Sara Angelucci Exhibit

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Robert
Man/Elm by Sara Angelucci at the Stephen Bulger Gallery

Man/Elm by Sara Angelucci at the Stephen Bulger Gallery

Toronto. Stephen Bulger of the Stephen Bulger gallery announced that he is hosting an exhibition of photographic works by Sara Angelucci called Arboretum. The photographs combine images of trees and people.

Ms Angelucci, an Adjunct  Professor in Photography at Ryerson, is well covered by various articles and reviews. Her web site includes this information:
“Sara Angelucci is a Toronto-based artist working in photography, video and audio. Her work explores vernacular photographs and films, analyzing the original context in which images are made.

“Drawing attention to conventions of image making, her work foregrounds the cultural role vernacular images play in framing particular stories, creating histories, and memorialization.

“Angelucci’s work has developed from an examination of the family archive and immigration, to a broader analysis and interpretation of anonymous/found photographs. In recent photography, video, and audio projects, Angelucci draws from the history of photography, as well as natural and social histories, transforming found images and repositioning them within the broader cultural context from which they emerge.”

The show opens October 22nd and runs to November 19th, 2016. A reception will be held for Ms Angelucci from 2-5 pm on the opening day (the 22nd of October). Location is the Gallery at 1026 Queen St West in Toronto.

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Electrifying, just electrifying…

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Robert
Sony Camera NEX-6 Lithium Ion battery

Sony Camera NEX-6 Lithium Ion battery

Toronto. In recent news we heard about the Samsung fiasco with its Note 7 smartphones  suddenly bursting into flames. Once replacement phones also combusted, Samsung elected to recall all Note 7 smartphones and cease manufacture, taking a massive hit in market share.

A bit of background: batteries are divided into primary cells (single use) and secondary (rechargeable). The various chemical processes were well known over a century ago but improvements were necessary before the technologies became marketable commodities.

Over a half a century ago, when I was a kid, batteries were usually zinc-carbon technology and available in the same sizes as today (AA, AAA, C, D, etc), usually as a national name brand product – like Eveready or Ray-O-Vac. Leave them in your flashlight or radio and you risked changing the devices into a gooey mess as the electrolyte quietly ate through the zinc case allowing acid to drip into the light or radio.

A few years later, a new (old) technology arrived in the marketplace called Alkaline. This process was far less likely to ooze acid and lasted far longer than the zinc-carbon cells. In most cases the cells could not be charged and reused. Once depleted of electric current, they were finished. Continue reading →

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Images and Postcards next Spring in Virginia

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Robert
Spring Antique Photo and Postcard Show in Virginia

Spring Antique Photo and Postcard Show in Virginia

Toronto. Tom Rall of Diverse Marketing, who runs the antique images and postcard show in Arlington Virginia, sent me a flyer on October 4th announcing his latest show (34th annual) on Sunday, March 12th, 2017 at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn.

Tom warns prospective exhibitors and visitors that the NCAA basketball tournament will be held in nearby Washington DC so reservations need to be made sooner than later.

Click here or on the icon at left for full details.

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Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Robert
Sputnik in Orbit October 4, 1957

Drawing of Sputnik in Orbit
October 4, 1957

Toronto. Just over 60 years ago on October 4th, 1957, I was sitting in my “ham shack” tuning in overseas radio stations. At the time, the USA was busy testing men, rockets, and satellites in anticipation of a future launch into space. The big challenge of the day was to get enough launch speed to break the gravity barrier and be able to orbit the earth (hard to image today when there are so many satellites circling the globe for communications and military endeavours).

Suddenly, I heard a beeping sound and then a voice saying Russia had just placed a satellite in orbit. The Sputnik was a oversized two foot diameter metal basket ball shaped sphere with a quartet of radio antennae on its circumference sending signals back to earth.

The news electrified the USA and massive funds were poured into math and science programs. The space race began in earnest. Decades later that American funding boost helped usher in the digital era we now enjoy.

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Vintage Poster Auction Oct 27th – Swann Galleries

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Robert
Red Star Line Poster

Red Star Line Poster c1932

Toronto. Swann Galleries in NYC on East 25th Street, groups lots in their frequent auctions by type of goods. For example, the poster auction this month is of Rare and Important Travel Posters. The poster expert at Swann is Nicholas D Lowry. Preview in person begins October 22nd.

For decades travel between Europe and America was by ship. Many of our ancestors, including mine, emigrated from England via Steamship.

If you enjoy or collect the travel posters of the past century, click here and view Swann’s online catalogue.

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PHSC Image Show Nov 27, 2016

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Robert
PHSC Image Show Poster

PHSC Image Show Poster

Toronto. Its final! our next Image show will take place in downtown Toronto at the prestigious Arts & Letters Club on Elm Street. Space is very limited. Contact our VP Ashley Cook to arrange a space today!

Click here or on the poster icon at left to download and read details, parking, etc.

See this earlier post for those dealers already committed to attend.

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When is a Camera not a Camera?

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Robert
Dog taken by Noah W using the iPhone 6 camera

Dog taken by Noah W using the iPhone 6 camera

Toronto. Well the obvious answer is… when it’s a phone – a smartphone. My friend George Dunbar sent me this delightful link on oneeyeland.com, the other day. It is about a video of shots with an iPhone 6 (the camera is 8 mpx) To advertise the iPhone (and its camera), Apple selected 162 images on social media tagged as iPhone 6 creations. The chosen images were enlarged to billboard size and posted world-wide.

Click the link here or above to see the video. Yummy and thought provoking! It wasn’t until I bought my 5th digital camera (a Sony F828) that I had an 8 mpx sensor. And that camera sported a 7X Zeiss lens making it massive in size. In comparison, the iPod Touch I use today is shirt pocket sized and sports the same 8 mpx camera with a lens equivalent to a 35mm medium wide angle.

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Camerama Show Sunday, Nov 20, 2016

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Robert
NEW LOCATION

NEW LOCATION

Toronto. Friend and PHSC member Gary Perry tells me that his next show this fall will be held next Sunday on November 20th.

The show is in a new location, Edward Village Hotel (formally known as a Days Hotel & Conference Centre). The location is 185 Yorkland Bl here in Toronto.

Click here or on the icon at left for full details. Come out and add to your collection!

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Canadian Photography Institute

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Robert
Canadian Photography Institute, Ottawa, Ontario

Canadian Photography Institute, Ottawa, Ontario

Toronto. The National Gallery of Canada has a photography section called the Canadian Photography Institute. The CPI has a very interesting pdf folder – my thanks to PHSC member and friend George Dunbar for bringing this institution to my attention.

You may remember the CPI – that’s where AMC will donate and move the extensive Matt Isenburg (Matt is a past speaker at the PHSC and a past president of the Daguerreian Society) collection over the next decade. AMC purchased the collection from Matt a few years ago. Please click here and read the brochure for more details.

 

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Autochromes

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Robert
Beautiful early 1900s Autochrome from Mashable

Beautiful early 1900s Autochrome by John C Warburg from Mashable

Toronto. Once daguerreotypes gave us fine detail in mono colour or hand painted images, the holy grail became automatically coloured photos.

The first processes used various filters over a common mono colour (black and white) plate. The best commercial process in the early 1900s was the Autochrome. Created by the Lumiere brothers in France, Autochromes created additive process colour slides using dyed potato starch bits sprinkled on standard dry plates.

The plates were very slow like all the additive processes, and with relatively large potato starch bits, rather grainy. This process resulted in a hazy, dreamy colour image.

PHSC member and contributor to this site, Sarah Shrigley, reminded me of the Autochromes and offered this link to gorgeous samples taken the period from 1907 – 1925 by British photographer John C Warburg (1867 – 1931) and displayed on the Mashable web site.

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