Tag Archives: photo

a rip van winkle photograph

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Shades of pinhole photography! Madeleine Muzdakis wrote this article for “Modern Met” on December 15, 2020. The article, “University Discovers Photo With 8-Year-Long Exposure That Was Taken With a Beer Can“, describes the technique used. The article begins, “The London 2012 … Continue reading →

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to catch a spy

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. During WW2, photography found many ways to be of service. This article in the January 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics shows photography making photo I.D. passes that helped separate the workers from the ‘spies’ in America during the war … Continue reading →

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read da fine print, dummy

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The February, 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics came out when I was a little kid still figuring out when to use a spoon (not really). Six years later, I took a bus ride with the rest of my grade … Continue reading →

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when I grow too old to dream …

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. … I’ll have you to remember. Or so the song says. To try for memory beyond a generation or two, people relied on a photograph – then and now! George, like anyone with a curiosity – and access to … Continue reading →

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riding the rails

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. View or Field cameras and Kodak folders, etc used a rail or two rails in parallel to move the lens, lens board (and shutter, if part of the lens) away from or closer to the sensitive media to capture … Continue reading →

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boxing it up

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The first half of the last century, most families used the humble box camera, and my grandmother was no different. The photographer in her small family, she recorded family members, friends, and neighbours over the years, the majority snapped … Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas 2021

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Robert

As the nasty COVID-19 rears its head one more time with the Omicron variation, I wish all viewers a safe holiday. This photo was taken by me over a half century ago with an Exakta VXIIa an hour north of … Continue reading →

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scoring in the frozen north

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Brrrr, it was real cold in 1905. Up in Dawson City, the guys put down their sticks and stopped flinging the rubber disk around long enough to let a local snap-shooter take this group photograph. David Shribman, published it … Continue reading →

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one ringy-dingy

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Most of us remember Lily Tomlin and her hilarious nasal rendering of an officious telephone operator. Today, few can even remember the time when we had party lines and local calls were connected by an operator. Today’s smart phone … Continue reading →

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a shot in the dark

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In Chicago of 1949, execution of notorious, James ‘Mad-Dog’ Morelli, made newspaper head lines because contrary to American law, the man’s execution was captured on film. This was about two decades after a similar incident in New York State’s … Continue reading →

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