Category Archives: history

photography as a record keeper

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In 1869/70, the Brooklyn Bridge construction began and was dutifully recorded by photography. In 1933, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began as was recored by Peter Stackpole using a Leica camera. In between these two events, Arthur  Goss … Continue reading →

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not clarifying matters

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post WW2 many American companies dreamt up clever ways to gain traction in the booming retail camera market. The Clarus Camera maker in Minneapolis had an added difficulty to overcome – their products suffered from poor quality, especially the … Continue reading →

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sometimes we are elegant

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Kodak was known for its films and photographic supplies. The company, once the leader in photography, in later years made inexpensive and rather ugly plastic ‘film burners’, readily bought by the general public as gifts or to record family … Continue reading →

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if at first you don’t succeed …

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. … try and try again! And that is what Spartus did. A new name?A new town? A new camera style? The company began around 1934 in NYC as the Utility Manufacturing Company. It moved to Chicago in the 1940s … Continue reading →

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a nasty piece of work

Posted on August 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Seventy six years ago on August 9th, 1945 the Japanese city of Nagasaki woke to a terrible calamity. Around 11:00am, the second Atomic Bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped by the US Airforce, levelling a wide area of the … Continue reading →

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was ist das?

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post WW2, umpteen American companies tried to hop on the American made camera bandwagon. One was the Vokar line made in Dexter, Michigan. The design was said to have originated pre war from the mind of Dick Bills. Mike … Continue reading →

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catching Graflexes

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Pre WW2 and for a few years there after, Speed Graphic and Graflex cameras reigned supreme as the press photographers’ cameras of choice. The Graflex series offered SLR capability for larger plate and film sizes. Those who saw the … Continue reading →

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Voigtlander cameras are here again

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. How do you get back your market share when your country was on the losing side of the war? Well. you can try to advertise in a magazine that is read by your potential  market. Voigtlander did. The famous … Continue reading →

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run silent, run deep

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Did you think this post was another subs and photos post? Nope, the deep in this case is Deep Fake – a term that introduces the nasty side of this new world of ours – you can’t take anything … Continue reading →

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Never Let the Truth Get In the Way of a Good Story

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The other morning, I idly wondered if there was a photo of Clementine. If so, I thought a post called, “the colour orange” could introduce her photo and give a touch of history. Unfortunately, she was apparently a fiction, … Continue reading →

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