Category Archives: history

crime and photography …

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. … the Karsh Caper. In 1941, Karsh captured the essence of Churchill and called the portrait the “Roaring Lion”. In 1988, he donated the signed print to Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa. A different copy of the photograph was … Continue reading →

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the Russians are …

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. … coming, the Russians are coming  – as Canadian Producer/Director Norman Jewison titled his 1966 humorous movie. A fitting title for this post about Stan White’s exploits to make  panoramic 3D photos using a co-joined pair of  Krasnogorsk FT2 … Continue reading →

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Looking at Small Things – 1680 style

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. When I was a kid, an issue of Popular Mechanics magazine showed how the tiny lens of a pen-light 1.5v bulb could be used as a powerful (about 200x) microscope – just like one made by Leeuwenhoek in Delft, … Continue reading →

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remember using D-76

Posted on March 12, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. As a youth, I bought an old chemical balance and a whack of Kodak chemicals to make my own developers, stop bath, and fixer bath. Later on I bought ready-made Kodak chemicals like D-76 for developing negatives and DEKTOL … Continue reading →

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the eye looker

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Camera collectors often included various odd looking optical items in their collection. In the late 1980s, I was browsing antique stores, junk sales, etc. for interesting items. In one case, a little girl stood guard over a road side … Continue reading →

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remembering Christine Mackie …

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Christine Mackie burst upon the PHSC scene a few brief years before her death. One of our more flamboyant members, she collected antique motorcycles and bicycles, stored back home in Hamilton. She leaped into camera collecting with unrivalled enthusiasm, … Continue reading →

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mr Curtis, you make good photos …

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. … with apologies to Mr Christie. Edward Curtis was a famous American photographer and author; an authority on Native American People (i.e. Aboriginals or First Nation People here). A few of his photographs are framed and hang in Barberian’s … Continue reading →

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an ambrotype self portrait

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Over the years, photographic processes continuously evolved. For example, some effort was made to deliver less expensive cased images (Daguerreotype look-a-likes). One solution was to take a negative using the then new wet-plate technology and treat it to reverse … Continue reading →

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a better mouse trap

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Past president, author, and sports photographer Les Jones sent me a note the other day on an interesting article about Henry’s lost cameras. In January of 1839, Two unique means to capture images created by sunlight were announced. One, … Continue reading →

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from mother Russia (with love??)

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Issue 22-1 features a selection of cameras from our 1996 spring fair as photographed by Bob Lansdale and assisted by Tiit Kodar. Among the offered goodies was this rare Russian camera, the USSR Sport from 1935. The photo for … Continue reading →

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