Square
Of all the possible aspect-ratios (eg 3:2, 4:3, 5:4) typically encountered in a camera frame, square (typically 6x6 film) stands out as particularly noteworthy for several reasons:
- Cropability: if you're used to smaller formats such as 645 or 35mm, 6x6 has plenty of image-quality to spare.
- Shifts: compared with 645 format, a 6x6 frame includes as standard strips to the left and right that would require a shift lens on 645. Relatedly, the lens has a circular coverage, within which a square makes greatest use of the available scene.
- Rotation: it doesn't matter if you're aiming for a portrait or landscape crop afterwards, there's no need to rotate the camera whilst making the photograph.
- Composition: there is something distinctive about composing a scene for square; typically one is more conscious of the symmetry and ways to break-down or place the elements in the composition than with a rectangular aspect-ratio.
Many landscape photographs tend to be rectangular, either horizontal orientation to reflect the width of a vista or its orientation around the horizon or a vertical portrait (for example to draw one's attention to layers of land and sky). With square format, no such constraint exists, leading to more artistic results.
The photographs below have all been made using either a Bronica SQa, a Hasselblad 500C/M or Shen-Hao large-format view camera subsequently cropped to square.
