm.

 

Girls in the windows by Ormond Gigli.

Ormond GIGLI, Girls in the windows, 1960, 127 x 127 cm.

 

Large format to make them shine

Douglas KIRKLAND is known as the photographer of movie stars. His extraordinary career led him to photograph the shooting of numerous films. His images leave a trail of the last 50 years of Hollywood cinema. The GADCOLLECTION gallery gives you the chance to discover his most beautiful photographs, including a famous series of portraits of Marilyn MONROE.

Its large formats of film photo had sometimes been used as promotional posters. They give us the opportunity to get into the film before we even hit the theaters. For this, the photos must give the viewer the possibility of imagining a story, so they have an extraordinary power of narration.

 

Famous big size photo print of Marilyn Monroe in her bed by Douglas Kirkland.

Douglas KIRKLAND, Marilyn Monroe, 1961, 93 x 118 cm, series: "An evening with Marilyn".

 

Photo for the film poster Out of Africa in 1985.

Douglas KIRKLAND, Out of Africa, 1985, 93 x 118 cm.

 

Big size photo of the french actress Brigitte Bardot in 1965, when she was still young and beautiful.

Douglas KIRKLAND, Brigitte Bardot, 1965, 93 x 118 cm.

 

When animal photography becomes elephantine

When one wishes to convey the majesty of the animal kingdom, large format prints are one of the solutions. This requires that the photography is of high quality and that the composition is impeccable. A slight uncontrolled blurring is unacceptable. The large format does not forgive, it exposes to everyone eyes the slightest defects of a picture.

Kyriakos KAZIRAS is one of the photographers who has the talent and the patience required to take animal photos suitable for large format. His famous series Elephant Dream takes us on a journey through the African savannah. With his photos of elephants, we meet all the members of the herd. From the protective matriarchs to the lonely old male, to the shy baby elephant. His photographs of polar bears give off a purity and elegance that are perfectly suited to large-scale prints.

Do not hesitate to discover our selection of this great master of animal photography.

 

Two elephants looking at the wildlife photographer Kaziras.

Kyriakos KAZIRAS, Heroes, 80 x 120 cm, series: Elephant Dream

 

Elephant Herd in the middle of savannah.

Kyriakos KAZIRAS, The Walk, 80 x 120 cm, series: Elephant Dream.

 

Black and white photo of an elephant group.

Kyriakos KAZIRAS, A day of memories, 60 x 120 cm,series: Elephant Dream.

 

Elephant familly protecting a baby, photo by Kyriakos KAZIRAS.

Kyriakos KAZIRAS, Ode à la joie, 80 x 120 cm, series: Elephant Dream.  

 

La grandeur des lieux photographiés

The large format can also be used to convey the uncanniness of a place. The photo prints by artist Stefano CERIO play on the absence of people. It captures the spirit of a place and evokes how it can appear in our memories. Thus, the leisure places that are amusement parks, ski resorts or cruise ships appear to us without the multitude of visitors. For his series Stefano CERIO uses a large format camera, he thus manages to capture subtle nuances of colors and lights.

 

Big dimensions photo of an aquapark by Stefano Cerio.

Stefano CERIO, Aquapiper Guidonia (RM), 2010, series: Aquapark.

 

Photo of the Dumo in Milano.

Alessandro PIREDDA, Duomo, Milano, 110 x 110 cm, series: Darkitectures.

 

Urbex photo of a deserted town Kolmanskopp in Namibia.

Romain VEILLON, Sands of time, 100 x 150 cm, series: Urbex à Kolmanskop.

 

Romain VEILLON, urbex photographer, also works on the absence. He photographs abandoned, often dilapidated places. The large format measures the passage of time, it reflects the vanity of human constructions and the depth of history. Conversely, Alessandro PIREDDA photographs old architectures that persist in the middle of cities. These are cathedrals, basilicas and many religious buildings. The timeless character is rendered by the shooting at night and by the use of black and white.

We invite you to discover the work of this very talented young Italian photographer and if you are interested in black and white, we have an article dedicated to black and white art photography.

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