Photography Exhibition : Edinburgh

August Sander

Where do you start with the likes of photographer extraordinaire August Sander? By using some of the wordage about him from the National Galleries of Scotland website? Yeah why not?!?

"In the 1920s and early 1930s, a new approach to photography – use of close focus, a greater objectivity and a concentration on modern life – was pioneered in Germany. It closely paralleled the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) movement in painting, graphics and film, which included the work of Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz and Christian Schad.

One of the major figures of the new German photography and a key figure in the history of photography in general was August Sander. Best known for his portraits, which formed the basis of his commercial studio, he set out on an ambitious project to photograph all layers of German society from the farmers and country-people, through the workers, craftsmen, technicians and industrialists in the towns and cities, on to people who were sick and disabled".

This exhibition is really really a must-see! Here's a link to it ... link to it

12 February to 10 July 2011

Open Daily; 10:00 - 17:00

Admission : Free

The Dean Gallery
75 Belford Road
Edinburgh
EH4 3DR
Scotland

Tel : 0131 624 6200

Photography Lecture : Glasgow

The Photography of Margaret Watkins : The Mitchell Library

This is definitely one for your diary. The fifth annual Annan Lecture (presented by the Scottish Society for the History of Photography) will be given by Joe Mulholland in the Mitchell Library Jeffery Room on Thursday 25 March at 18:00.

Here's a brief history of Margaret Watkins

Margaret Watkins was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1884 and died in obscurity in Glasgow in 1969. She was active in New York in the 1920s, where she had a studio in Greenwich Village and worked with Clarence White and the other great photographers of the period including Stieglitz and Strand. Her work in advertising and art photography was often innovative and experimental, and she exhibited internationally.

In 1928 she visited her four elderly aunts in Glasgow, which became her base for the rest of her life, allowing her to travel in Europe and particularly in Russia where she made some of her most striking work. However, after the war she became very reclusive. Joe Mulholland was her neighbour, but in the many years he knew her, she never referred to her photographic career and it was only after her death that the nature and scale of her achievement became evident.

Sounds fascinating, see you there.

6:00pm Thursday 25 March 2010

Admission : Free

The Mitchell Library
Jeffery Room
North Street
Glasgow
G3 7DN
Scotland

Tel : 0141 287 2999

Pinhole Camera Photography Project

Part IV of IV : Developing the Final Print

So far you've read about the historical significance of pinhole photography, we've constructed the camera itself and you've seen how to create a negative image on photographic paper. If you're new to this four part blog you'll probably want to read the other three before this one.

In this part (the last part) we are about to make a final print using the contact print method. You will also need an extra piece of equipment for the darkroom; a 60 watt light. You could use a table lamp but remove the shade first.

DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
In the darkroom take out a sheet of photographic paper. With the shiny/emulsion side facing up place the paper on top of the camera. The emulsion side of photography paper feels more glossy/smooth than the reverse.
DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Take the dried negative and place it face down on top of the unprocessed sheet (emulsion to emulsion).
DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Place the square sheet of clear acrylic (included in the kit) on top.
DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Use the elastic bands to hold everything in place, making sure they're not covering the back of the negative print. The negative and new sheet of photographic paper need as good contact as possible.
PART DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Hold the top of the camera towards your 60 watts light; no nearer than 4 feet. Keep your fingers away from the paper. Switch on the light for 2-3 seconds (my negative is slightly underexposed so I switched on for only 2 seconds to compensate). You could open the darkroom door instead if it's bright outside.
DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Now develop the contact print (the sheet of photographic paper under the negative) in your darkroom chemicals (following the steps in Part III).

And here (on the left) is the final print. The negative image is on the right. My positive print is still a little underexposed; so maybe 1 second under the 60 watt bulb would have been enough. But that's the nature of this type of photography. You need to keep a record of exposure times and adjust them with each new print until you have a well exposed image. When you look at the final image remember you have used historical photographic techniques. And you have a final print not dissimilar to photographs produced by the pioneers of modern photography.
Tips and Problems
Your darkroom chemicals ("developer" and "fixer") have a limited life after they're mixed. "Developer" will last about a day and goes from pale brown to brown. "Fixer" may last a few days and goes from clear to a very pale yellow.
Underexposed images are pale and need more exposure time (at camera or contact print stage).
Overexposed images are dark and need less exposure time (at camera or contact print stage).
If your paper remains white check the paper was loaded the right way round.
If your paper is black check the camera for a light leak.

I wanted this series to be as real as possible so documented actual results of the first run. I'll revisit the process over the next few weeks and see how far I can improve the image.



Useful Pinhole Photography Links
f295 - on line community of pinhole photography enthusiasts.
Pinhole Photography : History, Images, Cameras, Formulas
Pinhole Photography Theory
On line gallery pinhole camera images


Pinhole Camera Kit Supplier
Flights of Fancy
3 Linglie Mill
Level Crossing Road
Selkirk
TD7 5EQ
Borders
Scotland

Tel : 01750 22142
Fax : 01750 22147

Pinhole Camera Photography Project

Part III of IV : Exposing & Developing The Negative Image

In the first post of this series I covered the historical significance of pinhole photography and in Part II we constructed the camera itself. In this post (Part III) we'll expose and develop a negative image on to bog standard photographic paper.

Talking of bogs; a quick word about darkroom and safelight requirements. Before we can load photographic paper into the camera we need a room that's completely dark. Even the smallest amount of white light can spoil the paper. I'm using an internal loo but in winter almost any room can be used at night with curtains closed. Running water nearby is useful but not essential. I always have the "developer" bath on the left, "fixer" bath in the middle and clean water bath on the right. Knowing where everything is before you turn the light out is important for anything you plan to do in the dark.
We are not working with negative film so we can use a red safelight in the darkroom. I'm using a homemade red safelight put together from a small torch, rubber band and a sheet of red cellophane (the cellophane is included in the kit).
Wrap the cellophane around the torch head and rubber band around the cellophane. (n.b. the power of the torch bulb should be no higher than 7 watts and it should be no nearer than 4 feet from where you are working). You'll quickly get used to working in low (red) light; just give your eyes a minute or two and they'll soon aclimatise.
Now it's time to create the pinhole itself. Push the needle through the hole in the outer box (as near to the centre possible) and into the internal black card box. Make the hole as clean as possible, turning the needle to round out the hole. Be careful not to make the pinhole larger than the needle itself.
DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Take out a sheet of photographic paper. With the shiny/emulsion side facing the front of the camera slide the sheet of photography paper fully down the back of the camera. You will be able to detect which is the emulsion side; it will feel more glossy and smooth. Put the lid back on and wrap the two elastic bands around the camera to hold the lid in place. Don't forget to close the photographic paper pack before turning on the whitelight or opening the darkroom door.
Now we're ready to shoot. Exposure times will be longer than you're probably used to, between 15 seconds and 10 minutes at a guess. So the cat, dog, goldfish, kids or F1 racing are definitely no-nos (a Scunthorpe United defender should be no problem though).

I'm shooting the view from my bathroom. It's not ideal weatherwise, that would be a sunny/high contrast day. It's a very dull day, so I'm going to give it about a 3 minute exposure. I know what your thinking. Your thinking "About?? Surely there's a more accurate way than using About!?". Well there is and here it is....the pinhole is the aperature ok? The focal length is the distance from the pinhole to the photographic paper ok? So if the hole is one inch wide and the focal length is three inches, the ratio is 1:3 ok? Therefore our aperture would be f/3 ok? You just need to measure your pinhole and apply the formula ok? Nope? Well you did ask. Try these guideline exposures instead - Bright Sun : 15 seconds, Overcast : 60 seconds, Dull : 2 minutes, Interior light : 5 minutes.

Long exposure times mean there's no way you can hand hold the camera. So you need to position it somewhere solid (a chair, table, wall, ground). When it's in position place a finger on top and open the shutter. Close the shutter when the desired time is up.
You don't need to mix (i.e. dilute with water) the "developer" and "fixer" in the darkroom with only the safelight on. They are, however, temperamental and best used at room temperature. Remember to use rubber gloves when handling them.

DARKROOM AND SAFELIGHT ONLY : ACTIVITY
Remove the camera lid and take out the photographic paper. Using the tweezers, slide the paper into the "developer" (shiny/emulsion side down) for 10 seconds. Turn the paper over and gently rock the bath (agitate) back and forth to remove trapped air bubbles. Watch the negative image appear on the emulsion and allow it to go a little darker than you think is ok (you need to compensate for the effect of the red safelight). It should take between 1 and 2 minutes.
Next, we need to stop the development process. Lift the paper out of the "developer" and put it into the "fixer" (again shiny/emulsion side down) for 10 seconds. Turn it over and agitate (the bath not you) for about two minutes. It's now safe to put on the whitelight.
Finally. We need to wash off the chemicals. Place the negative face down in the water for 10 seconds then turn over (the paper not the bath or yourself) and agitate for a further 1-2 minutes.

And that's it. To dry the negative print you can hang it on a line (inside not outside next to your laundry) with a peg or just lay it out on a suitable surface. Our own negative turned out slightly underexposed (too light). It's probably due to in-camera underexposure but could also be down to insufficient time in the "developer" bath. We can try compensate for this in the final step - "Part IV : Developing the Final Print".


Useful Pinhole Photography Links
f295 - on line community of pinhole photography enthusiasts.
Pinhole Photography : History, Images, Cameras, Formulas
Pinhole Photography Theory
On line gallery pinhole camera images


Pinhole Camera Kit Supplier
Flights of Fancy
3 Linglie Mill
Level Crossing Road
Selkirk
TD7 5EQ
Borders
Scotland

Tel : 01750 22142
Fax : 01750 22147

Pinhole Camera Photography Project

Part II of IV : Building the Camera

In Part I of this series of posts I covered the historical significance of pinhole photography. In Part II we'll construct the camera itself.

Here's the sides of our pinhole camera. The camera shell is made out of an MDF type material. We chose to glue our camera together but you don't have to.
First we assembled the sides and base.
After attaching the base panel we screwed on the "shutter" over hole in the front panel.
Next is the internal black card box. This will help light-proof the camera and help create a square image on the photographic paper inserted (later) into the rear of the camera.
The black box is glued together using the folded tabs.
Notice the black box has a side missing?
Well the side with the hole should face the rear of the camera when you drop it in. It's also useful to glue a strip of paper onto the top of the black box. This will make it easier to remove the box and photographic paper in the dark-room.
Now place (don't glue) the lid onto the top of the camera.
Wrap elastic bands around the outer shell (for extra light security) and we have our very own Pinhole Camera.
In Part III we'll make the pinhole itself (in the internal black box through the hole under the "shutter"), we'll insert photographic paper inside the camera and we'll expose our first image.


To come - "Part III : Exposing & Developing The Negative Image" and "Part IV : Developing the Final Print".



Useful Pinhole Photography Links
f295 - on line community of pinhole photography enthusiasts.
Pinhole Photography : History, Images, Cameras, Formulas
Pinhole Photography Theory
On line gallery pinhole camera images


Pinhole Camera Kit Supplier
Flights of Fancy
3 Linglie Mill
Level Crossing Road
Selkirk
TD7 5EQ
Borders
Scotland

Tel : 01750 22142
Fax : 01750 22147

Pinhole Camera Photography Project

Part I of IV : Camera Construction & History



During this half term school break I'm building a pinhole camera my daughter received (from me) for Christmas 2009. The camera kit is made by the Scottish Borders based company Flights of Fancy (Flights of Fancy is the wholesale/trade arm. The website for retail customers is The Other Branch).

I know what you're thinking. You're either thinking "what's a pinhead camera?" or you're thinking "who wants to mess with smelly chemicals; isn't that why we have digital photography?". Well firstly it's a pinhole camera and not a pinhead camera. And secondly the pinhead .. oops .. pinhole camera is a perfect way to teach the principles of photography.

Historical Importance of Pinhole Photography
Pinhole photography is the simplest form of photography; where the lens is a basic pinhole. In the history of photography it was the important stepping stone from camera obscura to lens camera; its' principles are those which underly photography itself.

Pinciples of Pinhole Photography
The pinhole camera has an infinite depth of focus (unlike lens cameras). This means everything in the image (whether it's 2 feet from the camera or 2 miles from the camera) will be in focus (the scientific explanation of this is Circles of Confusion). The image will appear upside down and back to front (inverted) on the inside rear of the camera.

Recording & Processing the Image
To record the image in our pinhole camera all we need is a piece of photographic paper placed on the rear wall of the camera. This will create a negative image on the paper (after processing in the darkroom chemicals). The print (positive image) is created with another sheet of photographic paper using a process called contact printing.


I'll blog our progress in three further parts. "Part II : Building The Camera", "Part III : Exposing & Developing The Negative Image" and "Part IV : Developing the Final Print".


Useful Pinhole Photography Links
f295 - on line community of pinhole photography enthusiasts.
Pinhole Photography : History, Images, Cameras, Formulas
Pinhole Photography Theory
On line gallery pinhole camera images


Pinhole Camera Kit Supplier
Flights of Fancy
3 Linglie Mill
Level Crossing Road
Selkirk
TD7 5EQ
Borders
Scotland

Tel : 01750 22142
Fax : 01750 22147

Favourite Photographers

Garry Winogrand : 1928 - 1984


I've updated my blog list of favourite photographers with the name of Garry Winogrand. Garry captured mid 20th Century American life in the most wierd & (at the same time) compelling photographic vistas.

He was also prolific; very prolific. If you've ever read one of those Monty Pythonesque rants in a photographers blog about how "...in the good old days of film you had to be scrooge-like with your exposures.." and "...you couldn't just snap away like you can now with digital.." or "...I had to shoot 8 hour weddings on 1 roll of 36 exp. film (24 exp. if I wanted to eat that week).."; well consider this : Winogrand is reputed to have exposed 3 rolls of film every day for his entire adult life (100 pictures a day, 36,500 a year). When he died he left more than 2500 rolls of film exposed but undeveloped, 6500 rolls developed but not proofed, and 3000 rolls of unexamined proofs.

So don't feel guilty about how many images you photograph. Equally, the old "film is cheap" mantra is no different to the current "digital is free" nonsense. It wasn't. It isn't. Just do it.

Here's a couple of youtube links to an interesting documentary on the man himself :

Garry Winogrand Documentary Part 1
Garry Winogrand Documentary Part 2

Julius Shulman : 1910 - 2009

"One of the finest architectural photographers of all time"


I've just read on the BBC website of the recent death of Julius Shulman (link to BBC article). So what was so special about Shulman? Well (for me) he shows, no matter what the subject, the key to great imagery is considered composition. Take a look at some of his work to see what I mean (link to his work, another link to his work). And the next time you're about to press the shutter take a moment to reconsider how you've framed your shot.

Photography Exhibition : Edinburgh

25 Years of Photography : National Gallery of Scotland

This exhibition celebrates the first 25 years of the Scottish National Photography Collection (and long may it continue). The collection is designed to collect, research, exhibit and publish photography with a Scottish bias. And why not. Here's the link link.

14 February to 19 April, 2009

National Gallery Complex
The Mound
Edinburgh
EH2 2EL
Scotland

Oscar Marzaroli

BBC iPlayer : Public Artwork

On Radio 4 this week there was an interesting program about Oscar Marzaroli (Italian born "Scottish" photographer). The program is now available on BBC iPlayer, here's the link.

Italian-born "Scottish" photographer Marzaroli is most famous for his 1960's images of the Gorbals.

On the corner of Cumberland Street and Queen Elizabeth Gardens (in Glasgow) there's a piece of public artwork based on one of his most famous images. The artwork is three separate sculptures of three boys in their mother's high heels playing in the street. The original photograph is a great example of "right-place right-time" photojournalism. Here's a link.

Photography Exhibition : Barbican, London

Robert Capa at Work : Gerda Taro a Retrospective


I normally only mention Photography Exhibitions doing the rounds in Scotland. However, this one at the Barbican in London is something quite special.

What makes it stand out (to me) isn't so much the great name of Robert Capa but the lesser known name of Gerda Taro; a quite exceptional woman and conflict photographer. I say "conflict photographer" instead of "war photographer" to detract away from gung-ho connotations of the latter label. Taro's work is so much more than that.

Her life story itself is as incredible as her images. Glamourous, lover and colleague of Capa, and a pioneering front-line war photographer. She actively opposed the rise of the Nazi Party and was separated (at an early age) from her family; she would never see them again. She pioneered the use of small cameras in photojournalism, died in battle at the age of 27 and was given a Grand state-like funeral in Paris.

She will be always over shadowed by the name of Capa (such is our male dominated world) but at this exhibition she gets equal billing.

A "must see" exhibition. I'm heading straight over to thetrainline.com to book my travel.

17 October to 25 January, 2009

The Barbican
Silk Street
London
020 7638 4141

Photography Exhibition : On Line

Brunel Revisited : David White

150 years ago a young photographer called Robert Howlett died. Howlett is remembered for taking iconic images of the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Brunel's engineering masterpieces. Photojournalist David White recently set out to recreate Howlett's photographs, using cameras and chemicals similar to those used by Howlett himself.

There's an on line slideshow here and on David's website. Fantastic.


On a somewhat related topic. I get many emails asking for the best Black & White digital-conversion techniques. I'll be posting my thoughts on this soon.

BBC Photography Portal

It would be easy to think nothing good is coming out of the BBC these days (what with the Ross/Brand Pantomime, the telephone phone-in scandal, and the fantasy editing of the Queen).

The BBC Website, however, is a different matter. I recently discovered their photography section and if you're looking to improve your photography, poke around the history of photography or just in need of photography inspiration I recommend you click here.

Scottish Society for the History of Photography

The aim of the SSHoP "...is to further interest and pleasure in historic and modern photography". Their website is a wealth of information and their Annual Lectures in Glasgow and Edinburgh are not to be missed.

Membership is a very reasonable £25 a year; for which you get each issue of their "Studies in Photography", you may attend all meetings and functions, and you also receive invites to private viewings of photography exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland (in Edinburgh).

Photography : Photo Retouching

I was down the aisle again today; not a wedding I'm afraid. The "Sunday Shop". Most things on my shopping list had gone up in price again, including my favourite Jam (by a whopping 15 pence). At least petrol hadn't changed since last week.

I've put the shopping away (I'm the kind of person who empties all the bags on the work-top before I start putting stuff away. I'm not one of those people that carrries each shopping bag from drawer to drawer, cupboard to cupboard, putting one thing away at a time. Dunno why, I'm just not). I have a building-site strength cuppa to hand, the radio on and I'm half reading the "Photographer Spotlight" article in Calumet's magazine "Calumet Focus", and half contemplating a few things. I guess I lead what someone in solitary confinement would call an interesting life.

Contemplated thing 1 : Media obsession with doomsday predictions. Melting ice caps, climate change, global warming, pandemics, greenhouse effects, CFC's, ozone holes, acid rain, nuclear winters, BSE, AIDS, Y2K.

Contemplated thing 2 : Media stories that never seem to die; they just keep coming around again and again. Fox hunting, should we move clocks forward/backwards, gay priests, female priests, gang crime, drugs in sport, naughty boys and girls of Rock with one-way tickets to Palookaville, are exams getting easier?, oil supply, binge drinking, GM foods, cloning.

Then on Radio 4 I catch someone saying something like "in the days before photographs were photoshopped" and at that very moment I read, Calumet Spot-lit Photographer, Trevor Leighton claim......

"...the problem with technology is that I just don't know what reality is anymore. Every celebrity picture I take gets retouched to oblivion".

He goes on......

"....when I look at images taken in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, I know at least they are honest".

And this gets me contemplating all over again. This time contemplating Orwellian Reinventions of History.

Everything about photography, I thought to myself, has the potential for 'dishonesty'. Everything from studio lighting (its angle and diffusion) through to hair and makeup, clothes, the choice of lens, lens filters, position of the camera and position of the subject; all can flatter or otherwise.

And when it comes to photographic retouching I thought of George Hurrell. In the 1930's he invented the Hollywood glamour portrait (and the boomlight btw). Hurrell is a one-stop masterclass in lighting and retouching; 60 years before Photoshop.

Take a look at these "before and after" shots of Joan Crawford. Did I mention they are 60 years before Photoshop?

Before Retouching


After 8 hours retouching



Hurrell's art was not a quick fix for poor photography. Hours of painstaking retouching was involved; scrubbing each negative himself, working with graphite powder to smooth away blemishes and unwanted lines, eliminating stray hairs, even sketching in eyelashes to make them longer and more dramatic. And this wasn't new art. It echoed previous habits of portrait painters who would flatter their sitters with unrealistic paintings.

There was/is also practical uses. The road to Hurrell being a big cheese at MGM began when his early work came to the attention of leading lady Norma Shearer. She had been trying to convince their Production Chief (and husband) that she had what it took to play the saucy lead role in The Divorcee. She hired Hurrell to take portraits. She got the role and Hurrell was hired as head of MGM portrait gallery.

It's puzzling why there are so many claims that photo retouching is new. Especially when Photoshop itself uses terms borrowed from traditional darkroom techniques (airbrushing, dodging, burning, unsharp mask, filters). No matter what we think of photo retouching it has a important place in the short history of photography.

Below is another (timeless) image of Joan Crawford.

This image is more than a retouched glamour shot of a long gone actress. It's an artists interpretation of a cultural ideal. A record of another time. An honest piece of work by a photographic great; someone who's post-visualisation and retouching skills are 60 years before Photoshop.

Sources:

Books:

Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits by Mark A. Vieira

50 Years of Photographing Hollywood: The Hurrell Style

by Whitney Stine

Websites

HurrellPhotos.com

HurrellPhotography.com

GeorgeHurrellEstate.com

An interesting short history of tampered photographs