Author Archives: Robert

dem plates, dem plates, dem dry plates

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Member Jeff Ward from up Halifax way writes, “A correspondent informed me that the issue of Scientia Canadensis devoted to photography and science is now available online.” The issue was edited by guest editor Joan Schwartz and featured some … Continue reading →

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the last of the Naturalists’

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Ken Metcalf down in North Carolina sent me a copy of the current Graflex Journal (first issue for 2023). In this issue, Tom Evans has an article on an oversize, robust Graflex camera made in the years 1907 to … Continue reading →

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far, far, away

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. We have it soft today. Sources of photos, cameras, film, darkroom, etc. abound – like our auction this month. Today, film has largely been replaced by digital technology and the ubiquitous smartphone camera. Digital images give ‘instant gratification’. Little … Continue reading →

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cheaper by the yard …

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Our meeting number 36 by ZOOM (3 years). It’s hard to imagine that just days ago we were still struggling with a nasty winter. As I write this (on the 9th of April) many folks up Ottawa way and … Continue reading →

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first the film …

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. … and now the lens? The idea of using a digital sensor rather than a film coated with a sensitive medium revolutionized photography. Before digital technology as we know it today, fax machines and television were (and still are) … Continue reading →

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we’ve been everywhere

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Today photography is everywhere. So much so that we take it for granted. The Moon, Mars, wars, famine, poverty, art, portraits, books, magazines, television, smartphones, medical, and on it goes. Without photography we would have no visual record of … Continue reading →

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it’s coming, it’s coming!

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. … and just what is coming, you may ask? THE PHSC SPRING AUCTION, that’s what. Keep an eye out for it. On Sunday, April 30th. Same place, slightly later time. We are back in person with a wide selection … Continue reading →

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before the old city hall …

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar sends this remarkable photograph from the archives of the Toronto Public Library. The photo shows the old Globe Foundry on Queen Street West at about the address of the old Toronto City Hall (the only City Hall … Continue reading →

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the Barretts of Whitby

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. I seldom see write-ups on older Canadian photographers. George Dunbar was browsing ‘ourOntario.ca‘ and happened upon the Whitby Library Archives. There he found material on a photographer, Augustus Barrett, who once operated a studio in Whitby and later a … Continue reading →

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now a b-i-i-i-i-i-i-g smile

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Group photos were often taken over the years to show the team players in a school, plant, or factory for a given year. Smiths Falls pre-WW2 was a very active Canadian factory town with  a number of impressive industries. … Continue reading →

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