Category Archives: history

what’s up doc?

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. .. as that wascally wabbit from Brooklyn said to Elmer Fudd in the movie cartoons of yesteryear. From its very beginning, photography has been a huge asset for medicine and dentistry. This Southworth and Hawes plate at left shows … Continue reading →

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pet shop boys

Posted on August 15, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. One niche area in photography is pet photography which has grown in popularity. You can also read this article dated May 26, 2015 in The Guardian or this one on historic photos of dogs dated April 2, 2015 in … Continue reading →

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fire sale

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Photography introduced the average person to events of the day and to history. Over 60 years ago, I was seconded to our office in Midland, Ontario to lend a hand. Imagine my surprise on that chilly Monday morning, March … Continue reading →

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breaking the frame

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. All you image collectors in the GTA, the ROM is opening a new exhibition of photographs starting this Saturday (August 14, 2021) and running to next January 16, 2022. The exhibition covers the beginnings of our art (c1839) to … Continue reading →

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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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