The photograph was developed on a special 10x34 meters˛, 544 kg canvas. A jet-hangar was transformed into a giant camera, which took the photograph. The development itself took place in a huge pool-sized developing tray, and the team used ten high volume submersible pumps and 1,800 gallons of black and white chemistry in order to produce the final result. 

The photograph shows the control tower, structures and runways at the heart of the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Southern California. The base was shut down in the mid 1990’s and the area is now being turned into a 4,700-acre urban park, called “The Orange County Great Park”  – planned to be one of the largest parks in western United States. 

The “Legacy Project” is a non-profit documentary project, which began in April 2002, and according to its organizers, was dedicated to provide a unique record of an extraordinary development in the history of Southern California. The members of the Legacy Group are well-known photographic artists – Jerry Burchfield, Mark Chamberlain, Jacques Garnier, Rob Johnson, Douglas McCulloh and Clayton Spada. 

The exhibition will feature “The Great Picture” along with videos and photographs documenting the artists’ work process. The six artists view “The Great Picture” as a turning point in the industry, at which film-based photography is clearing the way for the new era of “pixel” photographs – the “dawn of the Renaissance of film-based photography”.   

You can read more about the Legacy Project and its members at the project’s official website.