Category Archives: history

a list of firsts

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. When first announced few photographs were readily available. In short order however, the number of photographs (and photographers) mushroomed as the new phenomena sped ’round the world. Today, we see literally millions of photographs. Some History of Photography books … Continue reading →

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photo history in a nutshell

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Since the previous post discussed digital photographic history, I thought this post could look at analogue photographic history. A brief condensed version was written last century by two folks – Valentino Serra (Photographic Illustrator), and Beaumont Newhall (Curator at … Continue reading →

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the start of it all

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. And by all, we mean digital photography, not the 1839 analogue photography (metal, glass, film, paper plus liquid solutions). When radio and electronics began early last century, vacuum tubes did not exist. A few years later, on into the … Continue reading →

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who is this guy, anyway?

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Over the years we have had many studios and photographers in Canada. It takes a lot of digging to unearth facts today like location of studio, kinds of photos, personal history, etc. Some large and well known studios like … Continue reading →

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squaring the circle

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. When collectors think of TLR design, they usually think ‘Rollei’. Other firms also made cameras in the TLR design. Most of these cameras seem to follow Rollei in general layout and style. To hop on the minicam bandwagon, the … Continue reading →

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dying, dying, dying

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Members of the PHSC (and most other readers of this site) collect cameras and/or photos. A few collectors even specialize in photographs. Some are eclectic, some collect by kind, some collect by subject, some collect by process, etc. Our … Continue reading →

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what a bargain!

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. I’ve noticed over the years that in every industry larger companies buy up smaller ones for a variety of reasons – features, expanded territory, potential, etc. The photographic industry was/is no different as attested by the early years of … Continue reading →

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fuzzy girl

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Like all hobbies and professions, photography had fads from time to time. The late part of the 18oos and earlier part of last century, pictorialism took over for a time. Proponents of pictorialism used photography as a basis for … Continue reading →

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come a little bit closer

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Sometimes when we see a shot, a closer view crops out extraneous stuff while keeping the subject still and in focus. Instead of moving closer (possibly frightening the subject), we can use a zoom lens at the tele end … Continue reading →

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feeling blue

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. There are a number of 1800s photographic print processes. One is obvious even to the uninitiated. Cyanotypes can be recognized by their tell-tale blue shades. A more modern equivalent is last century’s ‘blue prints’ offering electrical, architectural, etc. data … Continue reading →

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