20 seconds of history

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Robert

the late Ken Bell in 1994

Toronto. The late Bob Lansdale (editor of the journal after Ev Roseborough) was determined to see Canadian photographic efforts recognized. In the case of the famous June 6, 1944 D-Day landing photos, Bob wrote and amended his article on the remaining film scenes used world-wide, asking that I give it prominence on this site (see right hand sidebar).

It all began with Ken Bell’s discussion about the film recording. Bob called his article in issue 20-3, “20 Seconds of History – The D-Day Photos”. Bob’s article begins, ” ‘It‘s about time the real story was told of the D-Day landing film clips’ says retired Lt-Col Ken Bell of Gibsons, BC. He is talking about a newsreel film clip used in (it seems) every description of the D-Day landings to mark the 50th anniversary (June 6, 1994) of the Normandy invasion.

“American TV stations use it constantly in describing the efforts of their fighting men as do all other media. Nothing is explained that the film records Canadian troops and the film was Canadian. The scene shows the backs of helmeted soldiers crouching in an assault landing craft as it nears the beach … the helmets are obviously of the British/Canadian style. Canadian D-Day troops of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Armoured Brigade were equipped with a superior helmet for the landings.

“As the front ramp opens to disgorge the assault troops a large building is recognizable that clearly marks it as the beach at Bernieres-sur-Mer. The troops, therefore, must be The Queen‘s Own Rifles of Toronto.”

Bob’s updated D-Day article is just to the right – or you can read the rest of the initial article by viewing the pdf file for 20-3 on the free members-only DVD. To join, see the MEMBERSHIP sub-menu above (especially the Membership Form) and the article at right (PayPal). Send your payment with the form or send the form after using your credit card/PayPal account. Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca. PHSC membership is both rewarding and inexpensive.

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picture perfect petite princess

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Robert

c1950 flower girl

Toronto. As often mentioned, photo collectors are either eclectic in their collection, or specialize in process, studio, country, famous folk, work, etc. By far the majority of earlier photos are studio portraits. Others are more challenging to find.

Besides famous people, many portraits or group photos are just family history, especially after dry plate and film became common place thus rapidly expanding the population of amateur photographers.

At left is a wedding flower girl – a tiny child. The wedding was a c1950 event. Both bride and groom have long since passed away as have most of the other attendees (except perhaps this little flower girl). Did the newly wedded couple ever have children? did the children in turn have spouses and children too? What did the parents do for a living? Did they own a home?

As you can see one single family photo can raise many, many, questions. To a collector, the photo is of some value IF it suits their collection goals; but to one family historian, the photo is almost priceless!

Come out to our 2025 events – you may find something that suits your collection to a “T”. In any case, think about research to guide you in collecting photos that are family history to someone!

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40 ways to shoot a rainbow

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Robert

Filter grains pressed on a B&W glass plate to create an Autochrome

Toronto. Modern snap shooters have it easy. Digital technology accurately records the scene (given a decent amount of light) and the snapper can see the result immediately and if pleasing (or not) send it to anyone, anywhere pronto!

Not so with photographers about a century and a half ago (or the camera and colour process inventors). While the inventors too used the Young-Helmholtz theory of how we see colour, the cameras were at first  massive and created a trio of B&W negatives through filters and mirrors. Tripod bound, these hulking beasts were too slow for animated subjects. Worse, the old dyes are unstable and only approximate colours in nature.  In some cases the dyes were also inconsistent in the colours they did create.

Later on, means were developed to add the filters directly to the B&W plate so ‘regular’ B&W cameras could be used – in fact dozens of ways were invented. Basically the best of the bunch was by the Lumière Brothers and their Autochrome process (the other dozens were also-rans, some sold commercially, many not).

On the 15th of this month we had the pleasure of hearing Ms Janine Freeston in Oxford, England speak on the old colour processes. She covered both subtractive and additive colour processes. The use of on-plate filters resolved one issue but prompted another. The most promising additive process, the Autochrome, could be up to 60x slower than B&W demanding the use of  a tripod and a very still subject.

Ms Freeston gave a nod to the PHSC in her talk by mentioning three of our late members who were deeply into the old colour processes (two were also editors of our journal) and a pair of old photographers who created very early colour prints of Canadian scenes.

The  bulk of her talk used some of the research she did during the writing of her book on colour (currently a work in progress). Those of you who missed Janine’s talk can contact Celio Barreto via program@phsc.ca  to see if the talk is available as audio or video.

Note: I used the 1975 song by Paul Simon. “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” as a source of inspiration for the post title.

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working in the great outdoors

Posted on January 17, 2025 by Robert

photo of a chimney topping by bricklayers. Looks like a kitchen chimney on a small house. Photographer and location unknown.

Toronto. Many image collectors seem to choose a specific category like famous people, carbon prints, workers, etc. Others are eclectic in their choices.

The earliest processes demanded bright illumination found outdoors  during the day or in north lit studios, again during sun lit days. Indoors, the photos are usually studio portraits. Outdoors, we often see landscapes of one sort or another.

Images of workers and workplaces are not nearly as plentiful. The example at left is an early 20th century photo of some bricklayers working on a chimney.

Look in your collection and see what photos depict workers, tradesmen, working environments, etc. Visit our events this year and augment you collection – you may even find some photos of workers and workplaces!

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homeward bound

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Robert

Homeward bound running engine 1337 on an Ontario CNR line

Toronto. In 1966, Simon and Garfunkel released a song written by Paul Simon in England. The title is apropos this post.

The photo at left shows an old engineer piloting his steam engine home. By the time the song was released, the old engineer and his engine had passed into history – railways shifted to diesel engines; the old engineer shuffled off his ‘mortal coil’.

A subset of image collecting is ‘transportation’. Image collectors can investigate their collection and dig out old railway photos. Don’t disregard postcards – some use real photos depicting various modes of transportation.

No suitable photos? Drop by our 2025 events – or a postcard show – you may just find those photos that complement your collection. The event, date, and location will be shown here on the right hand sidebar and included in a specific post close to the event date.

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a different kind of rolls

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Robert

late 1880s ad in the BJA for Eastman Stripping Film

Toronto. We have all seen the famous British Rolls Royce automobiles and the aircraft engines of the same name. But what about rolls of B&W film? Eastman Kodak made many different ones for their cameras (and the films were used by their competitors too).

Eastman began with a ‘negative paper’ ‘film’ for his cameras but printing through paper was too grainy. The earliest ‘flexible’ film roll on a transparent backing had to be stripped off the backing before being contact printed. After a brief period, an optically clean transparent film was invented and the stripping film disappeared forever.

True to Ev’s dictum of reprinting articles of interest to PHSC members, Ev reprinted Reed Berry’s fine article on “Eastman Roll Films”, beginning with the infamous ‘paper negative’ that pre-dated stripping film. Those of us who can even remember B&W roll film are far too young to remember stripping film originally designed just before and used in the famous Kodak camera of 1888. The Kodak came with the famous catch-phrase “You Press the Button and We Do the Rest”. This slogan was logical as Eastman targeted amateur photographers (and they had the facilities and equipment to successfully strip and print the temperamental stripping film back in Rochester).

Mr Berry begins, “This article discusses the black and white roll films made by the Eastman company for use in the Kodaks, Brownies, etc., and in roll film holders made by the company. Also, a few films produced for use in non Eastman cameras are identified.

“Color roll films are not considered, nor are films for specialized purposes (such as photographing oscillograph traces). The period covered is from the middle 1880s to about 1935. Much of the information is from Kodak and other camera catalogs. These and other sources are listed in the Bibliography.

“Eastman Negative Paper
The first Eastman roll film was of Eastman negative paper, for use in the Eastman-Walker roll holders. This film, offered when the Eastman-Walker roll holder came onto the market in 1885, consisted of paper coated with a dry plate emulsion, and was color-blind (i.e., sensitive only to the ultraviolet and blue portions of the spectrum).

“Since the paper backing was not transparent, after development the negatives were routinely treated with oil or wax or a trade preparation called Translucine which penetrated the paper and decreased its opacity. This treatment reduced the time required for printing from the paper negatives, but did not reduce the grain in the paper.”

The next part of the article discusses stripping film and the B&W films on optically transparent material. To read the rest of Reed’s article, view the pdf file for 20-2 on the free members-only DVD. No DVD? Become a member – joining is easy! Peek at the MEMBERSHIP sub-menu above (especially the Membership Form) and the article at right (PayPal). Send payment with the form or send the form after using your credit card/PayPal account. Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca. For camera and image collectors (and history buffs) membership is rewarding – and also inexpensive.

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it’s the happy gang …

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Robert

PHSC President
Clint Hryhorijiw

Toronto. … when I was a kid, my mom sometimes had the radio set to CBC making me an accidental listener to part of  The Happy Gang at lunch time.

Well, January 8, 2025 was our 54th executive meeting by ZOOM. A few folk were missing due to various unexpected things. Meantime, dates have been firmed up for the two fairs and trunk sale. Action is currently underway to firm up the date of our spring Auction (likely in March).

I mentioned last month that Patrick Gunn is the new newsletter editor. His first newsletter (not Dec 2024, but Jan 2025) is finished and ready for proofing before being issued via MailChimp.

Action is still quiet on the Membership front although renewals are coming in quickly and shared with Secretary Lilianne Schneider. Did I mention how easy it was join/renew? See the MEMBERSHIP menu above (form plus cheque submission) and/or our PayPal button at right (PayPal account or credit card). New/Renew memberships received after October began this month.

To repeat, our journal is in ‘pdf format only’, so an email address is essential. Issue 50-3 is available now. A MailChimp notification was sent to all member emails on December 31st. Issue  50-4 is currently being assembled.

Important: if  you have UNSUBSCRIBED to our list, you will not receive notification nor Photographic Canadiana nor other info. MailChimp does not permit me to reinstate a specific email address once unsubscribed by the owner. Renewal of such addresses are only possible via a form, not on our site.

Also, if you change email addresses, please tell us – MailChimp will tag the old address as CLEANED (they cannot add your new address automatically). If you are a member but HAVE NOT seen any notification for Photographic Canadiana since you registered or renewed, please email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.

Celio Barreto reports that speaker, Ms Janine Freeston, of Oxford, UK) will talk January 15, 2025 on some old colour Processes. You can order tickets (free) via Eventbrite.

Celio continues to  populate our YouTube channel with past presentations. The channel is linked at right – just click the icon marked EVENTS.

Social media editor, Ms Markovic provided a brief update. She recently (Dec 2024) presented a talk on Ms Minna Keene to a delighted audience at TMU. Well done, Mina!

not all the gang is shown here

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end of the line

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Robert

Last run of steam – engine number 6060. July 26, 1962. Barrie ON

Toronto. Pre WW2 activity started to replace steam engines in North America with diesel but progress was very slow given funds invested in steam.  Post WW2,  action slowly heated up. Change was well underway by the 60s and over in the 70s.

Even recording companies like Audio Fidelity (AF) got on the bandwagon – AF issued a  stereo sound recording of both steam and diesel trains (AF used 33 1/3 LP for its 1958 release).

At left is a typical polaroid snap showing the last steam engine run on the CNR lines in Barrie. A bit fuzzy and off colour but nevertheless a record of history in the making. The gentle sound of steam whistles as trains sailed past rural road crossings are long gone and few can ever consider the honk of a diesel romantic (comedians joked about the new sounds).

Collectors of transportation photos likely include many photos of  steam engines as railroads used steam for the most part from their beginnings on to the diesel era. Steam had the odd pre-diesel diversion to electricity in cities when the population successfully fought steam power and its dirt and noise. Now-a-days diesel itself – like digital photography – is mature enough to attract collectors (especially the really old diesel trains).

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remembering Ted (1914-1994)

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Robert

A Leitz CEYOO flash like the one I first bought from Ted

Toronto. When I joined the society in 1975, I met a charming person in Ted Shepherd. Ted sold me one of the first Leitz accessories I ever bought – a fancy B-C flash that connected to my M4.

The following year Ted became president of the Toronto branch of the PHSC (1976-1979). I can still hear his piercing whistle to call members from the vendor tables around the hall (North York Library Auditorium) to sit and hear the speaker of the evening.

In those early dates we didn’t always photograph people and events clearly. In issue 20-1 the late Bill Belier wrote a brief obit for Ted who died March 7, 1994. The picture Bill/Ev used is not suitable for this post so I used an image of a CEYOO flash like the one I bought from Ted.

The obit is as follows: “Ted Shepherd, one of oldest and most devoted members, died in Markham, Ontario on March 7th. In the early years of the Society, Ted was a familiar face and active participant at most of our activities.

“He gave generously of his time at the display booth we once had at the Canadian National Exhibition, he was a Past President of the Photographic Historical Society of Metropolitan Toronto, and a model builder of exceptional talent (See Photographic Canadiana, Vol 12, No. 1 (May-June 1986) ‘Daguerreotype camera replica’.)

“Most of our older members will remember Ted in terms of being a ‘photographic buff‘, but he was a man of many talents and had other interests. In the 1920s-30s, he played with well-known Toronto dance bands as a professional musician. During the war, he worked on the R.A.F. Mosquito bomber project at Downsview.

“He became one of the leading Canadian authorities on antique telephones, and he was both President and Secretary of the Telephony Society of Canada. In later years Ted became interested in clocks and timepieces and restored several fine examples of early craftsmanship.

“Ted retired from the Robert Simpson Company in 1979 after a long career in the jewellery department, and later in the executive offices.

“When I reflect on the forty-seven years that I have known Ted, I seem to dwell more on his personality than on his accomplishments. Ted was a soft-spoken, very kind man, with tolerance and understanding for others that can only be described as a virtue. It was my privilege to be called his friend.

“Ted is survived by his two daughters, Vivian and Virginia, their husbands and his two beloved grandsons. His wife, Phyllis predeceased him in 1983.

Bill Belier

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mystery man

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Robert

Brodie MacPherson – Photo by Eric Trussler – from PPO Archives

Toronto. In issue 20-2, Ev draws on his experiences in the PPO for a captivating article on a truly eccentric character – photographer, Brodie MacPherson.

His issue 20-2 article begins, “Tall. opinionated, reclusive and clever are all adjectives applicable to one Brodie Macpherson, one of the earliest Canadian exponents of dye printing.

“His one-time experience as a lithographic camera operator brought a great deal of practical experience to his photographic work, in particular his ability to do ‘step-and–repeat’ exposures on matrices for the wash-off relief, later Dye Transfer, process.

“Brodie standardized on 11” x 14″ mats on which he made multiple images. On one occasion I ordered 100 prints with 56 small cereal boxes on each perfectly registered print. These were delivered in a few days. He had also a rapid transfer system.

“His native mechanical ability and ingenuity were enhanced by a degree in engineering from the University of Toronto, which he never mentioned. Neither did he mention his stint with the airforce in Africa and, it is believed, a decoration. The only evidence of which existed in a snap of him in khaki shorts wearing, in addition, an R.A.F. handle bar moustache which became sort of a trademark.

“Brodie, as I have said, was opinionated. Seated in the back row at photographic society meetings, stroking his moustache, he could be counted on to object to something. Following a concerted groan by those present, frequently he would be proven correct. …”

This is just one of many articles written by Ev Roseborough during his time as journal editor. To read the rest of this article, view the pdf file for 20-2 on the free members-only DVD. To join, see the MEMBERSHIP sub-menu above (especially the Membership Form) and the article at right (PayPal). Send your payment with the form or send the form after using your credit card/PayPal account. Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca. Membership is rewarding – and inexpensive.

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