Monthly Archives: June 2021

a little slip of a thing …

Toronto. … said my mother in describing a skinny young girl. She could just as easily have been describing a Waterhouse stop, or a leaf in a photographic iris diaphragm. In fact, have you ever wondered when and who invented … Continue reading

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The Amalgamated Photo History Newsletters Vol 2-6 (June 2021)

Toronto. The PHOTOGRAM for July 2010 is reproduced by permission here in our special members-only supplement. Also editor Lansdale added information on the HICO camera and related colour process. As a member of the PHSC, you received this supplement Monday, the … Continue reading

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monochrome memories

Toronto. Snapshots are a visual family history. Without them we have no way to tell how our ancestors looked, worked, partied, vacationed, lived, etc. Or what pets and possessions were special to them. The late Brian Coe knew this when … Continue reading

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let Ed do it

Toronto. One of the best known photographers in America was Edward Weston. I have a massive coffee table size book simply titled “Edward Weston: Fifty Years“. Published in 1973 by Aperture in the States, I bought my copy  new a … Continue reading

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when it all began

Toronto. Collectors and photo enthusiasts seldom remember Robert Hunt, an enthusiastic amateur photographer. Other prominent folk at the beginning of photography like Daguerre, Talbot, and Herschel are all well known for various reasons. Daguerre of course for his pre-eminent Daguerreotype … Continue reading

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cross purposes?

Toronto. On page 9 in the April 1946 issue of Popular Photography, a company called De Mornay-Budd based in NYC, took out a large advertisement for an unusual Leica/Contax series of viewfinders. The viewfinder mounted on the camera’s accessory shoe … Continue reading

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when hype beat reality

Toronto. The heady days of the late 1940s! War was over. Pent-up demand for all kinds of goods exceeded supply leading to continued wait lists. Telephones just outside the town took two years for the cables to town alone to … Continue reading

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dancing on the head of a pin

Toronto. For centuries, the expression “number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin” has been around. Originally religious (as you can likely tell), it shifted to ordinary usage and meant arguing absurdities while real issues went … Continue reading

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hi Norman!

Toronto. As a kid I loved reading back issues of the Saturday Evening Post while waiting at Nels MaGee’s for my bi-weekly hair cut.  Most exciting to me was when the cover used a Norman Rockwell painting. The web site, … Continue reading

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Canadian, eh?

Toronto. For the most part, Canada is a nation of immigrants. When I was a kid, we were part of the British commonwealth (to the dismay of Quebecers).* Many of us could trace our roots back to the UK or … Continue reading

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