FAREWELL PHASE ONE, AFTER FIVE WONDERFUL YEARS IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
When in late 2020 Phase One contacted me asking if I wanted to join their Ambassador roster, I was honoured and thrilled. Between 2016 and 2018, I had been an Ambassador for Leica, representing with my work what to me is the top of 35mm photography’s history and tradition. With Phase One, I had been asked to represent with my work what is arguably the highest end medium format camera system in the world.
During these five years, I worked in the field for 6 months a year, using the IQ4 150 Mp and the IQ4 150 Mp Achromatic day-in, day-out to create my Fine Art work. Thanks to the flexibility of Phase One’s IQ4 lineup, I had the opportunity to use cameras such as Phase One’s own XT, Arca-Swiss’ Rm3di and Alpa’s 12 STC, arguably the top-of-the-line field cameras today, with Rodenstock and Schneider lenses which are among the best ever designed.
In December 2023 my wife and I came back home from a four-month long tour of the southern hemisphere during which I worked with my IQ4 150 Mp Achromatic exclusively, and in January 2024, after two years of working in black & white only, I started getting interested in going back to the aesthetics of film. By the end of summer, I had put together a 4×5” kit, the largest format I decided I was willing to carry around on my trips. In September 2024, when my wife and I hit the road for our Fall Workshop season, for the first time in decades I was carrying only a film camera with me.
When we got back home around mid-December, I started developing and scanning my negatives. My heart was rushing with a mix of anticipation and worry, since for the first time in 10 years of landscape photography I had no idea whether any of the hundreds of photographs I took over the previous months were any good. Sure thing, I loved the process of working with 4×5” film in the field, but that wouldn’t have been nearly enough to convince me if the results wouldn’t have been good enough.
What I saw exceeded my expectations. These negatives were magnificent! So much so, that I decided to take off for our Spring Workshop season with my 4×5” film kit again, and this time when I got back home my mind was pretty much made. I was not going to go back to digital photography any time soon, and at this point, it was clear to me that a tough decision needed to be made.
My ethics about cooperating with a brand as an Ambassador are very clear and simple: 1. I need to love the product; 2. I need to really use it for my work; 3. I need to believe in the brand’s Ambassador project; and 4. I need to be able to retain the freedom to speak honestly about the brand and its products.
If one or more of these criteria fails, there is no way for me to feel comfortable carrying on as an Ambassador for any brand. As such, since I am currently using my 4×5” film camera and plan to continue doing so for the foreseeable future, it is with sadness that at the end of June 2025 I decided to quit being an Ambassador for Phase One, and I informed Phase One of my decision right after. As hard as it has been to make this decision and to go forward with it, I simply believe it is not just the correct thing to do – it is the only thing to do.
Obviously, this decision does not mean or imply any judgement on Phase One’s products and their quality; the IQ4 digital back is a wonderful machine producing files of unparalleled quality and so are Phase One’s cameras and lenses. This decision is a consequence of the evolution of my aesthetic understanding of Fine Art landscape photography and of the direction my work is taking me.
The IQ4 150 Mp and IQ4150 Mp Achromatic have been with me all over the world, from the deserts of the Southwest USA and Death Valley to the icy Icelandic and Faroese winters, from Australia and New Zealand to the incredible Easter Island, from The Pacific Northwest to Italy, France and Spain, enabling me to create some of my best work ever. For that, I will be forever grateful to the brand and its products.
But now, it’s time to move on to a new chapter of my photographic journey. So, farewell Phase One and thank you for the incredible 5 years we had together!
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