An Interview with Robert Kalman

The straightforward street portraits made by Robert Kalman, using a large format camera, are amazing. No fancy lighting tricks. No awkward poses. His pictures are elegantly simple, wonderfully rich and beautifully composed. Working as a team with his wife, Linda, they approach potential subjects on the street and a few minutes later the encounter is over, the pictures made. I have to say that I struggled a bit trying to pick out ones to go with this interview because he has so many great ones. After reading the following you should do yourself a favor and follow the links near the end of this brief interview to his Flickr photostream and his web site to see many more wonderful pictures.

Alberto, 43 (Madrid)

Joan, New York

Jeff: I have to say that I am really impressed by your pictures.  And every time I come back to your Flickr photostream I find more.  Before getting into the various projects you have, why don't you tell us a little about you and your background as a photographer?  What got you into it in the first place and how long have you been taking pictures?

Robert: I was 8 years-old when I took my first "environmental" portrait using a Kodak Brownie: it was of my grandfather in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City. I distinctly remember it because I violated the Jewish Sabbath by "working" and making his image; I got severely scolded by my father, who was pretty strict about observing religious custom. That was in 1957.

By the early 1970's I was working as a freelancer for local newspapers in southern New Hampshire. (To earn a living and support my family, I taught elementary school, and, eventually became an elementary school principal). I learned the technical side of shooting and printing from an old pro, Walter St. Clair, who was the town photographer. While all I could afford at the time was shooting 35mm black and white, Walt introduced me to large format and I was smitten. I also voraciously read everything about photography that I could get my hands on, spending hours studying the work of every major photographer of the 20th century. I bought my first 4x5 in 1988, studied for a time with the "father" of environmental portraiture, Arnold Newman, and began shooting almost exclusively with that format. By that time, I had moved to upstate New York and continued shooting freelance for magazines and newspapers. My work has now evolved to self-assignments, which I like to describe as formal, environmental street portraits.

Emmeline & Lasse

Jeff: The formal, environmental street portraits were the first of your pictures that I discovered.  I find it amazing that these people look so at ease, even though it is my impression that for the most part they have only just met you.  At the same time, one can see in their faces that they understand this is no ordinary snapshot being made.  Though you also have clear themes, such as the interracial couples, there is a thread of common vision throughout your work.
How do you approach your subjects, and how long does the interaction usually take to get these photos?

Robert: Something I learned after reading Laura Wilson's book, "Avedon at Work in the American West", regarding Avedon's method of finding people:  he would frequently have Laura approach potential subjects because it's much less threatening to have a woman approach than a man. So, when I'm looking for subjects and I see someone who I'd like to photograph, my wife, Linda, is sent to talk to them. She has a very calm, quiet demeanor, and, once she explains what we're doing, nearly everyone agrees to pose. In fact, the only reason we get on a turn down is that the person's in a hurry.

Louis Mendes, 69, NYC

I think people look at ease in my pictures partly because of Linda and partly because of the big camera. When I'm exposing the film, I'm standing next to the camera, rather than being hidden behind it, and I'm asking the person to look at me. It becomes a moment of complicity. We're relating to one another in a direct, unencumbered way; there's nothing in between us.

The interaction, from the time we meet the person, explain what we're about, place them in the environment, expose a Fuji instant, check it for proper exposure and composition, expose two sheets of conventional film and take down the person's information, takes about six minutes. We also hand the person the Fuji, which is something they don't usually expect.

Jeff: A wonderful idea and approach!  It is certainly working for you.  You have these types of portraits from many places in the world and I am always intrigued by pictures of people who are different than me, but there is also a very strong sense from your pictures that we are all quite a bit alike too.  Is that part of the message you are intentionally trying to tell, or is that just a natural consequence of this approach to photography?  Or does this question reveal more about me than it does about you and your subjects?

Robert: I don't think I set out to intentionally send any general messages about people. I simply respond emotionally to people, especially their faces, and I frame them in our surroundings in a compositionally pleasing way. If I have any intention at all, it is to create a portrait that allows the viewer to experience their own emotional response to the person in the photograph.

Monseignor Dom Paulo Jorge De Laureano, 34 Lisbon

Jeff: An excellent response and goal.  Do you still print in a traditional darkroom, or are your large format negative digitally scanned?


Robert: While I process all the film in my own darkroom, I scan the negatives and print them digitally. Occasionally I'll still print negatives using the traditional method, but I find that digital printing gives me far more control.

Esperança, 57 Lisbon

Lebo

Jeff: I think that a great many photographers have chosen that hybrid route for the very same reason.

In addition to your portraits made in various parts of the world, you have a portfolio of pictures of water towers in Kansas.  How did that come about?


Robert: My wife, Linda, is from Kansas, and we were visiting her family a couple of winters ago. I found myself with quite a bit of downtime, and it was really too cold to ask people to pose (despite the fact that it only takes about six minutes). As we drove around, I noticed that the landscape in Kansas, which is very flat, is dotted with water towers, which are visible from miles away. So, I went out for a few days making "portraits" of subjects that didn't seem to mind posing in thirty degree weather.

When I processed the take, I thought I had a nice variety of different looks and angles, but something was missing. I lived with the pictures for weeks before I realized that what was missing was the ever present Kansas wind. So I did something I never do, I added digital noise to suggest that element within the landscape.


Jeff: It works!  It's a wonderful series and I was wondering how you achieved that effect.

You have a large number of pictures that can be viewed on Flickr, as well as on your website.  Plus you have a good number of Blurb books available. Can you tell us a little about those?  Were any, or all, of your projects shot with a book in mind?

Rodolfo & Carlos (Madrid)

Robert: As I mentioned, I did an extensive amount of freelancing for newspapers and magazines early on. I think I developed a shoot-for-publication frame of reference as a result. In the mid-2000's I learned about print on demand publishing and I started experimenting with turning out my own work on My Publisher and Lulu. Both of those products were adequate, but My Publisher had limited choices, and I found Lulu difficult to use. Blurb on the other hand met many more of my criteria, so I started using them pretty extensively as a presentation platform for my work. So, I believe the direct answer to your question is, yes, I shoot with a book in mind.


Jeff: Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview.

Robert: It was my pleasure. I really appreciate your interest.

Lara, 27 (Barcelona)

Beth - In the Hood (Philadelphia)

Many thanks to Juan Riera for recommending this fine artist!