Tag: Photography magazine

Isolated No. 9

I was dropping off an image to be framed at Lloyd’s Art Center here in Fort Collins when I noticed an old 1955 issue of Popular Photography sitting on the counter. The owner Alan Kinney had a stack of them and let me choose one for myself.  

As I looked through that magazine, I marvelled at how much photography had changed in thee last 60 years.  Let me share a few pages with you:

I chose this February 1955 issue because it had a special feature on Black and White and another on Edward Weston.

I enjoyed looking at the ads as much as I did reading the articles. Equipment was so cheap by today’s standards, but of course a dollar went MUCH further back then! (I won’t bore you with how much I could buy with a nickle)

What I would give to have a new Exacta VX for $189.50, or an Omega enlarger for $72.95!

I’ve owned many of these East German cameras and their variations: they were basic, cheap and reliable.

These ads remind me how convenient modern cameras are. I remember the days when every shot required a handheld meter reading, manually setting the shutter and aperture and then manually focusing (often on a moving subject) before you took the  shot.

No auto focus, no auto exposure, no auto white balance…no auto anything.

Modern equipment is so much better and convenient in every respect, except for perhaps one. The old cameras were durable and built to last several generations. I cannot imagine handing down my digital camera from generation to generation. If I get 5 years out of a modern camera, I count myself lucky.

This article is about the coming revolution in black and white due to advances in available light photography. A prominent development was the introduction of Tri-X film in 1954. Tri-X was very fast with an ASA of 400 which we often pushed to 1600 and sometimes even 3200, but the grain was terrible at that speed!

Could 1955 photographers ever believe that one day we could shoot at 25,600?

In 1955 Edward Weston was 68 years old, was seriously ill with Parkinson’s disease and would leave this world in less than three years. Popular Photography dedicated 12 pages to his images.

A favorite image of almost everyone is Pepper No. 30, which they oddly identify as Pepper, 1930.

There were a lot of helpful tips and news items in this issue:

Kalart introduced a new flash unit that automatically ejected hot spent flashbulbs.

Coating your Kodachrome glass slide holders with talcum powder will keep them from sticking together.

You can use tungsten film outdoors with the help of a No. 85 filter.

They explained how to adjust contrast when using Kodak Medalist paper by varying exposure and development times.

Instructions were provided on how to convert an ASA film speed index to a Weston speed number.

Tips were given on how to “push film” using D-23, D76 (my developer of choice, diluted 1:1) and Promicrol developers.

I’m sure this is Greek to anyone who is under the age of 50!

Kodak really ruled the world back then with many of the articles clearly written to promote their products. Kodak also had several large ads including this one on the back cover.

I wonder how this ad would sell today? Can you imagine Canon marketing a “Man’s Camera?” (I had never heard of the Chevron camera, does anyone remember it?)

~~~

Looking through this issue of Popular Photography was so much fun! The ads reminded me how much things have changed in the last 60 years and the article on Weston reminded me how much remains the same. 

And despite my wonderfully nostalgic feelings for the good old days of 1955 photography, I’d never go back. 

Cole