Looking North to Norwest with a Large-Format Camera

Photograph and text by Pete Sieger | January 13, 2022

Photo 1: The 1989 Wells Fargo Center (formerly Norwest Center) in Minneapolis, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (now Pelli Clarke & Partners). Original photo and scan made in summer 2007; rescan and digital remastering in August 2021. Photo 2: Pete Sieger with a large-format camera at 3 Rue des Ursins in Paris in December 2001. Photo by Kathi Sieger.

POSTCARD

Street photography has been part of my DNA from the very beginning. Seen here is a 2007 view of the César Pelli–designed Wells Fargo Center (formerly Norwest Center) from Marquette Avenue in Minneapolis. This image lives on large-format 4x5 film, but I have scanned and digitized it twice—most recently last summer, utilizing tools and techniques learned by doing. The image quality that can be obtained from a large-format film scan quite easily meets or exceeds that from most of today’s high-performance digital cameras. Sad to say, my large-format cameras have not seen the light of day for nearly 10 years. Perhaps the spring will bring a renaissance.

Tools and Technique

Camera: 4x5 Sinar F1
Lens: 90mm Wide Field Caltar
Film: 4x5 Kodak Ektachrome (black-and-white conversion)
Scanner: Epson Perfection 2450 Flatbed
Scan: 50 megapixels
Software: SilverFast SE, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop
Rendering: Low key, selective contrast, black and white

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