A Broken Arrow and Photography

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Robert

Toronto. In the late 1950s as I sat on a runway waiting for takeoff, the pilot announced that we could look out a cabin window and see the famous Avro Arrow about to take off. I was thrilled to see the tiny pointed machine in action. It was a shock when a short time later our Prime Minister, John G Diefenbaker, killed the entire project.

The project and all the models and aircraft were literally taken off the face of the earth. Over the years one story or another would announce the efforts underway to raise an aircraft said to be at the bottom of Lake Ontario.

My good friend George Dunbar suggested the CBC link shown here and the idea of researching a photographer associated with Avro Arrow project. The recent (July 14th)  CBC News article raised the question again about finding and raising one of the Arrows but with a greater probability of success using modern technology. Part of the article covered the photographer 83 year old Jack Hurst who first joined the Avro Arrow project when he was 17. Continue reading →

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Graflex Journal Issue 2 for 2017 published

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Robert

10 year old Maxine Sullivan on a Melbourne beach in the 1960s

Toronto. East coast American Graflex affectionado Ken Metcalf deserves a round of applause for his attractive and informative quarterly “Graflex Journal” which is offered free in pdf format.

In his latest issue, 2-17, Ken provides a photo essay by our friend George Dunbar of Graflex advertisements. The lead article reviews the first 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 Graflex and its range of lenses. The smaller camera allows smaller sensitive material to be used and prints made by enlargement.

Take a look at the interesting articles Ken has compiled of the second issue of 2017.

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Come Fly with me – Falcon 1946 Ad

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Robert

Falcon Camera c1946. Click camera to see the LIFE magazine ad.

Toronto. The other day my friend George Dunbar sent me an ad from a June, 1946 issue of LIFE magazine. For many years various vendors offered this and similar cameras to attendees at our fairs. The cheap plastic cameras used readily available 127 film so they could be used or collected.

George’s ad brought back memories of the days after the war when these cameras let an owner pretend to be using a miniature 35mm camera instead of what was basically a box camera dressed up as a more desirable minicam. There are lots of details about Falcon cameras on the web. For example, Camerapedia has this article on the American Falcon miniature camera.

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Monkeying About with Selfies

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Robert

Selfie taken by a Macaque Monkey for photographer David Slater back in 2011

Toronto. My thanks once again to the curiosity of George Dunbar who awakened my interest in this article from the Guardian. You may remember photographer David Slater. Back in 2011 David spent many hours training monkeys to keep their eyes open and snap a photo with his camera. This particular selfie by a macaque proved to be very popular and David initially earned some good money from its use.

To his dismay, the image was considered public domain by Techdirt  and Wikipedia. His lengthy fight over ownership of the image resulted in him being sued in 2015 by the macaque over copyright ownership (actually “People for Ethical Treatment of Animals – PETA” filed the suit on behalf of the monkey). Impoverished by the legal costs, David is ready to pack it in and become a dog walker!

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Have you ever seen a Portrama?

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Robert

A Portrama Polaroid camera sold in Germany.

Toronto.  Have you ever heard about or seen a strange  Polaroid camera called the Portrama? I had a call the other day from John Linsky, one PHSC’s founders. John found this odd looking camera at our trunk sale last Sunday.

After a lot of unproductive Google searches, John found the site CATAWIKI which lists items for auction. The site listed the owner as AARTS POLAROID which is the user name chosen by Aart Schippers of Driethe Netherlands.

You can see more photos of this camera here. It is also called a Happy Card camera. If you insert four 35mm slides in the camera using its special tray. Perhaps they appear on your portrait.

One site said it uses Polaroid Spectra 339 film (ISO 600, 3-5/8 inches by 2-7/8 inches).  Another site claims it uses 1200 film – same speed and measurements as 339 film. Neither film (339 or 1200) is available today…

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Do you hear what I hear?

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Robert

Scary hair-pin curve – an award winning drone image

Toronto. That stange droning sound means awards for many, not a mosquito infestation! The CBC News reports (with images) the winners of the annual photography contest sponsored by Dronestagram and National Geographic magazine for the best drone photography. My thanks to PHSC member and Torontonian extraordinaire, George Dunbar for suggesting the link and photos.

I illustrated this post with the second place winner in nature. CBC News writes, “The Infinite Road to Transylvania won second place. It was taken above the Cheia DN1A road in central Romania, which winds across forested mountains.

“‘As the legend says, this is the view that Count Dracula himself saw on his nocturnal flight,’ photographer Calin Stan told Dronestagram.”

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Posters at an auction

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Robert

Vintage Poster advertising Jougla Glass Plates – Swann Auction Galleries, NYC.

Toronto. I used one of the few (only?) photographic posters under the hammer at Swann Galleries on August 2, 2017. The poster (Sale 2453, Lot 81) advertises glass plates by Jougla, or in French Plaques Jougla.  It translates to “Night and Day  Jougla plates are used world-wide”. The poster shows various cameras and people in native costumes around a globe partly in day-light and partly in darkness.

Nick Lowry of Swann Auction Galleries sent me an email Monday announcing his auction of Vintage Posters down in NYC would take place in a bit over three weeks. You can enjoy their online catalogue here and consider tossing in a bid to enhance your collections room wall.

While few of the posters feature cameras or photographic items, all are worthy of wall space – take a look!

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Imitation… Flattery… and all that

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Robert

Leica Ad – 1925

Toronto. Cameras basically offer a light-tight means to hold a sensitive media the correct distance from the lens, plus offering a means to allow a calculated  brief bit of light through the lens to properly illuminate the light sensitive media – film, glass, or sensor.

I have always been fascinated by the Leica. In high school a more senior student once showed me his new IIIf – the first time I ever saw a Leica. In Labrador, another person showed me a IIIf but the squinty viewfinder just didn’t compare with the bright viewer of the Exakta.

For some time I believed the adage that Leica was the first commercially successful small camera. In May of 1991 (see Photographic Canadiana 17-2) we hosted Jack Naylor from the Photographic Historical Society of New England (PHS of NE). Known world-wide for his knowledge of cameras and photography, Jack talked at length about his collection. At the end of his talk, Jack handed out one of the documents periodically produced by the PHS of NE for its members. This particular pamphlet listed a number of pre-Leica cameras which were commercial successes, including the tiny Ansco Memo which used 35mm cine film in a slightly different aspect ration than the Leica’s 24 x 36 mm (double cine frame). There is some controversy that the Memo is post-Leica but it first sold in the same period as the first Leica – mid 1920s. Continue reading →

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124th International Salon of Photography

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Robert

Toronto. The Toronto Amateur Photographic Association was formed in March of 1888. And a few years later in December 1891 it became the Toronto Camera Club.

Many photographs taken by TCC members appeared in the epic book “Private Realms of Light“, edited by Lilly Koltun and published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside of Markham, Ontario in 1984.

The book is based on photographs displayed the previous year in an Ottawa exhibition by Public Archives Canada.

TCC is hosting a Salon for the 124th time this year. Awards will be granted and the images made available via DVD for a modest sum. Details for submission are HERE on the TCC website. Submissions will be accepted until November 4th, 2017. The winning photographs will be on display in the Toronto City Hall’s Rotunda Gallery for two weeks in February 2018.

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On Learning Photography and Photographic History

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Robert

Photography: Essays & Images, 1980. by Beaumont Newhall

Toronto. I spent many years learning by trial and error how to make decent B&W photographs. Most of my learning came magazines and some how-to books, plus peppering knowledgeable friends with questions. My first book on the history side of things was Helmut Gernsheim’s opus “The History of Photography“. I picked up an edition published by Thames and Hudson of England. The book was first published in 1955 by the Oxford University Press. My revised and enlarged edition was printed in 1969. I bought it in Montreal the summer of 1971 after seeing a brief note in one of the photo magazines of the time. It was an eye-opener. Until then I had no idea that such high quality images could and were being made in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

Nearly a decade later,  at the PhotoHistory V symposium in Rochester (October 30, 1982)  I met and spoke to Professor Gernsheim. Also speaking at the event was Professor Beaumont Newhall, author of “Photography: Essays & Images” published by the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in 1980.

Both books gave me considerable insight into the evolution of photography. Professor Gernsheim wrote a detailed history liberally quoting from letters and articles of the day. Professor Newhall on the other hand edited a selection of original essays by now famous people. To quote Newhall, “This book is an autobiography of the art of photography , written by some of the men and women who by their inventive genius, their scientific skill, and their artistic sensibility have forged a technique into a vital visual medium.”

These two books introduced me to the rich history and evolution of photography making me realize that I had jumped in media res of a revolutionary art form, record of history, and a means of personal expression.

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