My little splurge this year has been an enjoy able addition to my PhaseOne XF camera system: a waist level viewfinder.

“Left becomes right and right becomes left” offers new perspectives and enhances interaction between my portrait subjects. Diane Arbus, Mary Ellen Mark, Helmut Newton shot with a waist-level viewfinder due to lower distortion for full-length portraits. The advantage for me: my camera isn’t between me and my subject which allows for better interaction. Bonus: it saves weight making my rig more packable. At least one new image for my Guggenheim portfolio this year was shot with this new tool.

This is an example of a portrait created low to the ground of the mini-horses at the Isanti County Fair using my PhaseOnes Waist Level Viewfinder. Notice how the camera is almost at knee level… which means I don’t have to be laying on my stomach or sitting on the group to see from the same vantage point.