In my experience, one of the most common goals of many photographers is to produce photographs than when enlarged show little to no grain, or noise. How often I have heard that you can make acceptable prints only up to a certain size using such and such film, lens, or camera, which is taken to mean acceptably low grain and high detail.

Not me. I like grain. I typically shoot medium format, in order to have plenty of detail to work with, and use Kodak Tri-X film, which I choose for its classic grain look and tonal range. I then push it up to three stops in development. Not only am I not trying to hide the medium, I’m embracing it. I love the additional level of abstraction and the atmosphere that grain can bring to a photograph when artfully used. As an example of my aesthetic leanings, one of my favourite motion pictures is Double Indemnity, which I believe to be the preeminent grainy film noir production.

I look at grain as one of the possible creative tools that can be utilized to further the photographer’s expression.

Now, let’s talk about resolving power…