dying, dying, dying

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Robert

1880s or 1890s cabinet card of four children. Highlights are washed out now.

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 late editor Bob Lansdale was partial to CdVs and other cards where the photograph was made with the carbon process. Carbon process prints do not fade over time.

The cabinet card shown here was printed c1885 in Harriston, Ontario (about an hour north-west of Toronto). While the glass plate in the studio may have been correctly exposed, developed,  and printed, today it shows washed-out highlights. If the subjects survived the vicissitudes of childhood and early youth and married, they could be the great- or great-great-grandparents of today’s people.

Visit one of our events and you just may find a photo – cased, carded, mounted or bare – to add to your collection. PS. Visit the auction at the end of this month, and our spring photographica-fair next month (May 28th – see our website’s right hand side bar).

Note: The title of this post is part of a line from Tennyson’s poem, “Blow, Bugle, Blow“. This is a favourite poem of mine, along with his poem “The Lady of Shallot”. Both were memorized about 75 years ago in grade school. As children, we memorized poems but were too young to do any proper analysis.

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what a bargain!

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Robert

1952 ad for the Graflex Ciro 35 camera

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 Kodak.

My good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, sent me this interesting link to a Graflex ad in Popular Mechanics (May 1952 issue).

Post war, Graflex added the Ciro camera line to attract ‘modern’ customers who viewed the large traditional Graflex cameras as old fashioned vs the  more modern designs that used 120 or 135 roll film.

The Ciro 35 line was touted as a bargain at ‘under $50’.  In this way Graflex was suggesting an aspiring amateur could get a better deal by buying a home grown camera. All too soon, the more serious amateur would turn to interchangeable lenses or add-on lens elements to make his camera more flexible – features not offered in 1952 by the Ciro line.

 

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fuzzy girl

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Robert

portrait taken with a Thambar 9cm lens and screw-mount Leica

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 art, including using a soft focus approach.

By the time Leitz retailed its Thambar lens, the fad was almost over. A few of the lens were made during and after WW2, but the total Thambars made was less than 3,000. The lens used uncorrected peripheral rays to create the out of focus look. Stopping down sharpened the image. A special silver central spot filter blocked out the sharper central rays. Unfortunately, use demanded varying the aperture, the scene, and the special filter making it difficult to take a great shot.

I bought my lens used at Downtown camera who sell one today (by special order and with a bayonet mount rather than the old screw mount).

While the Thambar was a failure in sales, it is in high demand by collectors of Leica lenses. You can see in my photograph that the lens focussed on the edge of the chair, not the child’s face as intended. An interesting lens, but hard to use. It was brought back briefly in a bayonet mount and very high price.

Note: The post title is a riff on “Funny Girl“, a story about Fanny Brice that was offered in various ways (stage, movie, musical, etc.). Here is Barbra Streisand singing the namesake title song, “Funny Girl“.

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come a little bit closer

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Robert

Mallard duck taken with a Tele-Arton lens and SONY NEX-5

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 to mimic a closer shot.

While today we are accustomed to using zooms rather than prime lenses, it wasn’t always the case. For many years after their introduction zooms suffered from short variations in focal lengths, high cost and geometric distortion. As a result prime lenses of long focus or telephoto design were quite common.

Around 1985, I bought a Tele-Arton  f/5.6 240mm Schneider lens. The screw mount lens (mis-engraved as ‘Arlon’) attaches to a Leitz Bellow II. The previous owner, Jim McKeen sold it to me at one of our Photographica Fairs. Jim was from Hamilton and had a hardware store in that city. His passion was birding and he once used the lightweight lens to capture images of birds in the area.

I took this shot years later with a mirrorless digital camera and conversion ring. The equivalent focal length is about 360mm. The original  image is very crisp, and in good focus and contrast (coated lens elements). Compared to a standard lens of 50mm, I can get an image that appears to be about seven times closer.

If you would like a Tele-Arton  or another tele-lens for use or your collection, you may find it at one of our events this year – dates and places are shown in the right hand side bar. The most current coming event is our April 30th Spring Auction.

Note: the title of this post is a 1964 song made popular by Jay and the Americans who sing it here.

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feeling blue

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Robert

Arthur Dow’s cyanotype of the Ipswich, Mass. river curtesy of ‘The Local News (Ipswich)

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 for the many workers on a project. Blue prints are also easy to spot with their white lines on a blue background.

My good friend George Dunbar writes, “For anyone interested in American art, especially cyanotypes … Three cyanotypes are displayed in this art review by my writer friend, Bob Waite.” With this message is a column in Massachusetts area’s ‘The Local News‘ by Bob Waite called, “ARTHUR WESLEY DOW WOWS THEM IN ST. PETE“.

Read the column ands learn more about the late Art Dow of Ipswich and his work as an artist, and photographer, etc.

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Chiyoda edition film camera announced

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Robert

Lomography’s latest camera (film)

Toronto. Lomography is a familiar name to all film buffs in this time of digital technology. Birgit Bucharest sent the PHSC a note the other day announcing Lomography’s latest film camera, the ‘LomoApparat Chiyoda Edition’ shown here.

To reserve your camera (out in June/July) visit the Canadian Lomography store here. If you are in the States, the site will offer to switch you down there in the land of US Dollars.

Notice the background? Japanese Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom. My neighbour has had one for years and I noticed it is blossoming. In fact, Toronto’s High Park is well known for its many Cherry Blossom trees – all beginning to show their splendour with the beautiful pink blossoms that announce spring!

 

 

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sky high

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Robert

Six Glaciers in Alberta behind Lake Louise. Taken about two decades ago with a Leica M4

Toronto. In the early days of minicam photography, mountain scenery was thought to be popular with travellers. Companies like Leitz made special lenses to use in the mountains with their cameras.

The lens designs put lighter weight over aperture (usually a smaller maximum aperture  as mountains had an abundance of light). Focal lengths were likely medium telephoto.

Slower and shorter focal length lenses were already available and relatively light. For example, the 5cm Elmar (joined a few years later (1935) by the 3.5cm Elmar and 2.8cm Hektor).

A typical special design for travellers was the 105mm f/6.3 ‘Mountain Elmar’.  While not especially successful when first offered (only about 4,000 ever made – 1932 to 1937), it is now desirable to collectors.

In the haze of the above photograph is Abbott pass – location of the first recorded fatality from mountain climbing in Canada. On the climb down, my daughter and I dropped in at the nearby Tea House for refreshments.

I took the photo  twenty years ago probably with a Canadian designed and manufactured 35mm Summicron lens. I used ASA 800 Kodak negative colour film.

 

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faking it

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Robert

THE ELECTRICIAN by eldagsen (Berlin) courtesy of PetaPixel.

Toronto. Les Jones sent me an email the other day about Berlin-based “photomedia artist” Boris Eldagsen. Boris won one of the prestigious World Photography Organization’s Sony World Photography Awards with his photograph called “THE ELECTRICIAN” from his series “PSEUDOMNESIA Fake Memories“.

Boris DECLINED the prize. He explained that while the photograph appears to use an old photography technique, it was actually ‘co-produced’ with the aid of AI (artificial intelligence) image generators.

We once said ‘a camera doesn’t lie’ – not any more! The more tech-savvy folk amongst us realize that ‘AI image generators’ are the buzz words of today. About 40 years ago, computers were just too slow and memory too small to run any serious AI app. Today, this is simply not the case. Even my desktop setup has more capacity than an entire data centre back in the 1980s!

You can read the full article titled,”Artist Refuses Prize After His AI Image Wins at Top Photo Contest” here or on PetaPixel.

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dance with me, Henry

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Robert

world’s largest dance hall in 1914 on Bois Blanc (White Wood) Island in Ontario

Toronto. You may be surprised that in 1914, the world’s largest dance hall was in Canada! The island,  a popular resort today, is a bit south of Windsor, Ontario.

This photo and the related story were discovered by my good friend and fellow photo-historian, George Dunbar. George writes, “I’d never before heard of this, the World’s Largest Dance Hall.”. More information and photos are here on the Canadian Geographic web site.

The title for this post is a 1955 song sung here by Georgia Gibbs. I can remember listening to the catchy tune on our old kitchen radio back then.

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not all bees buzz …

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Robert

Wood Bee in c1899 by F B Jones courtesy of the Cramahe Twp. Public  Library

Toronto. My good friend, George Dunbar, sent over this century plus photo with the following words, “This image was published in How Firm a Foundation: A History of the Township of Cramahe and the Village of Colborne in Cramahe’s Digital Archives (3bk), p.114. The caption reads: ‘Wood bee at Salem, 1899’.

“In early settlement days, neighbours often got together to help one another with big projects. These lumbermen were photographed by Dominion Photo and View Co. of Brighton, F.B. Jones, photographer. —Cramahe Township Public Library”

I am familiar with rural community ‘bees’ from readings as a kid. An aunt and uncle on a farm brought in the wheat one year during my visit with my parents. They used machines jointly paid for by them and neighbouring farmers who pitched in at each farm to help with the labour. Team effort! As a small-town kid, I was fascinated just watching the work.

Note: For those unfamiliar with Cramahe Township, here is the location courtesy of Google’s map feature. It sits between the eastern end of Rice Lake and Lake Ontario near Colborne (west)and Brighton (east).

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