Cassandra Orefice // New York City, NY

There’s something about the Hasselblad “two and a quarter” format that makes me feel obliged to keep an image square; in fact, no cropping whatsoever. I feel there’s a sort of wasted negative (space) when you crop - why else would you shoot square if not to compose purposefully?

Igor Stravinsky, by Arnold Newman

The absolute best part of using analog film is that the final image isn’t complete until it’s been printed in the darkroom. I miss printing in the darkroom. One of my previous darkroom instructors (at a local community darkroom) insisted that I crop. “Forget the negative, the final image is the wet print. All the greats cropped tremendously. Look at Arnold Newman’s famous portrait of Igor Stravinsky as a perfect example.”

After that brief lecture, I started looking at images differently. A part of me feels like I’m cheating by cropping after the fact - not to mention the loss of resolution. But realizing that one’s vision can change over time, and being willing to adapt to it, is a sign of growth.

I remember the cold Sunday morning that I made this image with Cassandra. We met at Grand Central Station, and were looking around the main terminal for a space to shoot. The light was coming in through the massive windows overhead, and creating the coolest pools of light.

As soon as we were in position, a cloud crossed the window, and would not move. We waited 15 minutes to no avail, and decided to try our luck outside. Sure enough, as soon as we left, the cloud passed, and the remainder of the shoot was sunny without any chance of meatballs.

We quickly settled on this street crossing, and Cassandra gracefully crossed it, as only an acrobatic dancer can.

October 21, 2018