5 minute read

The Creative’s Choice

Working on a wide-ranging creative project in response to 2020’s global pandemic, Kara Mercer has found GFX50S II the perfect tool for turning her ideas into reality

Hard times can prove rich soil for artists. Adversity breeds ideas, while reflection solidifies them into projects that can heal or make sense of what we’re living through. So, if the last couple of years can be viewed in any sort of positive light, it’s that photographers and artists have found space to digest the situation – and create beautiful images in spite of it. You could even call it a resistance. For Kara Mercer, those ideas have fueled an ongoing collaborative book project. Working on it since before the turn of the year, she’s made the latest part with GFX50S II.

“I think staying creative, and funneling those emotions into projects, has been important for so many people,” she explains. “It’s a choice we make – and this book is just one example. It brings together a series of ideas, reflecting on 2020, where we’re attempting to take the trauma, isolation, loss, and introspection that’s bred in these times, and putting it forward in a visual language. It covers all sorts of subjects, from portraits to still-lifes, documentary, and food photography. But there’s also an emphasis on examining femininity, because a lot of that introspection has been about who we are and our roles in society.”

Grasping that idea of femininity, and drawing on her experience of photographing dancers, Kara weaved the two into a studio session with intriguing results. “I wanted to create something thought-provoking and beautiful… and raw,” she says. “So, I enlisted an amazing dancer and chose this very natural lighting style, doing away with any complex makeup or hair work. We set up the session in a great space with big windows, balancing the available light with Profoto B10s fitted with XL Umbrellas, making this very soft, light, airy feel.”

But a major factor was the dress for Kara’s subject. “It was very much ordered with a dancer in mind,” she says. “While it’s super-businessy at the top, like a vest or blazer style, it flows beautifully at the bottom – which I knew a dancer would be able to move around and float in interesting ways. The dress is also meant to be a blend of the modern woman’s personality,” she continues. “It shows both these buttoned-up and free sides of a person at the same time. For many of the images, I also added a mirror to feed the idea of introspection. In that way, we’re often looking at her, looking at herself, trying to work all these things out.”

Seeking a sense of imperfection or tension, Kara used intentional movement and blur – and this is where versatile characteristics of the new GFX50S II really came into play. “I wanted some images to have motion blur, and some to isolate her in the mirror with selective focus. But a lot depended on us nailing the point of her landing a jump, or a pirouette. So, the camera needed to be as fast and nimble as I was, trying to predict her movements.

“That’s what really stood out for me about GFX50S II,” Kara continues. “How the camera has evolved to be so much more versatile than the original model, but also retain the high standards of image quality you’d expect from the GFX System. Working with split-second precision is a thousand times easier, because it operates with real snap. And, as well as being more responsive, it’s so much smaller and lighter. It’s been streamlined from this more old-fashioned idea of what a larger format camera should look like, into a low-profile body, similar to a medium-sized DSLR or X Series.”

With its compact shape concealing a powerful 5-axis in-body image stabilization system, Kara also found GFX50S II adapted beautifully to her lighting setup. “Exposing so that I could mix the B10 flashes with the available light from the windows, and giving the setting natural depth, meant keeping the shutter hovering between 1/80 sec and 1/200 sec,” she explains. “Speeds at which camera shake can easily spoil the detail of a high-resolution sensor. But GFX50S II’s IBIS retained all the clarity I was after. So, even when I wanted motion blur visible in the subject, it was fully controlled and intentional.”

Getting the most out of GFX50S II’s 51.4-megapixel sensor allows further exploration and versatility, says Kara. “As part of this project, and others I’m working on, I’ve been making texture images outside of the studio, with a view to using them as portrait backgrounds – bringing the outside in. You need lots of detail, and GFX50S II is a camera that lets me do that easily.

“To have amazing resolution you can take with you almost anywhere, to produce huge, detailed prints, is incredible, whatever you’re photographing. Whether it’s for your own projects or clients, it’s easy to love that deliverable quality.”

Young, dark-haired woman sitting in leotard and floral jacket

Photo 2021 © Kara Mercer | FUJIFILM GFX50S II camera and GF110mmF2 R LM WR, 1/200 sec at F4.5, ISO 160

So, what did Kara make of her overall experience with GFX50S II? “It’s a camera that does a lot of things very well,” she glows. “I’ve used it for portraiture and food photos. I’ve photographed for lifestyle brands, indoors and out, and let me tell you, this is a super-versatile tool to have. I’ll also use it for landscapes and interiors in my travel work – and even as a general walkaround street camera.

“I was an early adopter of the GFX System,” she concludes. “I’ve seen these cameras evolve and change. It’s been a crazy amount of advancement, and I think Fujifilm has made such incredible progress in putting the benefits of large format quality within the grasp of regular photographers, as well as professionals. That’s certainly true of GFX50S II, which is the most accessible model yet. No matter who you are, or what creative ideas are burning inside you, this is the tool to make it happen.”

FUJIFILM GFX50S II beneath house plant

Photo 2021 © Kara Mercer | FUJIFILM GFX50R camera and GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR, 1/125 sec at F4, ISO 2000

FUJIFILM GFX50S II and FUJINON 35-70mm F4.5-5.6 WR are coming soon to your nearest FUJIFILM Authorized Dealer.


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