In this age of poor-quality cameraphone images and unflattering “selfies,” it’s easy to forget how powerful high-quality, professional photography can be, how it can move us emotionally. The Professional Photographers of America used to refer to their members as “the world’s greatest storytellers,” and not without hyperbole. A recent project, conceived and executed by photographer Dennis Manarchy, helped by wide-format output technology, shows us what a camera in the right hands can do.

The phrase “in the right hands” should perhaps be interpreted metaphorically: the camera Manarchy designed and built for this project is 35 feet long and needs to be carted about on a trailer. It produces film—yes, film—negatives that measure 4.5 x 6 feet. The large negatives were needed to capture enough fine detail to allow the images to be output at sizes of up to 24 feet high. The camera is a celebration of the fading era of film photography even as the 200th anniversary of the film camera draws near.

The project for which the camera was constructed, “Butterflies & Buffalo: Tales of American Culture,” features the portraits of members of more than 50 cultures from across the United States, cultures that include Native American tribes, Amish, Cajuns, Appalachians, Gullah Geechee, and many others encountered in what will comprise a 20,000-mile journey. The project was originally called “Vanishing Cultures” to reflect the fact many traditional ways of life are disappearing as they are absorbed into contemporary American society. The name was changed, Manarchy says, after some of his subjects objected to the word “vanishing”—many have actually seen their physical numbers growing. “I don’t want to upset the people I am trying to honor and remember, so I changed it to a more metaphorical name,” he explains. “The buffalo had been nearly extinct at one time, even though they’re very powerful. The butterflies seem ephemeral but manage to survive. The young people of these cultures can keep the culture and survive.”