Wilhelm Willi Eduard Nassau 1922 2022

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Robert

Wilhelm-Willi-Eduard-Nassau-1922-2022

Toronto. I was sorry to hear that a good friend and member of the PHSC passed away a few days ago. Willi was a charter member of our society, having joined in its first year. I learned about his passing in an email from his wife, Hermine. Going online, the following obituary of Mr Nassau was found and is repeated here courtesy of  Nécrologie Canada who in turn used the wording posted by Erb  & Good.

“Passed away peacefully at home in his 100th year on February 6th, 2022 surrounded by his wife, Hermine of 55 years and family. Willi will be deeply missed by Hermine, brother-in-law Josef Seidl, nephews Paul Seidl (Monique), Christopher Seidl (Diana) and son William and daughter Sara, as well as relatives and friends in Austria.

“Willi was born in Vienna where he received his early education. He then studied Fine Arts and Graphic Technology and worked in Photography, Film and Television. In 1959, Willi came to Canada. He worked for CBC and CTV in Ottawa before Willi arrived in Kitchener-Waterloo. He was the founder of the audio-visual department at WLU, then Waterloo Lutheran University, where he also taught photography and film related courses. After his retirement in 1988, Willi volunteered for over 20 years at The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. As a result of various projects with museums, WLU awarded Willi the distinction of Dr. honoris causa in 1991.

“Willi had many passions, photography being one of them, which was also his profession, as well as history of Roman and pre-Roman Glass. Willi had a lifelong desire to learn and as a hobby enjoyed building a model railroad based on the steam train period of the Austrian Railroad system.

“We [his family] would like to thank Parish nurse Christine Ramseyer, for her unlimited support and care, as well as our friends and neighbours for their tremendous support.
To attend the visitation and service, personal face coverings are required, and relatives and friends must RSVP at www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445. Visitation will be held at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo on Tuesday, February 15th from 2 – 4p.m. The funeral service will take place in the funeral home chapel on Wednesday, February 16th at 10 a.m. with interment following at Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo.

“For those unable to attend, a livestream will be available at www.erbgood.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or Mount Zion Lutheran Church, Waterloo and can be arranged though the funeral home.”

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PHSC News newsletter for February 2022

Posted on February 12, 2022 by Robert

Kiev 88 – a poor man’s Hasselblad (warts and all)

Toronto. The Kiev 88 shown here is from the right top of page 1 in this month’s PHSC News newsletter. This rather poor copy of a Hasselblad was favoured byHelena Mayans who is featured on page 1.

Well, here we are in February, 2022. The local TV news reports that the omicron variant of COVID has finally crested here in Canada.  The number of COVID cases is falling now,  somewhat eased by our vaccination levels. Helping this high level of vaccinations is a close adherence to common sense guidelines by most of us.

Meantime, our editor, Sonja, and team have produced another thoughtful issue of PHSC News for you.  PHSC News (21-08) has the usual bunch of articles to tempt your fancy – short, crisp, and ripe for argument. Take a few moments and read them and feel inspired (or irritated) once again.

The “Chrome” on page 1 under “Ode to CHROME”refers to colour film by Lomography used by Helena Mayans. Page 2 in “PHSC PRESENTS (virtually)” discusses “Does Equipment Make the Movie“. NB. DON’T MISS THE YOUTUBE LINK – IT”S AN EYE OPENER! Page 3, under NEO PHOTOGRAPHY posits “Reconfiguring the Absurd for Future Photographers“. PHOTOBOOK 101 on page 4, speaks of, “Iconic Photography that Hasn’t Changed America”; while page 5 in THE OTTAWA FILE offers an editorial on the OTTAWA situation with the blockade/seige. In David’s EQUIPMENT REVIEW (always upbeat and cheeky) Classic Nikons are evaluated. John Morden’s thoughtful selection of WEB LINKS on page 7 are all worth a visit (the links are live, no need to ‘cut and paste’).

Page 8 as usual features the poster for our speaker event via ZOOM. This time it’s Dr Christine Slobogin speaking on Percy Hennell’s 1940s photographs (medical humanities). And our friends Ivy & Izzy, on page 9, are “Reflecting on the Meaning of an Original that Isn’t“. We wrap up this issue on page 10 with John’s compilation of shows, events, and exhibitions of interest to collectors/photographers everywhere.

P.S. As usual, every link shown in the newsletter is a hot link just waiting for your click!

P.P.S. You can visit this issue by clicking here, or by g0ing to the menu item NEWSLETTER at the top of the page. There is a drop down menu that takes you to older issues dating back a couple of decades to the very beginning.

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photographic ideas that fizzled

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Robert

no darkroom needed?

Toronto. In 1939, some people disliked photographic darkrooms because they were ummm – dark. So somebody came up with contact print paper with a built-in orange filter and a special ‘flexible frame’. As a filler, Popular Mechanics published a small article touting the use of this special photographic paper which could be exposed and developed in a room illuminated by an unfiltered 100 watt light.

Great idea once again, but with very poor timing. Two or three unfortunate factors: It was just before WW2 broke out. It was a few years after the minicam craze made enlargers de rigueur and contact paper barely an after thought. And a built-in safelight filter must have made the paper a bit more expensive, plus the cost of the special frame, not to mention a fixed print size – and no cropping post camera!

As is often the case we must thank my good friend and photo historian, George Dunbar,  for discovering this hopeful little article buried in a February, 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics. Thanks, George.

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February 16, 2022 Presentation via ZOOM

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Robert

Join us at 8pm on the 16th of February via ZOOM to see and hear Dr Slobogin on “Percy Hennell’s Surgical and Nationalist Colour Photography, 1940-1948”. The poster below was designed for our February PHSC News. It states, “Dr Slobogin showcases the nationalist fervour and anxieties that dominated the consciousness of an English wartime population through the works of British photographer Percy Hennell. Relationships between Hennell’s seemingly disparate projects of reconstructive surgery, homeworkers assigned to military positions and the centrality of the farmhouse in the war effort reveal key aspects of the role of photographic propaganda during World War II.”

Register and see more about the event on EventBrite here. Problems or questions, email our programme coordinator at program@phsc.ca.

Dr Slobogin on Nationalist Colour Photography

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more than skin-deep

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Robert

getting a chest x-ray in 1939

Toronto. Do you remember when you had an annual chest x-ray to detect TB? No? You must be a lot younger than me! This Popular Mechanics article from the January, 1939 issue shows how Westinghouse made an ‘electronic flash’ gizmo to take X-rays in a fraction of a second to avoid unintended movement.

I remember getting an annual x-ray after WW2 when just a little kid. A photograph depicts the x-ray system in action. I can still remember pressing my little chest against the film plate like the girl in this photo.

Thank you to my good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar for sharing this interesting article about chest x-rays before WW2. It brought back some more memories of days long past.

The title is a play on an old saying, “Beauty is only skin-deep” which implied that a person’s personality is more important his/her looks.

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not all brownies are edible

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Robert

Cover of a 1902 patent by Frank Brownell

Toronto. My mom used to make delicious brownies – deep brown and chocolaty like a very dense chocolate cake. Sometimes she would add walnut pieces too! In the late 1800s, Quebec-born Palmer Cox created the Brownies to  illustrate his Brownie stories. Canadian-born Frank Brownell had a camera factory in Rochester making well constructed but inexpensive cameras. Kodak bought his talent and production to create many cameras, including the inexpensive line of Kodak Brownie cameras. And in 1902 Kodak bought Brownell’s factory and hired him to continue running it and designing cameras.

In March of 2007, Wayne Morgan spoke to us on “Palmer Cox, The Brownie Craze, and the Brownie Camera“. Many thought the name Brownie came from Frank Brownell making the famous little cameras, but it was a name created by Palmer Cox. Cox was born near Granby, Quebec, emigrated to the States, and as an older man returned to spend his last years in Granby.

My thanks to good friend and photo historian, George Dunbar, for suggesting this idea to me – and the idea of browsing the US Patent Office (USPTO) for photographic insights from the days when ideas were patented for protection. Try to  find patent No. 691,592 for starters.

 

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we have a winner!

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Robert

Univex 8mm Movie Camera

Toronto. Sometimes a low price and great hype pay off. This combo paid off in spades for the Universal Camera Corporation in the late 1930s through the very early 1950s when its Univex 8mm movie cameras introduced a huge number of snap-shooters to the world of amateur movie making.

You can read more about the camera here (be careful dodging the ads). The tiny image of a Univex 8mm  camera is also courtesy of Mike Eckman. Take some time to browse his site!

The ad itself is courtesy of my good friend just east of here, George Dunbar. It is from the January, 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine.

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around the world in 80 photographs

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Robert

He Stokes The Fire Showering Her With Sparks, 2020 © Rita Leistner and Don McKellar / courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery

Toronto. Stephen Bulger Gallery has announced its 2022 calendar of exhibits, the first being “WANDERLUST” or “Around the World in 80 Photographs” featuring a number of artists and running from January 29 to February 26 of this year. At one time Stephen was a member of the PHSC. His gallery is located here in Toronto.

COVID-19 rules are listed on Stephen’s website and follow the current guidelines for the city and province.

Speaking of COVID, if you wondered how Pfizer and Moderna vaccines work, or how such a vaccine could get on the market so fast read “The Code Breaker” by Walter Isaacson which is about Dr Jennifer Doudna and her contemporaries and the discovery of CRISPR and a few similar techniques to ‘splice’ humans genes. The discoveries led to collaboration and ways to test and protect against this nasty disease.

 

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an article with a view (master)

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Robert

Article for the revolutionary
View-Master in early 1941

Toronto.  Over time, stereo has popped up as a fad – as photo cards in the late 1890s, as cameras in the 1950s, as movies, as TVs and in 1939 as a child’s toy called a View-Master. This wonderful toy took advantage of Kodachrome, the recently invented and marketed ‘wunderkind’ of colour films first for 16mm movies, and then 35mm films and then even larger films. The idea of seven stereo images on one compact reel caught on and the toy grew in popularity over the years.

In September of 2006, we were treated to a presentation on, “The History of View-Master” by a couple famous for their collection of view-master products – Mary Ann and Wolfgang Sell.   It was a wonderful night, especially as both me and my wife had View-Masters as children (I still have hers).

A grateful thank you to good friend and fellow collector, George Dunbar, for sharing this article from the March 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine. The article shows the original View-Master. It brought back many pleasant memories to me.

Note. The title of this post is a riff on the Noel Coward song, “A Room with a View” from the 1928 London review called, “This Year of Grace“. I have a record of Noel Coward singing at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas many years ago (including this song).

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23 skid-ZOOM

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Well our  twenty-third executive meeting via ZOOM was held last Wednesday and we did decide a few things of note: Most importantly, our spring fair location will be taken over by Elections Ontario for 2022 so we are busy sourcing an alternative locale (or date).

Our FEBRUARY presentation with Dr Christine Slobogin on the 16th will continue as planned – see this month’s PHSC News (or a later post)  for details. Also for the first time since our inception, we will be taking a MARCH  BREAK – no presentation in March. Further, our April meeting via ZOOM will be the LAST FRIDAY of the month (April 29th). It will be a very big affair jointly hosted by the European Society for the History of Photography (ESHPh) and ourselves. Our president, Clint Hryhorijiw, will be one of the three moderators while our programme director, Celio Barreto, will operate behind the scenes. More information to follow in the next two months.

Finally, a big change is the decision to make our membership year from January 1st to December 31st effective immediately. This means memberships ending April 30th of 2022 will be extended to December 31, 2022.

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