Photographer Gabrielle Lurie on how she took these portraits — and why:

“Photographing portraits of essential workers was important to me because I wanted people to connect with the individuals that have been helping to make our society function during the global pandemic. I think of these workers who are unable to shelter in place as soldiers who are bravely fighting an invisible war. I decided to photograph them using an old 4x5 large format camera to create portraits that felt timeless and historical.

Using a 4x5 camera is quite different from a digital camera. It is slow and methodical.

“I would start the 4x5 shoots by setting up a tripod, making sure it is level and then attaching the camera body to the tripod. Once that is stable, I mount a lens to the body of the camera, extend the bellows and make sure the camera is secure. The image on the back side of the camera, called the ground glass, appears upside-down so I have to compose the image backward.

“I use a loupe on the ground glass to focus the image. Then I use my digital camera or a light meter to judge the exposure. I set my aperture and shutter speed on the lens and get the subject prepared to be photographed. Once the person is in the right spot, I check my focus one last time and ask them to stand very still. The last step is inserting my film holder into the back of the camera, removing the dark slide and hitting the shutter.

“I each photograph person and about I never 6 to know 14 images what of I’m going to get. I have an idea in my head about what I want the photograph to look like, but once I am at the scene I tend to improvise. What is so exciting about shooting film, especially large format, is that you never really know what you’re going to get until the film comes back.

There are slight imperfections everywhere, but they make the image unique.”