The Process
Kyle’s art practice has incorporated medium format film on the Hasselblad V system since 2014. The process of shooting medium format film allows him to make larger and better prints. Using this system changes the whole intent of how an image is made. Each frame counts and in most scenes, he takes only one shot. This system was first used by Nasa for the moon missions and is completely analog, no batteries are needed, there are still Hasselblad bodies on the lunar surface for anyone game to try to recover them. This camera system took one of the most famous pictures “Earth Rise” which comprises all of humanity, except the astronauts taking the image, within one frame. This system is paired with the highest quality lenses from Zeiss and was the preferred choice by professionals before the advent of digital. Most images of note were probably taken with a Hasselblad and were used by the greats such as Ansel Adams and Richard Avedon. Even today Hasselblad still creates some of the highest performing cameras the world has ever known.
The preferred film stocks Kyle uses are Bergger Pancro 400 (the last company creating analog photography products in France, including photographic papers), Kodak Tri-X 400, and developed mostly with Kokdak Xtol for the majority of his black and white images. This combination gives a beautiful, almost painterly gain. Colour film is either developed at home or by a local labortory.
The shooting of film feels more tactile. It’s the physicality of creating a photographic object, something that you can find years later after creating, that really appeals to him. There is more of a sense of alchemy and experimentation.