Photography Culture

A Photographer’s Love Letter to the Square Format Photograph

Chris Gampat
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01/24/2019
2 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Kodak Portra 800 in 120 scans Mamiya 6 2

Last Updated on 10/01/2020 by Chris Gampat

Dearest Square Format, your mystique is so radiant that it compels many to go to war in comment sections in defense of your beauty.

I’d like to step back in time to the day I fell head over heels for you, and when you had me at hello. It was the summer, and I was walking around Greenwich Village. While on the High Line, I decided to try a new feature on an Olympus camera. Then, when you appeared, my head did a tilt. You know, like that special tilt that you see in cinema when a ravishing subject enters the room. We walked around together while people watching, sharing coffee, Italian pasta dishes and somehow avoided the scent of NYC’s garbage in the summer. We went home together, spent time together on the web, and then we called it a night. Since then, my feelings for you have never waned.

Some may like you only after they’ve had their way with an image in post-production–arguably cutting off the edges of you as if only falling for someone after they’ve slimmed down. But I’ve adored you just the way you are. You come out of the camera with a sense of symmetry that is unnatural. You are balanced–much unlike anything else in this world. We (and by that I mean those of us less perfect than you are) strive to find balance when we ignore the fact that it is right in front of us.

Do you remember when our relationship grew from mere pixels into cellulose and emulsions? You blossomed into a larger being–we both did! Life was so simple with you; everything was black and white. Everything was sharp, clear, focused. Though there were times you were as cold as ice, you always warmed up and became better. And even through the icy times I adored you.

Do you remember the time when the world created an app to celebrate your beauty? It was called Instagram. It gave praise to your wonderful format. But it eventually gave way to only wanting to deal with taller or wider individuals. Like all things in life, most think bigger is better.

But I don’t. I still enjoy the scent of you in a darkroom. I stare longingly at your photos on my phone and computer.

I will, always and forever, cherish you.

Sincerely,

A photographer

camera digital film format love letter square
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.