simplicity again

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Robert

Kodak has a better idea …

Toronto. In the late 1960s, Kodak aggressively pushed its ads to capture the low end of the home movie market. My October 14th post, “eulogy for simplicity” showed one ad Kodak used in this approach.

This teaser ad shows another way Kodak tackled the low end market. In this case, it uses the high end and pricey Bolex as a paper tiger suggesting it was too complicated to give to a wife but hinted Kodak has a better idea.

My thanks to George Dunbar who unearthed this wacky ad while pursuing photographic history and shared it with me.

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Amalgamated Photo History Newsletters

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. We issued the 5th in our series of exchange newsletters recently (since we are unable to hold our regular monthly meetings, members received this pdf version of the amalgamated newsletters from our exchange members who gave their blessing for inclusion in this venture. In this case it is a massive tribute to Cindy Motz of MiPHS as she has retired as president and editor of that august organization.

I hinted these packages were coming for members, ” … we elected to compile other material in pdf files ready to send to members IF they supplied an email address AND had a fast enough internet connection to receive the 2 – 10 mb or so pdf files. …”.

Well, the Volume 1-5 file (9.8 MB) went out yesterday. If you didn’t get it but you do get our newsletters, drop me a note (news@phsc.ca). I will verify you are a 2020/2021 member and send off a copy. If you are a current member and didn’t see a copy, please check your junk folder. This and all other specials will only be sent to paid members. Not one yet? No big deal – pull your plastic and use the PayPal set up at the top right of this web page. Note that we will continue to send our PHSC News to all who are on our MailChimp list – PHSC member or not.

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antique photographica sale tomorrow

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Robert

Photographica Auction online tomorrow

Toronto. We have all been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmaceutical houses world wide are rushing to find a suitable vaccine.

We are using remote meetings via ZOOM, adding pdf specials via MailChimp, and obeying the medical guidelines as much as possible. Only one PHSC in-person event has been held since the pandemic hit. That was our Trunk Sale at Trident Hall this past summer during the lull between the first and second wave.

Stereographica (Bryan and Page Ginns) of San Diego, CA are known by many collectors of photographica. Their latest online auction will take place tomorrow, October 24th with an online catalogue offered.

Our editor, Bob Lansdale shared this email he received from the Ginns. “Just a reminder that our sale of Antique Photographica ends this Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 3:00pm(1500hrs) Eastern Time (Noon Pacific Time).

“A ten minute countdown clock will be available towards the end of the sale. Once ten minutes has elapsed after 3:00pm without a bid, the sale is over. Each time a bid is placed after 3:00pm the clock will re-set and THE ENTIRE SALE WILL BE EXTENDED BY A FURTHER TEN MINUTES to give bidders the opportunity to respond. Please be advised that experience suggests that THE SALE COULD CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS BEYOND THE 3:00pm DEADLINE. ALL LOTS WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR BIDDING until the sale ends. Please remember to click the ?refresh? button on your browser to update the countdown clock.

“To check whether you are the high bidder, always go through the Sign-In procedure where your individual bidding page will be displayed. It will clearly show whether you are the high bidder or not. If there is an open box to bid on any given lot, you are NOT the high bidder. We would also remind everyone that there is a 10% buyer?s premium on the final price of each lot.

“If you have any questions please refer to the ?Auction Rules / Terms & Conditions of Sale? on the web site at: www.stereographica.com or e-mail us directly at: the3dman@aol.com or please feel free to call us at 518 821 3086.

“Regards, Bryan and Page Ginns”

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the power of photography

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Robert

Families of the Dump by Gerry Yaum

Toronto. Back in September 2oth, I received an email from Gerry Yaum, an Edmonton AB photographer about his ambitious video and stills project called “The Families of the Dump”. I sent it along to a few PHSC members who replied the following day. On the 16th of this month, Gerry sent an email with further details and links to our editor, Bob Lansdale, in response to Bob’s suggestions. Bob graciously sent his message on to me.

Gerry’s video, “The Families of the Dump”  is up on youtube and is well worth viewing. Gerry also has a number of other videos posted on various subjects, many relevant to us.

Gerry writes the following about his “Families of the Dump“, video, “The idea behind this video is two fold, one.. to give a more interactive interesting educational experience for those that attend the exhibition [Living in the Margins] and two.. to put the photographs in context with a geographical location for the viewer. If they see the overall picture in video form it will be a bit easier to understand the photographs in their individual contexts.

‘The Mae Sot Project’ Artist Statement:

‘As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.’                                                                                                                                                   Nelson Mandela

“The Mae Sot Project (“Families of the Dump“) documentary photography series was made at the Mae Sot, Thailand garbage dump. At the dump approximately 400 people in 50 plus family groups live and work scavenging for recyclable goods. The families are made up of Burmese refugees mostly from the Karen ethnic tribe; who travelled illegally from Burma into Thailand. In Burma these people face political persecution and economic hardship, they came to Thailand hoping for a better life. 

“I make my photographs in the dump and elsewhere for one reason, to tell the stories of forgotten people. It is important that their stories are told, with dignity and compassion. My goal is to show the common humanity we all share.

“Please help the children and families of the dump by donating to: www.eyestoburma.org”

Gerry Yaum

Please note: It is best to use Garry’s videos on Youtube. He tells me the web sites are defunct or incomplete. Garry’s blog via the Analog Forever Magazine link has an error in the certificate raising a severe warning on my browser for the secure site (https). The http site is flagged as insecure (usual caution these days). The next day, browsing directly, his  secure blog site  https://gerryyaum.blogspot.com loaded without an issue.

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1839 and all that

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Robert

Daguerreotype Conservation by Lee Ann Daffner at MoMA

Toronto. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Magazine in the Big Apple offers many interesting talks about photography. In this one, conservator Lee Ann Daffner of MoMA thoughtfully treats the tarnish on a c1842 daguerreotype by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey.

Listen to this interesting video on our earliest process and how to clean and conserve these historic images. Thanks are due to my good friend George Dunbar who discovered this video while in the pursuit of photographic history.

NB. The title of this post comes from a riff on the title of a book I read as a youth called “1066 and All That“. It was a parody on English history and 1066 refers to the Norman conquest of the Island.

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a fine balance

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Robert

smartphone colour balance app

Toronto. Modern day smartphone cameras have editors with colour balance and other colour effects built-in. The tiny cameras automatically set the colour balance to white as a starting point so few images need any editing unless the image creator wishes to work on them. Most users of smartphone cameras rarely bother changing the colour balance. The visible light spectrum is listed in degrees kelvin. Visible blue light is 6,000K while the old style incandescent indoor lights were a very warm 2,700K. The actual spectrum band affects the colour too. Some lights have broad spectrum like daylight, others are narrow so they give an odd look to things.

In the early days of transparencies, films and plates were so slow that daylight balance was all that was needed and we rarely even thought of colour balance. In the middle of the last century, transparency film speeds increased enough for both outdoor (sun) and indoor (tungsten) film to be offered. Flash bulbs coated blue could be used indoors with outdoor film. Filters of blue and orange/brown would allow either transparency film to be used under sun or tungsten light. The loss of speed with the orange/brown filter made conversion of tungsten film for outdoor use unpopular.

When colour negative film and colour prints arrived, colour balance was critical. Both paper, and film  had to be corrected during enlargement to avoid any unpleasant colour cast. The worst case was when there was one colour cast in shadows and a different one in highlights. Professionals often used a neutral grey card at the beginning of a film batch since enlarger filters, once adjusted, eliminated any colour casts for the same run of film and paper.

The arrival of digital technology solved colour balance automatically. While we were in transition from film and chemicals to digital cameras and computers, programs like Photoshop could balance out different casts in shadows and highlights. Digital cameras had settings for automatic white balance and for specific lighting. The transition to non-tungsten lighting is well underway. This means that in time all indoor lighting will be much closer to daylight. My overhead light and desk lamp are all ready LED. They use LED bulbs with a broad spectrum reaching a high of about 2,700K overhead and over 3,000K in my desk lamp. The digital camera white balance takes care of any correction needed to emulate the outdoor images.

 

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43rd world used camera fair (in Japan) video

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Robert

43rd World Used Camera Fair in Tokyo

Toronto. In the summer of 2008, I changed the PHSC website to use WordPress. This change was to allow non-technical members to accept the webmaster position and be able to easily add posts and pages. My first post on August 15, 2008 was an article on the “Japanese Hand Made Camera Club” suggested by an email and catalogue sent to Bob Lansdale.

And a bit over 12 years later I have the pleasure of doing this post about a Japanese used camera fair video, once again thanks to an email from Bob Lansdale. PHSC member Jim Hall over in Guelph alerted Bob who send the link over to me. As the French say, “The More It Changes, … “.

Have a look and see how the folks in Tokyo are holding a fair in this year of COVID-19. Most use masks and all displays use large glass waist-high cabinets. All sorts of interesting cameras and lenses are offered.

NB. Anything in the A2 Hosting Media database (which I use) before 2011 seems to have been removed. I had to Google my August 15, 2008 attachment to the Coffee Grinder Camera and add back to it a template created by Matthew Campagna, www.theturninggate.com from my post. This template disallows any clicks to enlarge images.

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New Website for The Photographic Collectors’ Club of Great Britain

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Robert

PCCGB Logo

Toronto. One of our exchange organizations is the Photographic Collectors’ Club of Great Britain (PCCGB). David Balfour of the PCCGB is one of many folk in editor Bob Lansdale’s photo history network. David recently sent Bob an email. In it, David asks for our help and gives a contact point in the last two paragraphs of his message.

David writes, ” The new club [PCCGB] website will be going ‘live’ in early November and details about the site will be published in Photographica World 166, later this year, together with the members-only password.

“The site will be a mixture of ‘open to all’ and ‘members-only’ pages, the idea being that non-members will enjoy what’s on offer and will consider joining the PCCGB. Existing members can immediately access the huge amount of material and research items that will be exclusive to them.

“The site has been designed to allow easy update of the pages, and new pages and collecting areas will be added as the months and years go by.

“Any suggestions for new pages are very welcome, and several people have already made some excellent proposals: camera/equipment reviews can certainly be part of it (and that can be ‘classic’ collectable, new or old, film or digital) and everyone is invited to provide their own experience for this – it can be a 100 words or 1000 – it’s up to you!

“The blog pages are ideal for reviews and mentions of limited period events – the publication schedule of both Tailboard and Photographica World mean we can’t mention upcoming national and regional exhibitions etc – but the blog is an effective tool for this.

“The ‘links and forums’ pages are an ideal opportunity for the club to promote other organisations, and putting a link to and from another website is a great way of adding legitimacy and weight to the club – and that will always encourage new members.

“It’s very helpful if any members who are already registered with other collecting groups, either web or social media, can promote the site (along with the Youtube channel) just by mentioning the club, the site and especially by ‘liking’ or adding a few words as a review – that simple action creates waves out there which can come back to the club as new members.

“If you have any suggestions, feedback, corrections please let us know, first point of contact is Timothy Campbell (timminox@yahoo.co.uk)”

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PHSC News October 2020

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Robert

Remember when Ricoh made cameras?

Toronto. Ricoh tried many products over the years, including some that landed it in court for fraud. They once made the XOBBOX transparent film camera in a very limited number. The little beauty is featured on page 1 of our newsletter this month (top right).

Well, are you ready for October 31 shell-out in this year of the infamous COVID-19 pandemic? No? Read on.

Our editor extraordinaire, Sonja Pushchak, and her team have composed the latest issue of PHSC News (20-04 – October 2020) after such a relaxing summer (Yeah, right). We tried to hold an outdoor auction earlier this month but the virus just refused to cooperate! Anyway,  just read these articles in our latest newsletter to take your cares away!

We begin on page 1 with an article on the Modern Zombie (being Halloween and all); followed by a tongue in cheek tale of thanksgiving food magazines (and food photography) in place of the usual PHSC Presents. Page 3 looks at the less ingenious strategy struggling Kodak tried; while page 4 looks at the time Dior graced our fair city. Page 5 is a hoot with its depiction (and video link) of the effect of trying to enforce COVID-19 rules in Calgary. Then David takes a shot at exposure meters in his Equipment Review, followed by his trio of web links helping partner Louise.

Page 8 covers alternatives to our monthly meetings plus a request from Celio, our programme coordinator, and an introduction to his latest post on Instagram (made in collaboration with Alexandra). On page 9, Ivy & Izzy talk about the phantoms of Gothic photography. And as usual, this issue wraps up with the classifieds on page 10. P.S. Every link shown in the newsletter is a hot link just waiting for you to 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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what were they thinking?

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Robert

Camera Lucida in use. Courtesy of Neolucida

Toronto. Today, we all take photography for granted. Images are shot endlessly to record things once written, or capture family moments, or pets, or property changes, etc. We leave news, tv, political, formal portraits, etc. images to the professionals. With exceptions, of course, like someone right there with a smartphone – or a TV network soliciting ‘free’ photos … .

Nicéphore Niépce, considered by many as the father of photography, was trying to simplify lithography and printing by using the sun to capture a scene directly on a pewter printing plate. The vast potential of photography wasn’t even considered back then. His partner in that collaboration, Louis Daguerre, produced dioramas, those huge painted displays that cleverly changed scenes when cautiously placed lighting was dimmed or brightened. He wanted to capture distant scenes so his huge panels could be painted from the prints at another place and a later time.

A similar invention by Henry Fox Talbot was intended to capture landscapes by the effect of the sun. Fox Talbot was an amateur artist and the idea occurred to him while he was on a painting holiday (honeymoon?) in Italy using a Camera Lucida to get his landscape proportions right.  His invention preceded the daguerreotype but he kept it for his own use. The Daguerreotype announcement pushed him to announce his own process in the same month (January 1839).

Thomas Wedgwood of the famous pottery family in England has been described as the first photographer in spite of his early death decades before the January 1839 announcements. Using the fact that silver nitrate was sensitive to sunlight and darkened depending on the duration and intensity of it, Wedgwood attempted to capture the popular Camera Obscura images of the day. Unsuccessful, he also tried silhouettes with more success, but the images also faded to black whether kept in darkness or not.

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