the phsc e-mail · 2009-11-13 · the phsc e-mail 3 vol. 9-8 november 2009 in 1971, gerald suffered...

THE PHSC E-MAIL 1 VOL. 9-8 November 2009

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009…Our speaker will be Toronto photographer Larry Frank: photographer, traveller, Photoshop instructor, digital

retouch artist. Larry pio-neered the Nikon School of Photography – Silver to Silicon and the School of Travel Photography and Travel Techniques seminars. He has pre-sented his teach-ins to over 130,000 profes-sionals and enthusiasts across Canada, Australia and through-out Asia, including China, Taiwan, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand. He has authored three instructional CDs on travel and digital pho-tography and has host-ed many photo expedi-

tions to the Arctic, Antarctic and Scotland with Adventure Canada. You won’t want to miss this one.

The public is welcome - please join us.

PLEASE NOTE THE MEETING WILL BE HELD IN THE BURGUNDY ROOM OFF THE SAME FOYER

AS OUR REGULAR MEETING ROOM(basement) of the North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street.

TTC Subway stop at the library door – plenty of underground parking.

T h e P H S C E - M A I L Vo lume 9-8 , Supp lement to Photograph ic Canad iana , November 2009 The Photograph ic H i s to r i ca l Soc ie ty o f Canada

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PHSC Monthly Meetingsare held on the third Wednesday from September to June in the Gold Room, of Memorial Hall in the basement of the North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge St., North York, Ontario. The meeting officially begins at 8:00 p.m. but is preceded by a Buy & Sell and social gathering from 7:00 p.m. onwards. For information contact the PHSC or Felix Russo, 33 Indian Rd. Cres., Toronto, ON, M6P 2E9, Phone (416) 532-7780.

Programming Schedule:November 18th, 2009-Toronto photographer and equip-ment expert Larry Frank will be on hand in the Burgundy Room with his presentation “Visual Bandwidth and the Art of Photography.” He is now with DayMen Photo Marketing Ltd.

December 16th, 2009-This is our Christmas Party which also features popular Show & Tell Nite. YOU MUST BRING A WRAPPED PRESENT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GIFT EXCHANGE. There will also be a Silent Auction.

January 20th, 2010-Jim Trautman will give us a visual presentation on his excellent aerial photography.

Send program suggestions to Felix Russo at (416) 532-7780 or e-mail to [email protected]. We are always interested in hearing new suggestions.

FOR PROGRAM UPDATESwww.phsc.ca

our E-mail address [email protected]

Robert A. Carter – Webmaster

TELL YOUR FRIENDS THEY CAN RECEIVE THIS E-MAIL NEWSLETTER FREE BY REQUESTING THEIR NAME BE PUT ON OUR MAILING LIST. SUGGEST THEY ALSO JOIN THE PHSC AT $35.00 – IT’S A BARGAIN:

www.phsc.ca/member_form.PDF

LARRY FRANK OF TORONTO


Andrew Stein’s grandfather founded Henry’s in 1909. After financial difficulties in the 1980s Andrew did a remarkable job restoring the business to its present vigor. He is the guiding light in the company’s adaptation to the digital revolution and its expansion into markets beyond the GTA.

In tonight’s talk, Mr Stein was accompanied by Janet Smith (marketing) and Ren Bostelaar (staff training). Ren gave a brief talk after Andrew on three modern day photographic accessories while Janet arranged gifts for each attendee.

The story of Henry’s begins with the arrival of 16 year old Harry Himelstein from Russia and his opening of a small store in Toronto, a business that evolved into one of the best known Canadian photographic retail chains. It is a story of struggle, growth, setbacks and sound planning.

Like many immigrants, Harry simplified his name, changing it to Harry Stein. In 1909, he put his skills as a watchmaker to use, establishing a small jewellery store - Henry & Company - a name he preferred to “Harry.” The business moved around the city from address to address, finally settling at 63 Queen St West.

Harry’s son Gerald joined the business in the 1940s and in 1945, father and son bought the building at 107 - 113 Queen West - across from what is now the new city hall. At the time, that stretch of Queen was taken up with second hand stores and pawn shops. Henry & Company was

no different, dealing in second hand goods including the odd camera, along with repairing watches.

Retailing was dominated for years by the big department stores like Eaton’s and Simpson’s with their control over name brand goods. But in the late 1950s changes were coming with the move to discount and speciality stores offering personal service and competitive prices. Cameras from Japan began to appear opening the market to small stores shut out from Leica, Zeiss and other well known brands. On the other hand, the watch and jewellery trade stagnated by the end of the decade.

Gerald and his wife Adele (Andy’s parents), bought out Henry & Company as it entered its second

half century. The most pressing need facing the new owners was finding a way to make the business grow and thrive. They decided to add photographic equipment and supplies to their stock, starting with a few rolls of 8mm movie film. By the mid 1960s more photographic products were added and sales were evenly split between photo goods and jewellery/second hand goods.

When the new city hall was built, the city also expropriated the buildings along the south side of Queen including their building so the couple moved to 135 Church

just above Queen. During the next few years business shifted more and more to photography.

Toronto Notes Reported by Robert Carter– COME ENJOY OUR NEXT MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2009

Our October 2009 Meeting see complete reviews on PHSC web site at WWW.PHSC.CA

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Janet Smith packed gift bags for all in atten-dance at the meeting.

ANDREW STEIN

The meeting was held in the Burgundy Room close to our regular venue location.

Appreciation is expressed by Felix Russo to Andy Stein, flanked by Ren, Janet and Clint.

Supplementary speaker Ren Bostelaar responsi-ble for staff training unveiled modern accessories.

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In 1971, Gerald suffered a heart attack and felt it was time to sell. The new owners were his son Andrew and son-in-law Mark Wolfson along with three others. Andy and Mark handled day to day business while the other partners dealt with administration. The store sold photographic equipment and supplies.

In 1974, the company name was shortened to “Henry’s” with the new orange logo reflecting the modern era. The owners bought the building at 119 Church Street, thus the new Henry’s moved to its present location just south of Queen. Changes came fast as the economy blossomed - a wholesale division (Targit) was added plus a partnership with a retail operation in Chicago. These were heady times as affordable SLRs attracted newcomers to photography. Five more retail outlets were opened. A photo finishing business (Photo King) was bought. Then disaster struck.

A severe recession hit in 1982. Interest rates shot up. The photo finishing venture struggled. People lost interest in photography. The result was traumatic. Over extended, the company was forced to close all but its main store, sell its building at 119 Church and sell most of its other assets.

About three months later, Andy Stein’s offer to buy out the other partners was accepted and he and his wife Gaye became sole owners. For the next decade, Andy worked hard to rebuild Henry’s reputation around expert service, quality merchandise, and competitive prices. Along the way in 1985, Andy was able to repurchase the building at 119 Church Street.

Going through bankruptcy taught Andy much about the insolvency trade, lessons he put to good use a few years later as his competitors began to struggle. Several companies were bought for their merchandise and their physical locations were closed. When Queen Street Camera, just around the corner was bought, the location was used for expansion (it houses the point and shoot, video and printer departments). During the 1990s three more retail locations were opened in the GTA.

After suffering health problems in 1997, Andy brought in Ian Landy to share the load. Ian focussed on marketing and planning. Under Ian’s direction Henry’s grew to over 28 stores including ones in Winnipeg and Nova Scotia. Like his father, Andy sensed the need for change as times changed, this time as film photography moved to digital. He was ready and prospered even as some of his old suppliers and competitors faltered. Henry’s was helped by its commitment to keeping up with the latest technology and avoiding the photo finishing side of the industry. In its operations, Henry’s has embraced training, sound infrastructure and up to date information technology. Operational efficiencies plus a staff of well trained professionals are helping Henry’s expand. Its more recent ventures include the School of Imaging, and acquisition of Headshots and joneshouse.

After Andy finished, Ren introduced three accessories for the digital photographer: Clickfree, photoGPS and Viveza. Digital images are saved as electronic files making back up critical - there are no negatives to fall back on. Clickfree will scan a drive

and copy files of selected types. Each time the device is plugged in, it searches out changes and does an incremental update. The device is sold with a large built-in hard drive or as a cable and dongle to connect to any external drive.

photoGPS is so popular there was no sample available. The gadget fits in a camera’s flash shoe and records the GPS coordinates each time a picture is shot. When the images are downloaded, the GPS file adds location detail to each image’s EXIF data. Programs like iPhoto can use this data to map the location where each shot was taken.

Viveza is a software plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. It simplifies the tedious job of masking to isolate an object from the background, to improve contrast, or adjust brightness or colour. Visualize the work needed to separate a model’s hair from the background to realize the value of Viveza.

See a full report of Andrew Stein’s presentation with images at our web site: www.phsc.ca

International Salon Deadline Closing Date November 13th

Ed Warner would like to remind our readers that members of many of the GTCCC member clubs can enter the Annual Toronto International Salon of Photography, hosted by the Toronto Camera Club. Salon Chairman, David Hillock, says the entry deadline of November 13 is fast approaching. He points out:

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITIONI am pleased to announce the 116th Toronto International Salon of Photography. Hosted by the Toronto Camera Club, this Salon is North America’s oldest photographic exhibition, and it is the third-oldest running competition in the world!

We have made some exciting

changes to the Salon this year. For example, we now have an electronic Entry Form that allows you to insert your photos easily, so you no longer have to use cryptic names for your photographs and you no longer have to send your photos by email.

We also have a completely updated salon web site. You can find the Entry Form, Conditions of Entry, and other useful information by visiting the Salon web site at: http://www.TorontoCameraClub.com/Salon

Note that all entries must be RECEIVED by Friday, November 13, 2009.

–David Hillock, 116th Salon Chair


CAMERASHOPPER MAGAZINE HITS THE 200 MARK

Editor-in-Chief Barbara Tepper is happy to report that her vener-able CameraShopper magazine

has reached the #200 mark after 20 years of publishing. She hopes that they can continue to provide what the readers want in an enter ta in ing and educa-tional way. The magazine

went on line this year as a down-loadable PDF file, and, as such, is available at a reduced $15.00 fee. Over the years it has been one of the best resources for photo infor-mation as well as for its many equipment want ads. Contact: www.camera-shopper.com

TOURISTING AT NIAGARA

AT FORT YORK, TORONTO

WITH PHSC OFFICERS, PRESENT AND PAST VISITING KANTYMIR COLLECTION

Robert Adams Wins 2009 Hasselblad Award

The Hasselblad Foundation’s international prize for “major photographic achievements” for 2009 has been awarded to one of today’s most important and influential photographers, Robert Adams from the USA. With great awareness and profound commitment Adams shows the beautiful and hopeful aspects of a landscape scarred by humanity, and the way that it adapts to new circumstances.

Adams’ early pictures from Colorado, in The New West and Denver, trace the rapid growth of the population and its aftermath, with freeways, new houses and shopping malls, telephone poles and billboards, open-air movie theatres, etc. In the series Prairie, Colorado, Clearcuts, Tree Line, Clatsop Beach and The Northwest Coast Adams has become increa- singly subtle in his documentation, concentrating on trees and bushes, clear-cut areas, along with more open landscapes and the ocean.

HAMILTONASSOCIATION REPORT

This 103 page publication (5.5 x 8.5 in.) for the Hamilton Association

came to us via Les Jones who found it i n t e r e s t i n g . It contains a description of the 1894–95 activities of their Photographic S e c t i o n . This journal

constitutes the report and minutes of the annual business meeting. Interest in amateur photography was on the rise and so established cultural and sports clubs were initiating photo sections to handle the blossoming interest. The Section had formed in 1892 and already they reported on several improvements made in the darkroom and apparatus added.

Gas had been introduced into the lamp while an Alladin [sic] lamp and a table had been purchased. An enlarging apparatus was installed enabling members to do their own enlarging.

During the Session medals were presented to winners of the photo competition by D.B. Charlton to A.H. Baker and J.R. Moodie.

April saw a very interesting exhibition by work of members which attracted great interest.

We hosted Marcel Safier of Brisbane, Australia as he extend-ed his trip to North America into Canada, attending PhotoHistory Symposium in Rochester, a PHSC meeting in Toronto, a visit to the Kantymir Collection, a daguerreian portrait in Buffalo and a Photo Fair in Boston.

Marcel Safier visits from Brisbane, Australia


Tokyo-based Sony Corp. has been battered by the global slow-down and sliding prices for gad-gets. But the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant said it now expects a smaller flow of red ink for the full fiscal year through March 2010. Sony reported a smaller-than-expected $289-mil-lion U.S. loss for the July-September quarter as healthy sales of PlayStation 3 game con-soles and Michael Jackson hits put it on track for a gradual recov-ery. The company acknowledged its liquid crystal display TVs and game machine computer chip businesses continued to be hurt by intensifying price competition.

Canon puts a slight twist on its money miseries by reporting on a PROFIT DECLINE. Canon Inc., the world’s largest camera maker, posted its seventh straight quar-terly profit drop as the stronger yen eroded the value of exports. Third-quarter net income fell 56 percent to 36.7 billion yen ($399 million) from 83 billion yen a year earlier. The yen’s 7.4 percent advance against the dollar in the quarter wiped 97 billion yen from revenue for the maker of cameras and office equipment which relies on overseas demand for about 80 percent of revenue. Increased adoption of cameras in mobile phones is also compounding Canon’s challenges as it seeks to weather the global recession. “Canon is a prime example of a Japanese exporter that’s been hit by the yen’s gain,” said Koji Toda, chief fund manager at Resona Bank Ltd. in Tokyo. Annual ship-ments of digital cameras will likely drop for the first time in 2009, tum-bling 14 percent to 103 million units, Kazuharu Miura, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd., reported last month.

And as to the Eastman Kodak Company, they swung to a third-quarter loss as the global reces-sion and tight credit markets ham-pered sales in its commercial print-ing business. For the recent quar-

ter, the Rochester, N.Y., printing and imaging company said its loss from continuing operations was $111 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to a year ago gain of $101 million, or 35 cents a share. Sales totaled $1.78 billion, down 26% from a year ago. For the full year, Eastman Kodak now expects its total revenue decline to be at the high end of the previously fore-casted range of 12% to 18%. The company previously forecasted a 2009 loss from continuing opera-tions of $200 million to $400 mil-lion, and continues to forecast that results will be at the low end of that range. “On a sequential basis, the positive trends are clear,” said Antonio Perez, chairman and chief executive. “Our sales are stabiliz-ing and some businesses are showing real signs of growth in the fourth quarter.”

Leonard Goh of CNET reports that designer Cat Bishop is hawk-ing some pretty cool modified cameras on Etsy.com which look like robots from the 1960s. Each piece has other objects attached

to it, such as a pool ball for a head and domino pieces for the legs. Surprisingly, most of these snap-pers still work, but they won’t top Miroslav Tichy who makes camer-as out of trash. These robot cam-eras will serve well as decorative pieces for the avid camera collec-tors.

On another note Goh says the Leica M9 is possibly the most expensive 35mm full-frame cam-era on the market with a hefty price tag of US$8,126.74. But that

doesn’t stop him from dreaming of owning one. On the other hand-photographer Jarle Aasland wants the M9, too, but he’s not simply sitting down and thinking about it. This shutterbug has set up a web site to explain his cause and to sell t-shirts to fund his dream camera. Each casual top costs between US$22.49 and US$35.99, and is available in both men’s and wom-en’s cuts. “Much as I would like to help Aasland get the M9,” laments Goh, “I think I’d rather save the money from buying a T-shirt and instead put it in my piggybank labeled Future Leica.”

According to a report out of Amsterdam, Holland, Samsung will announce their new Hybrid camera in December. Similar in concept to Micro Four Thirds – but using a larger APS-C sensor – this

new system is designed to com-bine the performance and quality of an SLR with the convenience and portability of a point and shoot. By replacing the mirror box and optical viewfinder of an SLR with an electronic viewfinder, the NX series is designed to allow smaller and lighter bodies and lenses. At one time, there was talk of a 14 megapixel CMOS APS-C sensor and a possible release in the spring of 2010. The Samsung NX10, the first camera of the Samsung hybrid camera system, is likely to be introduced in December, accord-ing to the article.

Assembled with thanks from reports by Fastlens, Rolf Fricke and CNET Asia.

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by Sonja PushchakFor those unable to attend the

recent 2009 PhotoHistory XIV event in Rochester, the 3 day event staged at George Eastman House and the Doubletree Hotel provided a conge-nial, stimulating and informed atmo-sphere with some of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic transnational collectors and authori-ties in photographic history. This year’s symposium welcomed attendees from Australia, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, the United States and Canada.

This year’s selection of 21 speak-ers provided a provocative range of significant issues for both students and collectors of photographic tech-nology and images. The Eastman House Curator of Technology Todd Gustavson unveiled his new book Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerre to Digital, a lavishly illustrated collection of 350 of Eastman House’s most exceptional cameras. Lorne Shields of Toronto, discussed the history of the bicycle through the lens of the camera and presented remarkable kinks in cycle design with examples from his vast

collection. Nancy Martin’s lecture on the archiving of the Kodak Historical Collection at the University of Rochester disclosed how eight pal-ettes of documents comprising Kodak’s rich and troubled history, including historical photographs, corporate information and techno-logical research, could be an invigo-rating and frustrating challenge. She

invited parties interested in the Kodak Collection to contact her at [email protected]. Matt Isenburg’s talk, “The Many Faces of Daguerre,” reconstructed a timeline for the few known photographs of Daguerre and demonstrated how frequently the face of the renowned inventor/pho-tographer was nothing more than an imaginative rendering.

Talks for the afternoon were split between the Dryden and Curtis the-atres and were loosely gathered around technology or image inter-ests. The standout of the Dryden theatre lineup was Barret Oliver. After years trying to unravel the mystery of the Woodbury mechani-cal reproduction technique, Oliver

Andrew Davidhazy shows high-speed cine equip-ment to interested audience members.

Registrants arrived from many parts of the world to participate in the PhotoHistory XIV seminars.

Audience in the Dryden Theater of the George Eastman House for the morning presentations.

Giuynn BethAnn, Christina Moceli, Tom Rall, Erin Waters, Nigel Maister and Stacy Waldman.

Rob Oechsle, Okinawa, Len Walle, Michigan, Terry Bennett, London, Michael Pritchard, London.

William Nassau, Ontario, Igor Peznik, Ohio, Rolf Fricke, Rochester, and George Mccabe, Ohio.

PHOTOHISTORY XIV at Rochester photographs by Robert Lansdale

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Barret Oliver traced history and technology of Woodburytype.

Rachel Stuhlman and Todd Gustavson, GEH authors.

Matthew Isenburg described The Many Faces of Daguerre.

Bill Kraus and Takayuki Kawai combined show.

Lorne Shields of Toronto themed bicycle photography.


opened his talk with a demonstra-tion of the seductive and dramatic range of tones that were the print-medium’s hallmark and shared the difficulties he faced trying to recap-ture this lost process.

The attendees at the Saturday evening banquet were treated to a talk by Steven Sasson concerning his involvement in the invention of the first camera to operate on digital technology. The surprise was that this feat took place at Eastman Kodak which failed to take advan-tage of being the first on the market with what is now must-have stan-dard equipment. Those in atten-dance were treated to a display of the original “digital camera” plus other follow-up models. It was a paparazzi melee as everyone imaged the grandfather of all digital camer-as.

The Symposium wrapped up with the annual Photo Trade Show on Sunday, including a camera appraisal, at which Canadians were able to access a fresh selection of photo collectibles.

It was over far too soon and we look forward to its return in three years time. –S.P.

FOR THE COMPLETE ROUNDUP OF PHOTOGRAPHS COVERING THE ROCHESTER SYMPOSIUM VISIT OUR PHSC WEB PAGE OR http://people.rit.edu/andpph/tphs.

html

Sarah Weatherwax examined Daguerreotyes in Philadelphia.

Linda Ries outlined Horace Mc-Farland and the Autochrome.

Les Newcomer traced Folmer & Schwing camera history.

Robert Bogdan gave history of photo post cards 1905–1935.

George Layne spoke on String-set Kodak Cameras.

Marcel Safier, Brisbane, Australia Rob Niederman, Minnesota, and Rob McElroy of Buffalo, N.Y.

Recording the gathering of the Western Camera Collectors Group before the Eastman mansion.

Cameras, cameras, cameras.... Fresh stock for visitors from afar provided a variety of choices.

Cased images of all varieties tempted the buyer on manned tables in the trade show.

Steven Joseph in the Curtis Theater talk-ing on Early Advertising Photography.

The yellow bus carried registrants to and from the Dryden theater during the Saturday Symposium.

A quick lunch was served in the facilities of the nearby Asbury Methodist Church.

Neil MacDonald and Steven Evans peruse the selection of photographic art at the trade show.

MORE IMAGES ON NEXT PAGE

MORE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM PHOTOHISTORY IN ROCHESTER


Visiting from afar were: Michael Pritchard, UK, Marcel Safier, Australia, and Ria Scheiba, Steven Joseph, Dieter Scheiba. All were from Belgium.

The main Ballroom of the Double Tree Hotel as the ban-quet proceeds with ceremonies and talk by Sasson.

Peter Sinclair of Toronto trained his special 3D camera on #1.

Steven Sasson happily show-ing the first digital camera.

Banquet attendees gladly accepted the invitation by Steven Sasson to photograph himself with the “grandfather” of all digital cameras. It became a melee of paparazzi photographers.

A part view of the resplendent Trade Show floor that finished off bustling PhotoHistory XIV. The variety of photo goods offered ranged from cameras to images, books to accessories.

Some Canadians in attendance: John Morden, Sonja Pushchak, Lorne Shields, Doug Napier, Sheldon Chen and Felix Russo.

Ruud Hoff of The Netherlands with Ralph and Bobbi London of Oregon viewing laptop images.

Rodger Digilio, banquet cam-era and Simon Wing AJAX.

Mike Bogue and Ken Bectrand featured Graphics of all shapes.

John Craig and Bryan Ginns, NY State check stereo image.

Alan Redeker of Glens Falls, NY with a No. 00 Cartridge Premo.

Marshall Lapp with Francois Lemai from Montreal.

PHOTOHISTORY IN ROCHESTER


IF you like reading this PHSC E-Mail newsletter then you’ll thoroughly enjoy our hard copy Photographic Canadiana. Four issues of twenty B&W pages of in-depth research for only $35.00 per year – www.phsc.ca/member_form.PDF

Over the past year we’ve revealed the mystery of the Gordon Camera; early cinematography in Canada; investigated a Fireman daguerreian portrait from Kingston; discovered the first daylight processing tank; revealed an early photo album from British Columbia; found Octagons on Kodak cameras; a Love Story from World War One; photo processes of early colour, carbon printing and Chromotypes, plus special reports.THE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

PHOTOGRAPHICCANADIANA

Volume 35 Number 2 Sept.– Oct.– Nov. 2009

HARVEST PILGRIMS: Mexican and Caribbean Migrant Farm Workers

in Canada Launch of new book by Vincenzo Pietropaolo

The Stephen Bulger Gallery will celebrate the launch of Vinenzo’s new book on Tuesday, November 10th from 7-9 PM at which the photographer will give a talk. Award-winning photographer and social activist Vincenzo Pietropaolo has been photographing migrant farm workers and recording their stories since 1984. He has travelled to forty locations throughout Ontario and visited the workers’ homes in Mexico, Jamaica, and Montserrat. Harvest Pilgrims was published by BTL Books (www.btlbooks.com) and made possible by a grant from the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (www.ufcw.ca). Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen St. West Toronto. Phone 416.504.0575 or internet bulgergallery.com

THE ST. LAWRENCE WARD:

A Pictorial View of Toronto’s Oldest Neighbourhood.

Nov. 14, 2009 to March 13, 2010

A historical image exhibition at The Market Gallery, South St. Lawrence Market, 95 Front St. East, Toronto, Ont., Tel: 416-392-7604 or e-mail [email protected]

The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 10 am – 4 pm; Saturday 9 am – 4 pm; Closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is free.

HENNY KANTYMIR sends best wishes to all her

friends in the PHSCHenny Kantymir, wife of Past-

President Bill Kantymir hopes to return to one of our meetings soon. She is making progress to walk again after a traumatic bro-ken leg that hospitalized her for some time. It was during this time that Bill passed away (Nov. 2007) and it was most heartening to see

her attend the funeral cere-m o n i e s despite her affliction. As she said: “ W i t h o u t attending the funeral there would never have been a closing with Bill.”

Les Jones puts us to the test to find infor-mation about the cam-era pictured at left.

On the shield below the lens it is clearly marked as Manufact’d by the Seneca Camera Co. Rochester, N.Y. USA.. The lens carries a black plate above the aperture designating it as a Junior. The metal front standards bear some semblance to Cartridge Kodaks.

It is a folding “cycle-stye” view camera, tak-ing 4x5 inch images. The wooden holders are stamped “Rochester Camera & Supply Co.” in use 1897-1899. The

company produced the Poco and Premo lines of cameras.

But where the mystery creeps in (and Les has researched every source he can find) is a brass name plate on the base of the front standard bearing the name KOKO. Any ideas on this one?

Another Camera Myster y...


The International Exhibition of 1862 was held from May to November 1862 in South Kensington, London, England. It was put on to showcase technical progress and disseminate information and new ideas. It followed the tradition of two earlier major international exhibitions – The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations held in London, England in 1851 and the Exposition Universelle held in Paris, France in 1855. These exhibitions were subsequently followed by a great many more similar exhibitions over the years. For the International Exhibition of 1862, the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company had the exclusive contract to photograph inside the exhibition. They produced both stereoscopic photographs and large format images. They advertised a total of 350 stereo views, but with variant negatives, the total number of different stereos produced was much larger than the 350 views advertised.

In this book, Michael Tongue explains the importance of the International Exhibition of 1862. He gives us a brief description of some of the exhibits and the building that housed the exhibits. He gives a brief introduction to photographic technology as it was practiced in 1862 and he tells us about the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company. He also reminds us of some of the prominent events that were occurring around the world at

that time. In his description of the exhibition he has reproduced the exhibition floor plan which shows where the various displays

were located within the building. This shows that the displays from Canada were in the N.E Transept and included separate displays from Canada (this would have included Canada East, now Quebec, and Canada West, now Ontario), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island (remember that 1862 was before Canadian confederation). Tongue also reproduces the “Regulations with respect to the Admission of Visitors to the Exhibition.” For the bulk of the book Tongue conducts us on a guided tour through the exhibition. To do this, he has reproduced 49 stereo views,

mostly published by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, and he has described these using contemporary reports of the exhibition, primarily from reports printed at the time in the Illustrated London News. This describes the exhibition and the exhibits in the words of the people who were actually at the event. And he has included a stereo viewer in the cover of the book which can be folded out and used to view the stereographs printed in the book. In addition to the stereo views, Tongue has also included a number of enlarged half stereos: some are the same image as the stereo view presented, while others are variants. Many of the illustrations are in colour as they were copied from images that were originally hand tinted. And the monochrome images are printed in sepia colour to reproduce the appearance of the original stereo cards. For the images used in the book, Tongue has included the View Numbers and Captions as published by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company. A useful addition to this book would have been a listing of all the known London Stereo views of the exhibition, not just those published in this book.

The stereo viewer included with this book is handy, folds out easily, provides nice magnification of the images and, since it is built into the cover of the book, it

A BOOK REVIEW by Robert G.Wilson

3D Expo 1862:A Magic Journey to Victorian England By Michael TongueSweden: Discovery Books, 2006. ISBN 91-972118-2-6, 112 pages, numerous monochrome and colour illustrations with a stereo viewer build into the cover.

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cannot go missing like sometimes happens with loose viewers included in other stereo books. The viewer works satisfactorily and allows the reader to view the third dimension of the images as they were meant to be seen. However, I found this viewer a little harder to use than other types in similar books. This is likely because the images have been slightly magnified with 75-80 mm distance between corresponding points in the two images. This is larger than the distance between most people’s eyes. A series of books of modern stereo views by Mark Blum (Beneath the Sea IN 3-D, bugs IN 3-D and Galápagos IN 3D) each publish the images with about 65 mm between corresponding points and I found the images in these books by Blum easier to view in stereo than those in 3D Expo 1862. However, with a little adjustment of the viewer, my eyes did get accustomed to using the viewer and I was able to view the images in 3D.

This book was published in 2006 at £20. As I write this there are currently a number of remaindered copies available which you can find using www.bookfinder.com or www.abebooks.com. I got my copy recently for about $22 Canadian including postage from Britain and delivered in about a week. But if you are interested in this book you should act fast while these copies are available. Another copy of this book sold recently in an auction for $70US plus 10 percent buyer’s premium plus postage.

This is a well produced book with nice reproductions of the stereo images and is a fine addition to my stereoscopic library.

–R.G.W.

3D EXPO 1862 CONTINUED

The Annual Daguerreian Sympo-sium will be staged in Philadel-phia, November 12–15, 2009 at The Crowne Plaza Philadelphia Main Line Hotel, 4100 Presidential Blvd. In conjunction with the sym-posium a featured exhibit: Catch-ing a Shadow: Daguerreotypes in Philadelphia, 1839-1860, will be on view at the Library Company of Philadelphia with pioneer examples by Robert Cornelius, Marcus Root and the Langenheim brothers.

This great event actually starts on Wednesday November 11th with special behind-the-scenes tours arranged at the Conservation Cen-ter for Art and Historic Artifacts, fol-lowed by a tour Thursday afternoon at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The 21st Symposium opens with a celebration Thursday evening

at the I Photo Central and Vintage Works, Ltd. It’s a time to meet ev-eryone and visit the historically sig-nificant Library Company of Phila-delphia.

Friday provides a list of knowl-edgeable speakers. Kicking off the series is: Alex Novak, moderator, with panelists J.J. Chen, Adrienne Lundgren and Grant Romer: Con-servation Issues and the Daguerre-otype: A Panel Session. Cliff Krainik will speak on John Plumbe in Phila-delphia. Jeff Richman will present some interesting conclusions about Green-Wood’s Great Daguerreians.

From France comes Jean-Pierre Spilbauer, Mayor of Bry-sur-Marne. – his topic: Discoveries in the Res-toration of Daguerre’s Diorama. Sarah J. Weatherwax, will discuss the Library Company of Philadel-phia’s current exhibition, Catch-ing A Shadow: Daguerreotypes in Philadelphia, 1839-1860. Elena Simonova-Bulat, presents Preser-vation Daguerreotypes at Harvard. Matthew R. Isenburg, collector ex-traordinaire, will discuss The Many Faces of Daguerre.

Saturday November 14th will see the Annual Trade Fair opening for registrants at 9:00 AM – a room full of shining daguerreotypes plus much other photographica. Satur-day evening is the Annual banquet, presentation of Society awards and the Benefit Auction. Sunday morn-ing completes the events with a business meeting.

For latest information contact their web site at: www.daguerre.org/

The Daguerreian Symposium to be held in Philadelphia, November 12-15 2009


Coming Events & Want Ads

ART GALLERY OF ONTARIOAlexander Calder: The Paris Years 1926–1933 is a superb exhibition at the AGO. Together with Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, The Condé Nast Years, 1923–1937 and Beautful Fashions: Photography at the AGO. Until January 3, 2010 – never been a better time to visit!

UPCOMING POST CARD SHOWSunday, Nov. 15th, 2009 Postcard & Paper Show at Thornhill Community Centre, 7755 Bayview Ave., corner of John St., Toronto. Runs 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM $2.00 admission, plenty of free parking. www.postcard-directory.com/SHOWS

For SaleSheldon Chen has published a book of Karsh images. “All Things Karsh” is a high quality, limited edition book in a pre-sentation box plus a modern Karsh portrait from the original negative. Priced at $400 list. [email protected] Photo Paper and FilmSarah Wooldridge appeals for donations of B&W darkroom materials – photo papers, chem-icals, roll film and 35mm sleeves. SKETCH, a community arts ini-tiative needs help for students unable to continue projects year round. Contact via [email protected].

For SaleEarly Photography in Kingston (biographies of 60 photographers) by Jennifer McKendry. Available at $15 plus $3 for shipping. For cop-ies contact: J. McKendry, 1 Baiden St., Kingston, ON, K7M 2J7

WantedSyd Moscoe, curator at Harbord Collegiate wishes to transfer 8 and Super 8 film to DVD, also wants 8mm projector. Tel 905-881-2477 or [email protected]

Wanted by EditorImages by Toronto photographer Eli J. Palmer are needed by editor Lansdale for upcoming article. D a g u e r r e o t y p e s , cartes de visite or cabinet prints. Send scans to: b o b . l a n s d a l e @ 1 s t a c c e s s .com

WantedCash paid for collections, liquida-tions and estates containing cam-eras, lenses, photographs, docu-ments, books, negatives etc. Courteous service and references. Please call Tom for no obligation evaluation 416-888-5828.

For SaleQuantity of ‘Victorian’ fam-ily photo albums, some scenic glass lantern slides and two Beau Brownies. Tel: 416 691-1555 [email protected]

WantedEd James is looking for Russian F.E.D. and Zorki 35mm type camer-as, NO Zenits! Contact: Ed James, P.O. Box 69, Elkhorn, Manitoba, R0M 0N0, Tel: 204-845-2630.

Buying or ConsignmentVintage cameras wanted by expe-rienced ebay seller. Professionally presented with pictures and description. Contact at 905-994-0515 or [email protected]

WantedJohn Young (ex-Young’s Camera) needs ground glass, 6.5x8.5” and 5x7” and tripod for a Thornton Pickard view camera: 416 244-1292 [email protected]

For SaleCD ROM of B i o g r a p h i c a l Index of Dagerreotypists in Canada 1839-1871 by Graham Garrett is avail-able for research. It’s the perfect source for listings of the earliest photo process in Canada. Available thru Archived Books at www.archivedbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html OR www.se-photo.com.

WantedBicycle & Motorcycle p h o t o g r a -phy – all r e l a t e d i t e m s . C o n t a c t Lorne Shields, P.O. Box 87588, 300 John St. P.O., Thornhill, ON., L3T 7R3, [email protected].

For SaleDurst Colour enlargers and many enlarging lenses from the Toronto Image Works. Laborator 1840 (vertical & horizontal) with assorted carriers; Laborator 184, mixing heads and carriers. Lenses available: 50mm, 80mm, 105mm, 210mm, 250m, 300mm, 305mm, 360mm. Reasonable offers considered. Contact Francine at 416 703-1999 or www.torontoimageworks.com

LAST SHOW THIS YEAR

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL CAMERA

SHOW

Sunday, November 22, 2009 at the Thornhill Community Centre, 7755 Bayview Ave., Thornhill. Doors open 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Admission $7.00. Contact Sue Wooten at [email protected] for tables. Bring this coupon for a $2.00 discount off the $7.00 admission price.

the phsc e-mail · 2009-11-13 · the phsc e-mail 3 vol. 9-8 november 2009 in 1971, gerald suffered...

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