Israel "Sruki" Switzer
Canadian telecommunications pioneer, physicist and World Traveler
Phoenix, AZ ~ 3:30 PM on 4.23.1999

Carolynn DeCillo, Art Director at Inc Magazine wanted an interesting portrait of Canadian telecommunications pioneer, and World Traveler Israel (Sruki) Switzer for a story written by Andrew Raskin on personal travel habits titled "Packing IT in."

He is quoted in the article: "I've found hotel rooms are invariably inadequately lit, so I carry a 100-watt bulb or two as a supplement..." ...so we used the light bulb idea to illustrate the photo.

I shot this with a 4x5 camera, as I was going through a phase where I liked to shoot people with 4x5 and move the camera standards to extremes, allowing for very selective focus... it's a bit cumbersome to shoot this way but makes a beautiful and different kind of image.

Lighting: Dynalite
Main light: 40 degree grid spot, to camera right.
Edge light: 20 degree grid spot, back and to the left.
Background: (2) 10" dynalite reflectors with diffusion. one to camera right on the wall with black wrap (to keep the light off the subject), the other farther in the background. Both set to very low power just for some separation.

Camera: 4x5, 150mm lens
Exposure: 1/30th @ f/5.6
(3) Films: Kodak Plus-X, Kodak EPP, Kodak VPS (cross processed)
Photo assistant: Lyle Moultrie

A friend of mine said "This looks like it belongs in an Alfred Hitchcock movie."