Category Archives: history

… 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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you’re stringing me on …

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. … a comment that may have entered the mind of an 1888 photographer seeing Eastman’s ad for his new camera. Before the Kodak was offered, cameras were mainly large, heavy devices that took only a few shots at most. … Continue reading →

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wild blue yonder

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Even before airplanes, photographers took aerial shots. Hot air balloons were the basis for the first aerial shots. Perhaps Nadar was the most famous hot air balloon photographer, taking photos shortly after the art was invented. When airplanes began … Continue reading →

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smoke and mirrors …

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. The Young-Helmholtz  theory of colour with three different wavelengths of rays in various combinations became the standard means to create colour images – even today in the digital world. Different camera designs were touted to place the three unique … Continue reading →

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