The UniveX Story

by Posted in Camera Collecting, Reading Leave a comment
univexstory-

The acquisition of my Mercury II (see: New Acquisition – Universal Mercury II CX) led to a desire to know more about the Universal Camera Corporation. Browsing around I quickly came across this book: The UniveX Story by Cynthia A. Repinski. I ordered a copy, little knowing that I would be getting it from the author herself, and with an autograph no less.

It’s a very thorough book. She clearly did a lot of research and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I thought the section relating to binoculars would be a bit boring (I’m not really into binoculars) but, surprisingly, it wasn’t. I came across this review on Amazon.com which pretty much sums up my views:

I have owned this book for about ten years. I am an avid camera collector, and I (like the author) have been enamoured of UniveX cameras since I first got one as a child. For those who are interested in the origin and history of items they collect, this type of reference work is a godsend. Most people have no idea of the Universal Camera Company’s impact on amateur photography in the U.S. This book helps to remedy that situation.

Ms. Repinski has addressed the primary topics that interest most collectors. First, she presents a very comprehensive history of the company. Second, she describes the various products of the company, providing chronology, original pricing (in some instances), competitive circumstances, and actual photos from her extensive collection. Third, and especially interesting for a book of this type, she makes use of the extensive papers of the company’s Chief Engineer to describe the manufacturing processes and challenges involved in designing the products, compiling and listing all the patents awarded to Universal throughout its existence. Fourth, she describes the business in detail, showing yearly income statements, and more importantly, describing the strategic decisions that were made by the company’s management that ultimately led to its demise. Fifth, she addresses the needs of the collector, rating all the products according to relative scarcity, defining the differences between various models and versions of each product. Although the competitive and marketing aspects of the company’s history are sometimes given short shrift, this volume will likely stand as the definitive study of a very interesting and influential company.

The Genius of Photography

by Posted in Photographers, Photographs, Photography, Reading Leave a comment
Jacques Henri Lartigue,

Jacques Henri Lartigue, “Bichonnade”, 40, rue Cortambert, Paris, 1905. Tirage gélatino-argentique. (MINISTERE DE LA CULTURE-FRANCE/AAJHL)

Our eldest granddaughter recently received a reading list for her future studies. One section related to “Art and Photography”. It contained the following items:

  • Steve McCurry, The Iconic Photographs
  • Don McCullin, The Impossible Peace: From War Photographs to Landscapes
  • Tim Walker, Pictures
  • Wells, L, Photography: A Critical Introduction
  • Badger, G, The Genius of Photography
  • Clarke, G, The Photograph: A Visual and Cultural History
  • Jeffery, I, Photography: A Concise History

I pondered the choice of photographers for a while. Three living photographers: a photojournalist (McMullin); a not universally liked and recently criticized photojournalist cum travel photographer (McCurry); and a fashion photographer (Walker). Why, I wondered this particular choice? Unfortunately, the list did not provide enough information for me to reach any conclusion.

Then I noticed The Genius of Photography by Gerry Badger. It turns out that it’s a companion book to a BBC TV series. I further discovered that the entire series is available online here (I believe it’s also available on YouTube).

According to Docuwiki:

In the most comprehensive look at the most influential art form in the world, the series explores every aspect of photography – from daguerreotype to digital, portraits to photo-journalism, art to advertising; in the UK, America, China, Japan, Africa and beyond. It includes interviews and encounters with some of the world’s greatest living photographers including William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, William Klein, Martin Parr, Sally Mann, Robert Adams, Juergen Teller, Andreas Gursky, Jeff Wall and many others. But as well as telling the stories behind the world’s greatest photographs and the photographers who took them, the series examines the ‘genius’ of photography itself, this magical, unpredictable and democratic medium that has transformed the way we see ourselves and our world.

The series culminates in an examination of the impact of the digital post-production techniques that make anything possible, and looks at the rediscovery of techniques which are taking photography back to the 19th century.
With contributions from Jeff Wall, Andreas Gursky, Gregory Crewdson and one of China’s leading photographer Wang Qingsong.

The series consists of six episodes, each about one hour long (the docuwiki page mentioned above provides longer descriptions of each episode):

  1. 1800-1914: Fixing the Shadows. A look at how the problem of ‘fixing the shadows’ was solved by two rival methods.
  2. 1918-1945: Documents for Artists. How, in the decades following the First World War, photography was the central medium.
  3. Right Place, Right Time. How photographers dealt with the dramatic events like D-Day, The Holocaust and Hiroshima.
  4. Paper Movies. A look at the golden age of photographic journeys from the 1950s to the 1970s.
  5. We are Family. How the medium translates personal relationships into photographic ones.
  6. Snap Judgements. A look at the current state of the art, from phone cameras to digital post production.

I’ve just watched all six episodes and I must say that I enjoyed it. Of course I have a few quibbles:

First. I think there was a definite bias towards documentary photography/photojournalism and against “art” photography. “Art” photography barely appears until the last episode, where it’s seen rather negatively as being driven by the market (a point, which I agree with) i.e. what sells, rather than what has artistic merit. The references to “pictorialism” are particularly negative.

Second. While I recognize that you have to make choices when making a documentary of this type, I feel that the passing mention of Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston (and I don’t think Paul Strand was even mentioned) doesn’t do justice to their contribution to photography. I was pleased to see that my idol, Eugene Atget was given the attention he deserves. Joel Meyerowitz referred to him as being to photography what Mozart was to music – head and shoulders above everyone else.

Third. If space was needed to incorporate some of these seminal figures, maybe a bit less time could have been devoted to the “intimate” photography (e.g. Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Araki etc.) in episode 5. I’m probably showing my own bias here. I’m not fond of this type of photography. It does, however, provide a hint as to the the type of photography that the creators of this series seem to think of as the best: a kind of a super amateur snapshot taken by a photographer with a kind of innate creativity and very basic equipment.

There were some great moments though. An interview with a wealthy family who had hired Diane Arbus to do some family pictures. I loved a line from the lady of the house, referring to some of the pictures as “Standard ones. The family under the Monet”. There’s also an interview with the boy (now grown up) in the famous “Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962” (also by Arbus). There was also an interesting piece in episode 6 about how the late Phlip Jones Griffiths (obviously a strong Cartier-Bresson disciple) had tried (unsuccessfully) to block Martin Parr‘s Magnum membership. And much more…

Taschen 20th Century Photography

by Posted in Reading Leave a comment
20thCenturyPhotography-1

I like these small, but thick Taschen books. They’re quite easy to carry around and I find that if I leave a copy on a nearby table I often pick it up when I have a moment or two to spare – just to browse. They’re also quite inexpensive (about $20 in this case).

This one is entitled 20th Century Photography and contains over 850 photgraphs from a large number of photographers (each photographer has his/her own short textual summary). Of course the pictures are necessarily quite small so you can’t see them in their full glory, but that’s fine for this type of overview.

One thing I missed when I bought the book was that this is 20th Century Photography as represented by the L. Fritz Huber Collection of Cologne’s Museum Ludwig. I have a few other ‘History of Photgraphy’ type books and they tend to be dominated by the usual suspects (e.g. Bresson, Frank, Stand, Adams, Weston etc.) mostly either American photographers or photographers who have worked in the US (with a few of the more famous non-American photographers sprinkled in). This books seems to have a more European orientation. Yes, many of the usual suspects are still there, but quite a few are missing – presumably because the Museum Ludwig does not have them in its collection. Some notable absentees are: Nan Golding, Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Lee Friedlander, Gary Winogrand, Robert Frank, Cindy Sherman, Imogen Cunningham and Minor White. These are just a few that I noticed. There are certainly more.

The lack of these famous photographers is offset by the large number of photographers I’d never heard of: e.g. Hugo Smölz (interesting architectural photography); Friedrich Seidenstücker (a chronicler Berlin Life); Jean Le Gac (narrative art) and many, many more too numerous to mention.

I’m glad I bought it.

The photograph above is from the books’s cover and is Charlotte March, Donyale Luna with Earrings for Tween magazine, 1966 Gruber Collection.

Rediscovering Roger and Frances

by Posted in Photography, Reading Leave a comment

Couple, Arles. Source: Photographs from the Home Page

Whenever I get interested in a subject I tend to read a lot about it. I started collecting cameras a few years ago and my first move was to start browsing web sites; reading articles and buying books about camera collecting. My first interest was rangefinder cameras and one of the first books I got was “Rangefinder: Equipment, History, Techniques” by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz. Subsequently I discovered the Roger was a regular contributor to one of the online fora I frequent (Rangefinderforum.com) and eventually I came across Roger and Frances’ own site, which I used to read regularly. And then somehow I stopped…

I realize now that I have become so dependent on my RSS feeds that if a site doesn’t have one (and I’ve never been able to find one on Roger’s site) I lose track of it.

I was with great pleasure then that I recently re-discovered Roger and Frances’ site – now with an all new look. I was a bit like reconnecting with an old friend.

I think I like the site so much because Roger and myself have a few things in common: we’re both British; we’ve both lived in France (he still lives there while I’ve moved to the USA); and from what he says we’re almost exact contemporaries. I love his thoughtful style of writing, always with that typically English touch of humour (in his honour I’ll spell both “humour” and “honour” the English rather than American way). Here’s a short extract from one of his articles. It pretty much sums up my own thoughts about why I take photographs.

…If you pursue the argument, I will say that because photography is an art (I regard with contempt anyone who still pretends it isn’t), then if I am a photographer, I am necessarily an artist. I do not however see any need to press the point, or to shout in your ear.

For me, though, ‘fine art’ comes down to something very simple. It is not something that artists do. Rather, it is an essential part of what they are. They do it because they can’t really imagine doing anything else. It’s not a hobby, a fad, a passing interest. Source: Fine Art Photography

Source: Rogerandfrances.eu Home Page

Unfortunately somewhere along the line the old site seems to have gotten lost. The new site has plenty of links to it, but whenever I follow one I get an otherwise blank screen with the cryptic message: “Could not determine user from environment”. I suppose it will get sorted out eventually. In the meantime there’s plenty to read and enjoy on the new site.

Now I just have to remember to keep looking for new articles.

A few photography related Christmas presents

by Posted in Photographers, Reading Leave a comment
christmaspresents-1

My family finds it difficult to decide what to get me for Christmas. I like CDs; books; photography related items. In the past that have bought me CDs and books that I already have and photography related stuff that I didn’t really want. So now I make an Amazon.com wishlist every year. This too can have its problems. Some items have been on the list for years and nobody buys them. Another case in point: I’ve been reading a four book series on the Overland Campaign of the US Civil War. I’ve read the first volume and started the second one. I got the fourth one as a Christmas present, but I’m missing the third one. I guess I’ll have to buy it myself. Generally, however,this scheme works well.

This year I got four photography related books. In case you can’t read the titles they are:

The History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present. Beaumont Newhall.

The Democratic Forest. Selected Works. William Eggleston.

Early Black and White. Saul Leiter.

Beyond Beauty. Irving Penn.

More to follow when I’ve had a chance to spend more time with them.