Each portrait was taken with Dennis Manarchy's 35-foot film camera. Each image represents over 48 hours of time to create the final image (preparation, the exposure, development of the 6-foot negative and creating the positives through an extremely high-resolution scanner). The images represent a sample of the various cultures featured within the "Vanishing Cultures: An American Portrait" project. Only one exposure is created per subject.
Over 12 years in the making, "Vanishing Cultures: An American Portrait" is a cultural series featuring Dennis Manarchy's hand-constructed 35-foot film camera that will travel more than 20,000 miles across the United States of America to document over 50 of our nation's vanishing cultures. The detail in each 6x4-foot negative far surpasses digital technologies, but more importantly provides a true and inspiring glimpse of the extraordinary and often unrecognized people that have helped to shape our nation. Each face represents a unique heritage. Each portrait is a window into an unknown world and a lifetime of unimaginable experiences. The culmination of the project will be exhibitions, documentaries and educational materials that will collectively provide a snapshot of our diverse nation before these cultures disappear forever. It will also commemorate an era of traditional film photography as we approach the 200th anniversary of the invention of the camera. "Vanishing Cultures: An American Portrait" is an opportunity to gain an understanding of the spirit of our people and the ways in which the advancement of our nation has been impacted by our rich heritage.