Category Archives: history

dark s(l)ide

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Leon Warnerke was a UK based “Entrepreneur/Inventor Extraordinaire [and] Royal Photographic Society Progress Medallist”. Photographic Canadiana, issue 32-1, dated May/June 2006 carries the story of this UK immigrant and his dark underside. The story is introduced by our late … Continue reading →

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a couple of bills …

Posted on May 27, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. I learnt a lot about my homeland from Bob Lansdale. Bob was devoted to promoting Canadian photographic inventions, studios, and photographers. When he stewarded our journal, Photographic Canadiana, he went the extra length to research and promote any and … Continue reading →

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multi-tasking over a century ago

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Around 1900, a rare Goerz combination camera/opera glass/field glass was sold. The gadget, made in Berlin by C P Goerz, was not very popular at the  time. Similar gadgets were created and sold both before and after. As opera/field … Continue reading →

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… or be square

Posted on May 23, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. From time to time, our late editor, Bob Lansdale, would come across an article in an exchange newsletter that he felt would complement our own journal. If approval of the author was given, Bob would consider printing the article. This … Continue reading →

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street-smart

Posted on May 22, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Street photographers were often in the cities flogging portraits taken of passers-by. The difficulty was the gap between taking the shot and having the finished print for the subjects before they changed their minds. Enter “The Thompson Combination Camera, … Continue reading →

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movie time

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Before TV became common place, the only means to view any news ‘videos’ was the “MovieTone News” – a short shown before the main feature in movie theatres. Such palaces seem a bit quaint today with huge high resolution … Continue reading →

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just right

Posted on May 20, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Remember the fairy tale, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”? Well, like the little heroine, photographers found the medium format cameras “Just Right” In issue 30-3 of our journal, the late Bill Belier did a short survey of the earlier … Continue reading →

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and a sida camera with that, please

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Robert

Toronto.  In the late 1930s, the ‘minicam’ revolution was well under way. The craze centred on cameras using 35mm ‘movie film’ or similar  sized paper backed roll film. An enlarger was a ‘must’ for even pocket sized prints. A small … Continue reading →

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powder … POOF!

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. The early light sensitive media were far too insensitive for dusk, night or  indoor shots (studios used long exposures, a means to hold the subject very still,  and large windows, ideally facing north, to let in copious amounts of … Continue reading →

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Triumph of the Image

Posted on May 14, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. My good friend, George Dunbar, recently dropped me a line mentioning a NY Times article about at a Museum in Belgium. The article, titled, “Triumph of the Image” is an archived writing by Luc Sante. George writes, ”  A … Continue reading →

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