Eder’s History of Photography. Dover Reprint c1978
Toronto. Our society was founded in 1974 during the rapid growth of Photographic Historical Societies – essentially like-minded folk who collected cameras and possibly old photographs. Over time ranks swelled as people interested in the history of photography joined, followed by professional photographers interested in their roots, studios, etc.
One of the means to learn about a topic was books, One of the early books on the history of the art was Josef Maria Eder’s opus whose THIRD edition was published in 1905. Dover Publishing in New York published quality reprints of a number of books on photography. Included was Eder’s book in 1978.
While Eder’s work has a European slant, books by the Gernsheims and Beaumont Newhall counter balance it with a newer North American basis. (I met Helmut Gernsheim down in Rochester the fall of 1982 at the PhotoHistory V symposium).
As the interest in collecting cameras and images grew, a wealth of other collector oriented books were published, and fairs and auctions dedicated to the art flourished. Besides books, you can expand your knowledge and understanding not only of the history, but the processes and outcomes of photography through lectures, association with others of similar interests, attending to photographic auctions, and fairs, etc..
The value of old cameras and photographs increased as people became aware of their history, turnover of items from one collector to another, etc. The shift from chemical (film) to digital technology near the end of last century was a seismic shift resulting in a drop in interest (film) and perceived value as peoples’ interests shifted to computers, cell phones, digital television, etc.
Those interested in both the old film technology and the newer digital gear still swarm our events (see PHSC EVENTS at right) and join our society (see MEMBERSHIP above and at right). For questions related to the events, email our president Clint at fair@phsc.ca and for membership questions email our membership secretary Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.
