Jason Lee Patrick and Pictorialist Inspired Photography with the Petzval 80.5 Art Lens

Ireland-based Photographer Jason Lee Patrick has been experimenting with the Petzval 80.5 Art Lens, using it to create self portraits and shooting his local surroundings. He talked to us about his life, what inspires him and what made him want to try out this unique bokeh controlled art lens.

Hi Jason, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello. I’m Jason Lee Patrick. I was born in London. My father is Irish and my parents decided to move the clan back home to Ireland, where I’ve lived since I was 10 years old. I grew up in a small village not far from the ritual centre of Ireland, the famous Hill of Uisneach. And a stones throw away from another well known site, Lilliput. I like to describe this place as being in the shadow of Gulliver. There’s poetry in it. Although I’ve lived in several places across Ireland, this is where I call home.

Who or what inspires you to take photographs?

When I was young I enjoyed drawing and painting. But what I enjoyed more was the encouragement I got from the people I shared my work with. It felt good to be good at something. And told that I was. In those wreckless teen years when I didn’t know who I was or where I was going, they told me I was good at art. That just steadied the ship. And for years I thought that’s what I was, an artist, a painter. But I can’t say that I ever really enjoyed it. I found it to be a chore. I was always relieved once I’d completed a painting or a drawing. I am proud of the work. It’s always better to have done it and feel accomplished. But it was clear to me that I was visually stimulated. When I’d buy a book I’d flick straight to the pictures. When I bought music, it was never an MP3, I wanted vinyl or a CD. Something to look at.

I still buy DVDs for the same reason. Back in 2018, I saw an advertisement in the local newspaper, “An Introduction to Digital Photography”. A night course that ran one night a week for a couple of months. It lit a spark in me that I didn’t quite understand. I signed up and I didn’t even have a DSLR. I had a week to figure it out so I bought a second hand Nikon D3200 and spent a few days getting to grips with it. My exposures were all over the place. Horrendous. But it felt right. I was a quick learner and was greatly encouraged by my tutor who told me I had a good eye and it’s worth pursuing this. I completed the course, got a diploma and I was in love. Falling in love isn’t always a sudden realisation. I was in love with photography before I even picked up a camera. I was in love with photography when I picked up a pencil or paint brush. And I’ve been in love ever since, trying to figure out how they make it look so easy.

What made you decide to try out the Petzval 80.5 Art lens ?

Julia Margaret Cameron. I could leave it there. Just the name is enough. After I finished the night course, my brother got me a History of Photography book for Christmas the same year. That’s when I discovered Julia Margaret Cameron. I was hooked and there was no turning back. I torpedoed down that rabbit hole! I bought and read everything I could. It was through Julia’s work that I discovered Edward Steichen, Margrethe Mather, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti and others. But Julia Margaret Cameron’s images felt amazing. They stirred the senses. The imperfections. The raw and real beauty of the subjects.

All shot with a Petzval lens. Here we go again. The hunt was on! The problem was I only had digital cameras. I currently have a Fujifilm X-T5 and a GFX50Sii. How can I achieve anything close to Julia’s work or at least pay homage to it and to other Pictorialist photographers if I can’t match it? And I discovered Lomography. I opened up the website and saw the Petzval 80.5 MK II. And just to excite me even more, there was an article about Julia’s work and the history of the Petzval lens. I ordered the lens almost straight away.

What did you choose to shoot with this lens and does the lens change the way you approach a photograph?

Portraits mostly. It’s brilliant. So much fun. With modern digital photography, everything is so clinical and sharp, but this lens takes the pressure off. Because you know it’s nothing like modern lenses. So you’re free. I adapted the lens to my Fujifilm X-T5. The lens did change my approach as far as composition. I tried to keep things close to centre to retain the sharpness. The further out of the frame you go the softer it gets. Shot wide open at f1.9 and maximum bokeh control, the softness and rendering is ethereal. Each element of the lens design seems to render a different glow on the edges of the subject. When the highlights hit an edge, they bloom as if the soul is visually separate from the body. The background removes itself from the subject, falling into a swirl like a river flowing into a current. So unique. Manually focusing wide open is never easy but with Fujifilm’s focus peaking it makes it much easier.

After my first day with the lens I couldn’t get enough and adapted it to my GFX50Sii for some self portraits beside one of my favorite trees. They were inspired by Julia Margaret Cameron’s images, “Charles Hay Cameron in his garden at Freshwater, 1865-1867” and “The Gardener’s Daughter, 1867." Then home for some more self portraits, taking inspiration from stories of apparitions that have always fascinated me. I then decided to challenge myself with some moving subjects. Manual focusing wide open with a Petzval lens is definitely a challenge but with a worthy payoff. A walk around the village where I came upon some horses grazing was the challenge I was looking for. The horses know me pretty well from my beautiful and outstanding renditions of songs that I sing to them. I once sang them almost the entire Dangerous album by Michael Jackson. They loved it. No, seriously they did. All to get their attention for some portraits. They came straight over once I hit them with some Elvis. Who could resist? I spent some time with them and they were very giving, as you might tell from the photographs. I pushed my luck too far when I broke out Mmmbop. They left. Fair enough. I got what I needed.

What tips would you give to someone wanting to try out a Petzval lens?

I go back to Julia Margaret Cameron. She was told she wasn’t very good. But she knew what she wanted and she made some of the most beautiful photographs I’ve ever seen. They’re not perfect. They’re beyond that. They’re real. And I find that with the Petzval 80.5 MK II, it can breathe new life into your photography. Open new doors. Spark new ideas and make the most mundane and boring subjects a bit more magical when viewed through this lens. Go out a shoot a blade of grass and you’ll see fairies dancing all around the frame. They’re real you know. Lomography proved it.

To see more of Jason's work visit his Instagram page.

2024-12-29 #gear #people #digital #pictorialism #art-lens #petzval-80-5-art-lens