Landry focuses his work on shooting bands, but what makes him so unique is the equipment he uses. Landry first became interested in photography when his grandmother gave him his first camera around the age of 10. It was a Polaroid, and he became captivated by the instant gratification of the camera\u2019s quick picture development. This is what makes it all the more surprising that his photography has taken a complete 180; simply using a film holder requires several steps, including inserting the 4\u201d by 5\u201d negative, shooting a picture, flipping the negative, and shooting another picture, all before moving onto the second film holder. <\/p>\r\n
Speaking on the topic of shooting bands, Landry says \u201cWhen you know a band and they have a strong [or] concise idea of what they want, it makes it so much more easy.\u201d Indeed, he must know exactly what he wants to shoot as he opens the shutter, as the film is rather expensive and the development of the shots is quite an arduous process. He has worked with many bands over the past few years, including Meek is Murder, Black Table, Tiger Flowers, and So Hideous.
For the particular shoot that Landry discussed in this documentary, he used a 1923 Auto-Graflex camera, produced in Rochester, NY. Landry also discusses his 1947 Graflex Pacemaker and its lens dating back to 1942 \u2013 when it was taken overseas to document World War II with a manual K24 aerial camera under the belly of bomber planes. Although he describes the cameras as \u201ceasy to use,\u201d the weight of the cameras, the length of the exposure and development period, and the patience required for the whole process are very difficult burdens. Additionally, Landry casually adds that his Graflex camera is \u201cslightly radioactive\u201d \u2013 something that would deter more than a few people from using such equipment. In the documentary, Landry seems to answer a question about what moves him most about photography. For him, it\u2019s \u201cthe idea of adventure and building trips around photography\u201d and the social aspect of the art that he finds most gravitating. Having grown up as a shy child, Landry comments that photography has changed him as a person. \u201cWhen you force yourself to go outside your comfort zone, and meet people, then those are the relationships that sometimes make it so worth it. I think that part of photography is huge for me and something that I love.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
View the documentary about Dean Landry here<\/a>, and check out some of his finest work on his website here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n *Special thanks to Curran Reynolds for providing the exclusive sneak peek of the documentary and for providing the photographs shown above.<\/p>\r\n