22 Mar
2009
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been photographing some vintage cameras and scanning the instruction guides. This is partly to preserve them (graphically) and also to act as a small kind of tribute to a special person who owned these cameras and was passionate about his photography.
Here’s the set on flickr and here’s the slideshow:
Music on
The idea of creating a tribute to the previous owner of these old cameras really resonated with me. I particularly love the packaging and instructions as they seem even more powerful in taking your mind back to an era a generation or two ago. I’ve just dug out mum’s old ViewMaster. Those 3D slideshows are so period and definitely transport you to another time and for me another world. Her discs of the Canadian Rocky Mountains (circa 1955) were a major inspiration when making Reg, one of my Frillip Moolog sculptures (beings).
Thanks for the comment Kirsty. As I was scanning the packaging and opening up these old cameras, it certainly conjured up another era. What really struck me was the skill, craft and technical knowledge of this generation’s photographers, particularly in developing and enlarging photos. Real dedication was required to capture and publish a single image.