Toronto. Well thank god 2020 is over! What miserable year it was too! Let’s hope 2021 will be far better and let us get back to normal again by summer! All the best for 2021 from the Photographic Historical Society of Canada (PHSC), its members, and its executive (those worthy folk who bring you all the benefits and are totally volunteers).
all the best in 2021 – both images courtesy of Amazon
Days in the Sun by Regina Volkenborgh of the UK
Toronto. … as my mother used to say when she felt that I was dragging my heels. But sometimes taking your time is beneficial. Photographic media are sensitive to the volume of visible light hitting the sensitive surface. Traditionally two means were offered to control this volume: a shutter to determine its duration, and an aperture to set the amount of light hitting the media per unit of time.
The very simplest cameras were pinhole cameras – a fine pin hole for a lens and a piece of sensitive media, all in a light tight container. Photographer Regina Valkenborgh recorded the above photo in 2012. She calls it “Days in the Sun”. Regina used a beer can pinhole camera exposing directly on photographic paper for SIX MONTHS!
NASA accompanies the photo in its “Astronomy Picture of the Day” column with, “From solstice to solstice, this six month long exposure compresses time from the 21st of June till the 21st of December, 2011, into a single point of view. Dubbed a solargraph, the unconventional picture was recorded with a pinhole camera made from a drink can lined with a piece of photographic paper.
“Fixed to a single spot for the entire exposure, the simple camera continuously records the Sun’s path each day as a glowing trail burned into the photosensitive paper. In this case, the spot was chosen to look out over the domes and radio telescope of the University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory. Dark gaps in the daily arcs are caused by cloud cover, whereas continuous bright tracks record glorious spells of sunny weather.
“Of course, in June, the Sun trails begin higher at the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice. The trails sink lower in the sky as December’s winter solstice approaches. Last year’s autumn was one of the balmiest on record in the UK, as the many bright arcs in the lower part of this picture testify.”
Victorian photo broach discovered in a field near Oswestry, UK
Toronto. You may think metal detectors and photography have little in common but sometimes they do! When I was young, I saw pictures of people using war surplus metal detectors to find “buried treasure” – usually a few coins and lots of junk.
Today, in the UK it is a hobby. So called “detectorists” search local fields for signs of lost civilizations. There is even a TV show (a comedy) on the art and its discoveries. Last fall, a hobbyist discovered an old Victorian broach and enclosed photo buried in a field in Oswestry. He posted an image of his find on social media, and to his delight, found out the name of the lady whose photo graced the broach.
The details are shown here. A big thank you to my friend and fellow PHSC member Celio Barreto. Celio handles our Toronto programme, Instagram account, and coordinates all ZOOM meetings while being a full time instructor at Seneca College in Toronto.
Ad in Nov 1928 issue of S&I magazine
Toronto. In the roaring twenties, a century ago, movies were all the rage. As a result, “get rich quick” ads were everywhere. A typical ad was this November 1928 ad in Science and Invention magazine on page 651. The ad promised that readers could earn one hundred dollars (US) per week taking movies or stills.
This was a magnificent sum in 1928 and promised by the “N.Y. Institute of Photography” in NYC . No cost is given in their ad copy but they say they will give readers a “professional still or movie camera” plus instruction on how to get started – no previous experience needed!
This and other ads promised outrageous salaries in hot fields for untrained readers.
Thanks once again to my friend George Dunbar who was a serious professional industrial photographer in both stills and movies/videos.
Polaroid cameras that beep and buzz
Toronto. In 1969, the Polaroid ad in LIFE magazine touted its series of electronic and mechanical cameras with built in timers and signals to tell the user development was finished.
While Polaroid film and prints were somewhat expensive, the cameras were of an advanced design using electronics and CdS cells to ensure most snaps were technically correct saving money if the framing and pose was acceptable to the snap shooter. My friend George Dunbar found this ad from page 46 of the March 21st, 1969 issue of LIFE magazine and shared it with me.
The title of this post is a riff on Tom Paxton’s rendering of “the marvellous toy“. I first heard this charming 1962 folk song by Tom Paxton back when it first came out. The song was sung either by him or the Chad Mitchell Trio back then. I was in university so it was likely playing when I was home.
Sears Roebuck typical camera pages 100+ years ago
Toronto. Well, Christmas and boxing day are over for most of us. Hope you managed to give/receive great gifts and find bargains in spite of the @#$#%^ pandemic we are all struggling with (well, most of us up here anyway).
Prior to the end of WW2, Canada was heavily oriented towards the UK and UK goods. The big deal each holiday season used to be Eaton’s catalogue. In the early years of the last century, Eaton’s also sold a wide variety of cameras and supplies. Bob Wilson generously allowed the use of his c1910 catalogue as an original for copies sent to all members along with our journal during the society’s 25th anniversary in 1999. Today, we have a pdf version of the same catalogue here under PRESS.
Eaton’s never operated in the States. Instead, in America, Sear Roebuck served the same purpose. Catalogues and mail order flourished over a century ago when most of North America was rural and not everyone could go shopping in the city. Like Eaton’s, the old Sears Roebuck catalog served its country’s population including professional and amateur photographers alike, but out of Chicago, instead of Toronto.
A typical Sears Roebuck catalog and its cameras and supplies can be seen on Archive.org in its Internet Archive section as shown with a typical spread. A thanks is due to friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar for sharing this find.
1930 50th Anniversary Box Camera by Kodak
Toronto. Boxing day on December 26th used to be THE day for sales. Then boxing day week, then black Friday, now COVID-19 and total lockdown over the holidays.
Still, it is fitting to celebrate boxing day with a box camera. Box cameras were the simplest of designs – fixed focus meniscus lens (about f/16), simple two blade shutter (about 1/25), simple viewer, and a box to keep out the light and hold the lens and shutter the correct distance from the roll film.
Kodak’s Brownie line saved money by using cardboard and a paper covering instead of wood and a leather covering. In 1930, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Eastman-Kodak, Eastman badged a bunch of Brownie Hawk-Eye No 2 cameras with a round gold coloured paper circle and offered a camera free to anyone child who turned 12 that year on a first come basis (until all 550,000 or so cameras were handed out by the retailers). A Brownie linked site says “in North America” but the ad shown on the site says “America”. I vaguely remember a member saying the largess of Mr Eastman was limited to 12 year old American children in 1930.
good health this season and all of 2021 – courtesy of George Dunbar, source unknown
A Studio Stand holding a camera steady indoors for portraits
Toronto. I did various posts on the ubiquitous tripod so necessary so long ago. From the beginning of photography in 1839, the media and lenses were so slow that a steady stand was a necessity even outdoors. Studios used the sturdy wood and cast iron base versions like the one at left to hold the massive unwieldily cameras of the 1800s.
Little changed until the 1870s when Richard Maddox finally figured out how to make dry plates that could be used in a camera. Even then the bulky cameras had to be used outdoors in bright sunlight. The next century, roll film, flash, faster lenses, and faster media changed all that, but …
As Carly Simon says in her song “You’re so Vain“, this post is really about membership in the PHSC. Through the time consuming efforts of our volunteers and especially Bob Lansdale, John Morden and David Bridge, we have published added material online for members only. Journals, Exchange Newsletters, Specials of Historical Interest, etc. Not a member yet? No big deal – pull your plastic out and use the PayPal set up at the top right of this web page. Of course, we will continue to send our PHSC News to all who are on our MailChimp list – PHSC member or not.
overview of a 1930s portait in studio
Toronto. For decades photographic studios were the epitome of Photographic businesses. In reality, the studios usually cranked out technically sound portraits using a tried and true combination of lighting including facial lights for modelling the features, background lights to illuminate the backdrop, and a general overall illumination.
The lighting varied – natural light (north facing preferred), incandescent lights. soft boxes, massive electronic flash, etc. Often done with a heavy tripod based camera and later a portable Hasselblad or such.
Studios with skillful photographers managed to get the true nuance of character of their subjects – like Karsh did in his famous portrait of Sir Winston Churchill.
Today, smartphone cameras are everywhere and the studio portrait seems to no long cater to modern people. If your phone can take selfies at a whim, and send them all over, then you have no need for a fancy studio portrait anymore. At the time my uncle had his portrait taken, family cameras were very rare, usually simple devices, and few amateur photographers knew how to take a portrait let alone an outstanding one.
Like family albums and shoe boxes of prints, quality studios are disappearing into the mists of time.
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Stan White – Poems & Photos
Mise Au Point – sur la photographie Quebecois
