Eastern-State-Penitentiary

4x5 for 365 project (280/365)

in

An open cell block door invites visitors to start their exploration of Eastern State Penitentiary.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  It is located on Fairmont Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Ilford FP4+ B&W film, shot at ISO 125.
Exposure was 1/15th second at F16.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 15 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (278/365)

in

An old bulletin board, it's cover tattered, hangs on a wall in a cell block at Eastern State Penitentiary.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  It is located on Fairmont Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Ilford FP4+ B&W film, shot at ISO 125.
Exposure was 1/2 second at F16.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 15 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.  
Cropped to desired size in post.

4x5 for 365 project (276/365)

in

On the way out of Eastern State Penitentiary with about five minutes to go before closing time, I spotted these windows and ivy on a building on the outer perimeter of the courtyard.  I sort of like how my reflection ended up appearing in both the top an bottom right windows. The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Ilford FP4+ B&W film, shot at ISO 125.
Exposure was 1/15th second at F22.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 15 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (275/365)

in

Cell block 14 at Eastern State Penitentiary.  This particular cell block  was built in 1926 and was the second ESP's three story cell blocks.  Construction was done primarily using prison labor.  Light streams down from the third floor skylights through a series of grates in the ceilings and floors illuminating the floors below.  The prison is located on Fairmont Avenue in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and was built in 1829 and closed in 1971 remaining abandoned for several decades before being re-opened to the public as a history museum.  A great, tripod friendly, place to spend a full day of photography.   

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Ilford Delta 100 B&W film, shot at ISO 100.
Exposure, including reciprocity compensation, was 1 1/2 minutes at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 13 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (274/365)

in

An ivy covered wall and window found at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
Fujinon-W 210mm F5.6 lens in Copal B shutter.
Ilford FP4+ B&W film, shot at ISO 125.
Exposure was 1/8 second at F22.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 15 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.  
Cropped to desired size in post.

4x5 for 365 project (273/365)

in

A narrow outside walkway between cell blocks at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  

I had hoped for a more featureful sky but that is not what Mother Nature had provided.

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Ilford FP4+ B&W film, shot at ISO 125.
Exposure was 1/4 second at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 15 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (272/365)

in

An iron gate adorned with a cross at it's center marks the entrance to a former medical ward at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Ilford FP4+ B&W film, shot at ISO 125.
Exposure was 1/2 second at F16.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 15 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (271/365)

in

A courtyard window at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Kodak Ektascan BR/A single-sided X-Ray film shot at ISO 100.
Exposure was 1/8 second at F22.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:150 dilution for 7 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.  
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (270/365)

in

The ornate doors on the loading dock area of the kitchen at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971.  A date stone on the outside of the kitchen wall dates that part of the prison to 1908.

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
90mm F5.6 Schneider Super-Angulon lens in a Copal 0 shutter.
Yellow # 8 filter on lens to help with contrast.
Kodak Ektascan BR/A single-sided X-Ray film shot at ISO 100.
Exposure was 1/2 second at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:150 dilution for 7 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.  
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (269/365)

in

A look into one of the closed off cell blocks at Eastern State Penitentiary.  Some of the cell blocks at the prison have been cleaned up and made safe so visitors can tour them but this one remains in its original state.  The structure is located on Fairmont Avenue in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and was built in 1829 and closed in 1971 remaining abandoned for several decades before being re-opened to the public as a history museum.  A great, tripod friendly, place to spend a full day of photography.   

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Wratten Yellow # 8 filter on lens to help with contrast.
Ilford Delta 100 B&W film, shot at ISO 100.
Exposure, including reciprocity compensation, was 2 1/2 minutes at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 13 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (268/365)

in

A set of stairs lead up to one of the corner guard towers at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971 remaining abandoned for several decades before being re-opened to the public as a history museum.

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Yellow # 8 filter on lens to help with contrast.
Kodak Ektascan BR/A single-sided X-Ray film shot at ISO 100.
Exposure was 1/4 second at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:150 dilution for 7 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.  
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (267/365)

in

The loneliness of a 185 year old prison cell envelopes the self in ways that one can't imagine unless they have been there, touched the cold broken stone walls and breathed the stale air of its confinement.  Eastern State Penitentiary, located on Fairmont Avenue in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, was built in 1829 and closed in 1971 remaining abandoned for several decades before being re-opened to the public as a history museum.  A great, tripod friendly, place to spend a full day of photography.   

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter.
Wratten Yellow # 8 filter on lens to help with contrast.
Ilford Delta 100 B&W film, shot at ISO 100.
Exposure, including reciprocity compensation, was 35 seconds seconds at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 13 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (266/365)

in

One of the problems with shooting in a 185 year old prison that is now a museum open to the public is the audio tour.  Each visitor is given an audio tour headset and they wander around listening to the recording with no awareness of the surroundings or other people or the guy standing there taking a long exposure shot with a large format film camera.  Having shot at Eastern State Penitentiary countless times in the past with digital gear, I knew what to expect from the "audio tour zombies" when I went back and shot with the big film camera.  For this trip I decided to embrace the tourists coming into the shots, their ghostly apparitions providing another element of the story.  The prison, located on Fairmont Avenue in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, was built in 1829 and closed in 1971 remaining abandoned for several decades before being re-opened to the public as a history museum.  A great, tripod friendly, place to spend a full day of photography.   

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7" large format metal field camera with 4x5" film back.
90mm F5.6 Schneider Super-Angulon lens in a Copal 0 shutter.
Ilford Delta 100 B&W film, shot at ISO 100.
Exposure was 3 seconds at F32.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:50 dilution for 13 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.
4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

4x5 for 365 project (265/365)

in


An old bench shows a history of abuse by time, weather and pigeons as it sits in the courtyard at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The prison was built in 1829 and closed in 1971 remaining abandoned for several decades before being re-opened to the public as a history museum.  A great place to spend a full day of photography.   

Technical details:
Sakai Toyo 5x7 large format metal field camera with 4x5 film back.
150mm Caltar-S II F 5.6 lens in Copal BT shutter
Kodak Ektascan BR/A single-sided X-Ray film shot at ISO 100.
Exposure was 1/8 second at F45.
Developed in Rodinal/Adox Adonal 1:150 dilution for 7 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Mod54 daylight developing tank.  
Negative scanned with Epson V600.  Cropped to desired size in post.