rapide, Henri le Leica

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Robert

Bresson, courtesy of Casual Photophile

Toronto. My good friend, George Dunbar, discovered a very well illustrated  bio of that famous French street photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson.

George writes, ”  A wonderful bio of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s amazing career was published in 2014 (Henri Cartier-Bresson, Here and Now….by Clément Chéroux). The large, 400 page volume contains 500 illustrations, many of which have been published for the first time.

“Certainly, this book will please the many admirers of such a world-famous artist and photographer. Published in USA by Thames & Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110. Fortunately, this book is also available from the Toronto Public Library.

“Below, the cover and a couple of images with my caption that ambiguously refers to these photos as well as the photographer’s well-known talent. P.S. I hope there is no copyright problem here, since this is an educational message intended to promote the book’s readership.”

Note: The post title is a riff on an old ad, “Quick, Henry … the Flit” that offered a solution for those summertime pests, house flies and mosquitos.

Posted in book | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on rapide, Henri le Leica

first step to a finer picture …

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Robert

a Kodak ad from the May, 1946 Popular Mechanics magazine

Toronto. And you thought it was the photographer and his skill (or according to some naive people, the camera). But the FILM? Or the maker of the FILM? REALLY?

In a May, 1946 ad, Kodak assured all the wanna-be photographers that indeed it was not only the RIGHT film, but the RIGHT KODAK film that made all the difference! Sadly for Kodak but happily for the rest of us, it was the photographer and his skill set that made the difference, be he professional or a talented amateur!

A big thank you for our good friend, George Dunbar, who bravely shared this link from the days when Kodak was the mighty king of photography! Today, we have tons of smartphones, each with its own digital camera taking 1,000s of images with neither film nor discrete camera. Most of these images are taken by people who vaguely, if  at all, recall the impact of the once mighty Kodak organization on photography.

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on first step to a finer picture …

Bill struts his stuff

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Robert

Notman image, c1875-78. Montreal Harbour view from the Custom House

Toronto. Some members collect mostly images. And a very small number of those folk seek images for a select studio(s) or images using a specific process. George Dunbar came across this article called, “Photography in Canada” and thoughtfully shared it with us. As a growing nation dominated by two behemoths (first the UK and then the USA) there are all too few articles about Canadians in all walks of life.

Back to photography and image collecting. A popular set of studios were those of William Notman. Mr Notman was so diligent in recording his work that much of it is in a museum in Montreal (McCord Museum associated with McGill University) and readily available to scholars. From time to time we have had folks from the museum join us to talk about the holdings.

The particular image shown here is identified as, “From the Custom House, Montréal.    William Notman, circa 1875-78, albumen print showing Montreal at the end of the age of sail, when it was the hub of the Province of Canada’s economy. (courtesy NGC).”

I  found the dating rather odd, since the Province of Canada ceased to exist in 1867 when the Dominion of Canada was formed and the Province of Canada became Ontario (Upper Canada, Canada West) and Quebec (Lower Canada, Canada East). Montreal was indeed the ‘hub of the economy’ back then. An uncle on my wife’s side once said the age of sail continued to the end of the 1800s. His father (my wife’s grandfather) joined the British Navy and sailed on ”square riggers” in the late 1890s/early 1900s. Like many technological innovations changes in ship design began many decades earlier.

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Bill struts his stuff

lunch anyone?

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Robert

remains of a late 1920s DeVry ‘Lunchbox’ camera ‘on ice’ for 85 years. Courtesy of Leslie Hittmeier

Toronto. Our secretary, Louise Freyburger, was browsing the news Friday when she came across an article on CTV News about old cameras discovered recently  in a Yukon glacier in the KLUANE NATIONAL PARK AND RESERVE. 

A cache of equipment belonging to explorer Bradford Washburn, including three of his cameras, has been retrieved from a Yukon glacier after 85 years.

The cameras and other gear were left behind in early 1937 by legendary American mountaineer Bradford Washburn.

Searching for more information, she discovered an article on the subject at the CBC written a day later and titled, “Expedition finds cache of cameras on remote Yukon glacier, 85 years after mountaineer left them behind” by Ms April Hudson.

This is an exciting story involving glacier analysis, ice changes over time, and last minute discoveries. Both the CBC and the CTV articles are well worth a read, not just by us camera nuts, but by everyone! Well done Louise. Great diligence and detective work to seek out more articles. And anyone familiar with the DeVry name knows they were strongly involved in educational movie making and showing with both projectors and cameras.

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on lunch anyone?

Fred’s Back

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Robert

Boys on Shed, 1962 – Fred Herzog
Old Vancouver, characterized by wooden houses, was a favourite subject before it was swept away by developments in the 1970s

Toronto. Most places have their famous artists. In Vancouver’s case, it was photographer Fred Herzog who took street shots of that city in the last century. The Guardian featured Fred in an article titled, “Lost Vancouver – in pictures“.

The photo article begins, “From squats to shops selling logger boots, from clapped-out wooden houses to neon hotspots, photographer Fred Herzog blazed a trail for colour as he captured half a century of change in the Canadian metropolis.

When Fred died at 88 a few years back, I did this post. Fred’s street scenes bring back memories of our Pacific coast province and it’s largest city, Vancouver. My eldest and her family lived there for a few years before returning to Southern Ontario and ##$$%%^ snow – lots of snow.

My thanks to my good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for this trip down memory lane courtesy of The Guardian article.

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Fred’s Back

star struck

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Robert

diagram of world’s largest digital camera courtesy of CNET

Toronto. My friend Russ Forfar, up in the wilds around Tobermorray sent me this interesting link on CNET. The article titled, “Inside the World’s Largest Digital Camera” was written by Andy Altman on Oct. 23, 2022.Altman begins the article, “Scientists in Northern California are putting finishing touches on the world’s largest digital camera. They recently took off the lens cap and invited CNET to take a rare look inside.

“Engineers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have spent the last seven years building the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, or LSST, camera. The camera is the size of a small car and weighs about three tons, and at five feet across, the lens holds a Guinness World Record. Watch the embedded video to see our visit inside the clean room with the camera.” Watch the brief video in the above article – well worth the time.

The massive sensor is 3,200 megapixels! Far bigger than the sensors used on current smartphone cameras. It is wonderful to see the scientific community moving to large scale digital technology. When the Atlantic cable was rolled out mid last century, Bell used vacuum tube amplifiers rather than the relatively new transistors since vacuum tube the chronology was well understood, well tried, and well tested.

A tip of the winter cap goes to Russ for shearing this interesting article with us. NB. the digital camera is about the size of a car – unlikely to be used by the professional photographers. But, if it anything like computers, it should shrink to pocket size at a modest price by late this century :-).

Posted in camera | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on star struck

shining Leitz on the human condition

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Robert

Portugal, 1976. The silent operation of the Leica allowed Josef Koudelka to shoot unnoticed. This shot is taken from his book Exiles. Photograph: Josef Koudelka/Magnum Photos

Toronto. Before photography, we relied on paintings and sketches, like those of Hogarth in 18th century London, to depict the human condition. Later in the 19th century when photography found its legs, some enterprising photographers, like Mathew Brady  (American civil war wet plate photographer) and the FSA folk in the early 20th century who recorded the impact of the ‘dirty thirties’ added photography to the tools used to record the human condition.

This accelerated in the thirties and beyond when the minicam craze set in and small negatives became the predominant means to capture live events. At the high end, the Leica cameras (made by Leitz to keep its microscope and optical factory in operation through the depression), Contax (the reaction of Zeiss to the upstart Leitz), and the myriad of firms that merged to form Zeiss-Ikon (mid 1920s) established an era of photographers who could shoot photos on the run.

George Dunbar, in his pursuit of photographic history discovered this article in The Guardian written by John Naughton back on August 24th in 2014. Fortunately George shared the article with us.

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on shining Leitz on the human condition

candlelight’s no longer a pain

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Robert

Candlelight early 2011

Toronto. In the days of film, candlelight was so dim and the media so slow that only a tripod could keep the camera steady. Inanimate objects or perhaps adults could stay still enough but children and animals were utterly hopeless as subjects.

Fortunately we entered the digital era a few decades ago and suddenly between the much faster ISO sensors and optical stabilization technology, candlelight became a potential illumination source.

By this century, digital technology had improved so much that even hand held shots by candlelight became possible – like this example taken with a Sony mirrorless camera.

Note. The title of this post is a riff on Melanie’s c1970 album, “Candles in the Rain“, and her song, “Lay Down (also called Candles in the Rain)”.

Posted in processes | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on candlelight’s no longer a pain

all things to all people

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Robert

An all encompassing advertisement for Kodak of Rochester in late fall of 1951. Think Christmas. Think gifts.

Toronto. Mid last century we called Kodak, “The Great Yellow Father”. Kodak was everywhere. To think photography was to think Kodak. Sure other companies touted their photographic wares but Kodak was photography to so many of us.

The above advertisement from the December, 1951 issue of Popular Photography makes just such a point (thanks, George Dunbar). In my family anything photographic was Kodak – be it films, photos, or cameras.

Sadly, today Kodak, literally the creator of the digital era, is but a footnote in history. Kids with the ubiquitous smartphones are never without a camera – who cares the make – just snap and send – anywhere from storing in the camera’s memory to emailing to friends or relatives thousands of miles away. Kodak, we are so sad to see you fade away like a poorly fixed and washed print.

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on all things to all people

dialling for Dags

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Robert

A sample lot from the Oct 29, 2022 auction by the Daguerreian Society.

Toronto. Our friends to the south often hold fairs and auctions to market images from the beginnings of photography. They do a wonderful job for those enamoured with old photographs, especially Daguerreotypes.

Their annual is a massive soft cover book (hard cover for a premium) of manuscripts and photographs from the mid 1800s. Each annual is an education in itself. Many of our members are also members of “The Daguerreian Society“.

The society recently sent around an email announcing that their next auction is coming up fast. At the time I saw the email, it was, “T minus 7 days and counting!”

The email continued, “Have you checked out the more than 130 lots of fantastic images and other items that will be offered in our annual Benefit Auction on Saturday, Oct. 29, starting at 9:30 pm ET?

“Bidding will be in person at Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel for DS Symposium attendees and online through LiveAuctioneers and Cowan’s Auctions, which is generously waiving its platform fees.

“Thirty percent of the proceeds will go to The Daguerreian Society, helping fund website improvements and programming, among other operating expenses. ”

Then the coordinators suggested, “To see the full catalog on Cowan’s (20% buyer’s premium), click here; to see it on LiveAuctioneers (25% buyer’s premium), click here.

This another chance to add to your collect (live if you are in Chicago for the symposium) or from the comfort of your home. …

Note: The title of this post is a riff on a line from an old Janis Joplin tune, “Mercedes Benz“. I first heard this c1970 song on one my CDs titled, “Pearl” which was said to be the late singer’s middle name.

Posted in activities-other | Tagged , , | Comments Off on dialling for Dags