Getty Copyright Lawsuit

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Robert
My Grandchildren brought me this souvenir from the Getty Museum, CA.

My Grandchildren brought me this souvenir from the Getty Museum, CA.

California. Getty Images offers stock photos for a small fee.  But many of their photos are used unlawfully. There are so many images on the internet these days that Getty resorted to some code called a robot (bot for short). This code searches the internet endlessly for any images which have a tiny bit of imbedded code that creates the famous Getty Watermark.

A discovered watermark prompts the robot to send details to the Getty lawyers. For any illegal finding, a “cease and desist” letter goes out. This letter requests the recipient to pay a small fee or remove the image.

US photographer Carol Highsmith donated some 100,000 photographs to the Library of Congress stipulating they were to be placed in the public domain (free to be used by anyone). To her surprise, she received a “cease and desist” letter from Getty and a request to pay $110 US for use of an image. Unfortunately, it was a photo taken by Highsmith and donated to the Library of Congress. Continue reading →

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PHSC Newsletter 16-3

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Robert
Ian and Robert with their Graflex bargains at the auction.

Ian and Robert with their Graflex bargains at the auction.

Toronto. Editor David Bridge timed this nifty and informative edition to be issued a few days before our sixth annual trunk sale (held in memory of the late Larry Boccioletti). In addition to announcing the trunk sale, held this past Sunday, the newsletter carries my review of Robert Lansdale Junior’s gripping story of the CN Tower’s creation on the 40th anniversary of its opening this summer.

We follow with a review of the City of Waterloo Museum’s presentation of member Willy Nassau’s salute to photography called “Thru the Lens, Camera Obscura to Smartphone“. Editor Bridge was fortunate enough to attend the display in person.

The museum exhibit  is followed by a review of our 2016/7 program lineup. We are fortunate indeed to have visionary Les Jones take on the mantle of program director. Over twenty years ago Les was our program director and later our president.  Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Collecting and Leicas

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Robert
Leica M3 from Westlich Auction with a lens from Sam Tamarkin's auction.

Leica M3 from Westlicht auction with a lens from Sam Tamarkin’s auction.

Toronto. Back in June, John Linsky and I swapped emails on some fake Leicas. John’s last message on Leicas was this interesting article about collecting and building a collection using Leicas as an example.

The author, William Fagan, posted the article, “One Man’s Story: Online camera auctions and collecting classic Leicas” on his blog MACFILOS.

His article was originally printed last October in The Leica Society magazine. The aricle, his blog, and the Leica Society (European) site is of considerable interest to PHSC members, especially those interested in collecting hardware.

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CN Tower and Robert C Lansdale in the news.

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Robert
Part of a Toronto Star photograph by

Part of a Toronto Star photograph by Randy Risling

Toronto. For our June meeting we had the pleasure of hosting Robert C Lansdale’s iconic history of the building of the CN Tower in this its 40th anniversary year. It was a two hour power-point show capped off with an anniversary cake. People who built the tower and members of the PHSC joined in the celebration.

Robert’s father, a profession photographer and Ryerson graduate, is a long time member of the PHSC, editing our journal Photographic Canadiana for almost half its life, and taking official photographs of our events and speakers.

Robert’s talk is dedicated to the men who built the CN Tower. It is posted here at http://www.pastandfuturehistory.com/default.php with thumbnails of each slide, and here on Flickr.

Robert junior’s efforts can be read and seen here in the Toronto Star, by columnist Shawn Micallef, a tribute to Graham Bezant in the Toronto Guardian,  an article by Nick Westall in the Toronto Sun, plus Mike Filey’s Toronto Sun column (Mike was at the PHSC presentation).

Googling “CN Tower 40th Lansdale” will bring up a wealth of articles and photographs. Have a look and see why the CN Tower is truly exceptional, and a massive engineering feat!

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Portrait of an artist dying intestate

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Robert
Photograph by Vivian Maier Courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery

Photograph by Vivian Maier – courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery

Toronto. Stephen Bulger of the Stephen Bulger Gallery is presenting an exhibition of some 40 Vivian Maier photographs. What is unusual is that the exhibition is free but no photographs will be sold in spite of the prints being made from negatives owned by the Gallery. There is good reason for this – copyright issues. Who is her heir?

Initially it was thought Maier who died intestate had no living relatives. Investigations by genealogists have turned up some potential names. Meantime, one original buyer of a large collection elected to sell his Maier negatives to the Gallery.

Maier was an amateur photographer whose images of New York and Chicago street scenes have prompted interest around the world. James Adams of the Globe and Mail wrote an intriguing article in the Globe’s Arts section this past Saturday. You can learn more by reading the article here.

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Waddingtons On Line Auction

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Robert
Waddingtons Lot 294, Leica IIIf, five lenses and leather case, plus.

Waddingtons Lot 294, Leica IIIf, five lenses and leather case, plus.

Toronto. My thanks to Ashley Cook for noting this Canadian on line auction by Waddingtons. The cameras she mentioned are mid way in the lots.

Set the number of lots per page to 100 and scroll down close to the bottom of page 1. The prices are in C$ and seem reasonable/low to me – a bidding strategy?

Click on the icon at left to see a larger view of lot 294 on the Waddingtons site or click on the above link to the site to see the full number of lots. Auction will be held June 27-30 so look soon if you plan to bid.

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Wiggle GIF Stereos

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Robert

xdx-smToronto. Photographic Canadiana editor Bob Lansdale sent me this “wiggle 3D” image with a c1880s view from the top of King St in Saint John, NB.

The image was shared in the Canadian Photographic History group on Facebook by Jim Murray. Note that our own Louise Freyburger moderates the group and is a frequent contributor too!

Click on the image at left  to see a larger view and the “wiggle 3D” in action!. Visit the CPH Facebook page to see even more “wiggle 3D” images posted by Mr Murray.

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The end of an era

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Robert

macOS-SierraToronto. In late summer 2007, I bought into the Apple iMac mystery with OS X 10.4 (Tiger). Before then, I had moved from the dying Amiga to Windows 95.

I began using Windows with 3.11 for work groups. After the very capable multitasking Amiga, Windows 3.11 and 95 were simply terrible. After Windows 98 came Windows ME. I thought Windows ME would solve my lack of updates to Windows 98, but ME refused to load without forcing me to reformat my drive and re-installing everything on it – files, applications, updates to applications, etc. Literally hours and hours of work because Microsoft Windows ME refused to install correctly over Windows 98 for me.

That and the incessant slowing of each computer I bought and the need for system slowing anti-virus software drove me in disgust to search for a different system.

I moved to Apple, that summer and never looked back. I updated the OS X each time a new release was announced. Finally my iMac, now almost nine years old, began to show signs of its age. Under the current version of OS X called El Capitan, my system is slower to open files and applications but still usable. This past Monday, Apple announced that OS X would be called macOS when its new iteration Sierra is released this fall. Continue reading →

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PHSC Estate Auction, held Sunday, June 19th, 2016

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Robert
Auction This Coming Sunday!

Auction This Coming Sunday!

Toronto. We are now up to 174 lots including some darkroom gear and even microscopes!

When the auction begins this Sunday, these and lots as yet not photographed will go under the hammer.

Everyone is invited! Go here to see details and pictures of many of the lots!

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