CW Banfield, The Wilderness Gallery
Nebo, NC
I grew up on a small farm in Ohio and graduated from Adrian College with a triple major in economics, history, and political science, and a minor in philosophy. After college I moved to Washington, DC and worked as a historical researcher for the Supreme Court of the US. Later, I did graduate work in economics and history, and spent six years in U.S. Army Special Operations. It was during my military tenure that I began to truly appreciate the outdoors.
My photography career grew from a wanderlust that lured me down 18,000 miles of hiking trails. In the spring of 1994, I embarked on my first Appalachian Trail thru-hike (2,100 miles, Georgia to Maine). The six month journey changed my life. So, I turned my attention to the Pacific Crest Trail (2,700 miles, Mexico to Canada) and then to the Continental Divide Trail (3,100 miles, Mexico to Canada) before returning to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail a second time in 2001.
I now work exclusively in large format: 8×10, 4×10 and 4×5. These bulky, wooden, tripod-mounted cameras reward a deliberate, contemplative approach to creating images. Their completely manual operation demands a photographer who is fully integrated into the creative and technical aspects of this very raw form of photography. I capture the image on b&w negative film. After developing, I scan the film and balance the file to match the feel of the original exposure. Finally, I output the image using an inkjet photo processor with archival inks & substrates.