send in the cameras …

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Robert

Kiev camera from earlier auction

Toronto. … never mind, they are here! At our Saturday, December 17th 2022 auction, of course. We are pleased to announce the live estate-only PHSC auction at the Legion Hall, Branch #101 just west of Brown’s line on the Lake Shore Blvd in Long Branch (Toronto).

Typical lots will be like the Kiev at left which was sold at a 2018 auction. We can’t be sure whether a Kiev or Contax will show up on the 17th, but there will be many desirable items in the lots going under the hammer.

Come on down and take a break from all that Christmas shopping. Enjoy yourself and reacquaint with old friends. And you may even win a bid for a new item for your collection or user gear. We will be posting lot photos as soon as they become available for display.

Note. The title here is a riff on that haunting and poignant 1975 Stephen Sondheim song as sung by Judy Collins, “Send in the Clowns“.

 

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and where will you be on December 17th?

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Our next auction is Saturday, December 17, 2022 at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall #101 on Lake Shore Boulevard West in Long Branch (South West Toronto). Pictures of sample lots will be posted as available.

PHSC auction DECEMBER 17, 2022

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the importance of being fixed

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Robert

example of a photogram from Britain.co.uk

Toronto. By 1802, the sensitivity of silver halides to light was known in scientific circles. Thomas Wedgwood managed to make ‘photograms‘ – silhouettes on leather but could not make the photograms permanent. The delicate images – even kept in darkness – slowly turned completely black.

The first successful photographic processes by camera  were announced in January, 1839 after it was discovered that a mild salt solution could ‘fix’ images and prevent them from turning black over time.

In 1840 Hippolyte Bayard, suggested that a solution of hyposulfite could act as a better fixer bath. The term ‘hypo’ remains in the lexicon today as a name for the fixer bath in film photography (even though the actual chemical turned out not to be hyposulfite).

Basically, the developer solution turns light exposed silver halides (clear) to metallic silver (black). The fixer solution is CRITICAL. It removes all the remaining silver halides so they cannot turn to black metallic silver. A good wash removes the now released halides and other chemicals from the film or paper.

Note. The title of this post is a riff on the name of Oscar Wilde’s play, “The Importance of Being Earnest“.

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disappearing heirlooms

Posted on November 24, 2022 by Robert

My father on a bike, c1925

Toronto. We have all seen Victorian Photo Albums chock full of CDVs etc. at fairs, auctions, and sometimes used goods stores. The albums came along around the mid 1800s when cheap CDVs became available and a place to store and view the photos was needed. Nowadays they are rich fodder for collectors and historians.

As time passed, less expensive albums came to market with black pages and special ‘lick and stick’ tabs to anchor the corners of the prints. My grandmother carefully selected images from her box camera and added them to such an album in date order making her album a family heirloom.

Others used shoe boxes or other small boxes to hold special photo prints such as the one at left. In the mid last century so called ‘magnetic’ albums became popular. Sticky strips on a thick white page were covered by clear plastic sheets which were pulled up to add prints. Very convenient but not so good for the prints.

After the magnetic albums ran their course, the idea of a photograph album faded. Today most photos are images on a computer or smartphone. Really convenient to view, send and store. A much faster search can be done using EXIF, etc. data.

But what happens when you move on or the format changes or viewers change or software changes (or you simply shed this ‘mortal coil’)? Disappearing Heirlooms indeed …

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celebrity endorsements

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Robert

1963 ad using celebrities to endorse a camera – in this case a Miranda 35mm SLR

Toronto. In the early days of minicams, makers used explorers and others who demanded perfection under extreme conditions. Post war. celebrities became popular in ads as if they used the cameras shown. Naive folk seeing the ad might choose a film camera based on ‘celebrity’ use.

Typical ads are like the ones used by Miranda – a middle range 35mm film camera using lenses made by others. At left, this 1963 ad announces “Miranda goes Hollywood” featuring a shot from the latest Gidget movie, “Gidget Goes to Rome”. From my magazine reading days, I remember one such Miranda ad featuring Jerry Lewis as the celebrity.

Like so many Japanese film cameras, the Miranda couldn’t keep up with the advancements of the competition and eventually disappeared. The name itself was sold a few times so non-camera ‘Miranda’ items may still exist. And film? It too disappeared into the mists of history, aside from the small band of current enthusiasts who appreciate the look of ‘analogue’ photos.

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before TV; before video;

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Robert

a late 1947 ad for Revere 8mm home movie technology

Toronto. … we had home movies. Originally 16mm, during the depression Kodak began selling 8mm versions and post war in a scramble to expand market size and improve image quality, Kodak moved to ‘Super 8’. In the late 1930s, Kodachrome first became available as home movie film, allowing all home movie buffs to shoot in colour.

The December, 1947 advertisement shows a colour 8mm home movie being enjoyed by all. From my point of view, few ‘amateurs’ took the time to script and edit home movies. Such movies became instead a valuable historical record of family life, primarily of scenes and people – of interest only to immediate family members. Today, some historians are beginning to see their value in tracking trends and changes to the way we live.

TV came along after WW2 – after 1952 up here in the great white north. And stills reigned supreme. Then videos became standard fare with the advent of digital technology, Youtube, and smartphones. Today most of us prefer video guides over text and stills as tools to learn new software, do it yourself repairs, gardening, crafts and anything else that needs learning before we succeed at hands on.

The ad used here is courtesy of our good friend (and retired professional videographer), George Dunbar.

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days of war surplus photo supplies and gear

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Robert

1947 Ad for a bargain 16mm
Lektro Jr camera

Toronto. Some of us may remember the days when the local war surplus store had stocks of photo paper, film, chemicals, equipment, etc. at big discounts since the cost was already paid once by tax dollars.

This November, 1947 American ad is for a Lektro Jr 16mm movie camera ($59.95US – cost new over $200.00US) and cheap  Super-X B&W movie film with processing.

Ironically, the American Surplus store was called ‘Fotoshop’… An interesting choice of name for the business – and prophetic – Adobe ‘Photoshop’ software (Mac only) came to market in 1990 a bit over 40 years later.

In the day, I visited surplus shops in Toronto, mainly Hercules on Yonge above Wellesley. Film and paper were my main buys. I still remember the Kodak paper. It came in large rolls about 5-1/2 inches wide and could be cut to size.

Once again, a thanks to my good friend, George Dunbar, for discovering and sharing this record of photographic history going back to the post war era.

 

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a beacon in the dark

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Robert

Nov 1947 ad for Beacon Camera

Toronto. Another American company, Whitehouse Products, in Brooklyn took a shot at the American photography market with its cheap plastic camera, the Beacon.

The Beacon was simply a box camera tarted up like a minicam. It retailed for about 8 years as the Beacon and Beacon II. The specifications suggest it was like Kodak’s Baby Brownie which at least was box-like in shape and sold as a simple box camera.

A lot of different plastic camera models came on market after WW2 but all sank out of sight over a short time as German and then Japanese firms wiped out the aspirations of American camera makers, except models from the mighty Kodak Company.

As you can see in this ad, even a ‘simulated leather case’ was offered – just like the minicams had. Yes, it may have looked like a minicam but at heart it was just a simple box camera – and half frame at that.

I owe a big thanks once again to my good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for finding and sharing this bit of photographic history. By the way, coloured versions went for far more than the plain black models according to McKeown’s 11th editon price guide from 2001/2.

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what goes around …

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Robert

Christopher Creighton and his cameras, shown holding a Kodak #4 panorama camera recently obtained from our past president, Les Jones

Toronto. … comes around. The cirkut cameras must be very attractive to collectors – I have about 10 posts on them. Wednesday, November 16th, we had an interesting presentation on Cirkut and Panoramic cameras and Cirkut kits by Christopher Creighton.

Chris is a practical USER of the cameras, not a collector as such. Lacking a technical background, he relies on the tried and true technique of experimentation until excellent results are obtained.

I learned a lot from Mr Creighton’s talk and the subsequent Q&A session. For example using the black PVC pipes for development tubes; three right angle elbows make a tube light tight; night vision glasses let you load film in complete dark; BUT the glasses must use illumination BELOW the sensitivity curve of the film (many films are IR sensitive); Cirkut cameras have an adjustment for the slit (amount of exposure) on the back; a kit lets you use the camera as a regular camera in the studio by swapping backs and removing the geared tripod assembly; the number and model numbers of the many cameras offered by Kodak; what models were preferred here and in the USA by photographers.

Chris displayed cutting jigs, how to join end papers in the dark,  where to source materials, etc. We hope to have the presentation up on our youtube channel soon for easy access from this web site.

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Larry Towell Book Signing: November 26th, 2022, 2-5pm

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Robert

Mennonite children at play – by Larry Towell. Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

Toronto. The Stephen Bulger Gallery announces a book signing by Canadian photographer and author, Larry Towell on the 26th of this month. Anyone around the GTHA on the 26th should drop by Stephen’s gallery in Toronto and meet photographer Larry Towell. Any PHSC member who visited the AGO and its photography collection pre COVID most likely saw Towell’s work on display.

The gallery writes, “The Stephen Bulger Gallery is pleased to present a book signing with Larry Towell in the Reading Room gallery, with a selection of works on display. The event will honour the release of the second, revised edition of his celebrated book The Mennonites (GOST Books, 2022).

“Larry Towell photographed the Old Colony Mennonites in rural Ontario and Mexico between 1990 and 1999. The resulting black and white photographs—accompanied by an extensive text drawn from diary notes and ‘the silt of the memory’—formed Towell’s landmark book, The Mennonites, first published in 2000. This revised and updated second edition revisits the project and includes 40 previously unpublished photographs.

“A Selection of books by Towell will be available for purchase including Afghanistan (Aperture, 2014), and The World from my Front Porch (Stephen Bulger Gallery and The Archive of Modern Conflict, 2008).”

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