It's been a decade now since my first ever film school production class in the winter semester of 2003. We did a lot with slides that year and used them as an introduction to visual storytelling. Several years ago I actually shared a bunch of these images as a glimpse into what I'd come up with. See that here.
I pulled out these slides again as a bit of a reminder of some of my early photo work, and stumbled onto a few shots I didn't remember. There was one of Ward, who I did a lot of touring around Regina with during this project, and various shots of Regina landmarks that I hadn't remembered shooting. It's not really that my style of photography has changed that dramatically over the years, but looking back at things like this is a nice reminder of how much you've improved and matured. It's just a nice flashback really.
Over the Christmas break my Dad found this old picture he took of Finlay Bridge in the 1970s. It's cool because the bridge has actually changed quite a bit in contrast to the pictures I shot. The old power lines and centre lights are the obvious differences. Decorative lighting now adorns Finlay, and subtle cables have replaced all of the power lines on top of the bridge. There is also a lot more landscaping in Riverside Park today compared to when this shot was taken.
My Dad was experimenting with night photography and took this with his Minolta XE-5, which I've since been using as a prop (see my various blog headers). He had been taking a photography course and was in his early twenties at the time. It's cool to see a piece of my Dad's photography of Medicine Hat considering what a focal point it's become for me over the last year.
This sleek little camera was another that used to belong to my Grandma. It's a GAF 880, which was manufactured in the 1970s. GAF stands for General Aniline & Film, and my understanding is that it was a brand given to cameras sold in the western market that were produced by other companies. For instance, this model of camera is identical to the Chinon 66 from Japan (where the 880 is also from). This 880 doesn't work anymore unfortunately, but it's still a cool and unique looking pocket camera.
In addition to the records that I was all too happy to have, one of the treasures that I was fortunate to inherit from my Grandma was this vintage folding camera with an AGC Pronto shutter. One of the interesting things that I learnt about many of these vintage folding cameras was that the body itself often wasn't branded. They were promoted by the retailers who sold them, so it could have been a Sears folding camera or something along those lines.
This camera has no markings or details other than the Pronto shutter, which was manufactured by AGC (Alfred Gauthier Calmbach) in Germany. Going purely by visual details it seems that the shutter was made sometime after 1948, and the family photographs from the mid to late 1950s seem to appropriately date the camera.
Not surprisingly, my Grandma shot pictures of her kids using this folding camera. Just holding it makes the memories seem tangible and close. It's really what I love about old cameras in general, you feel a connection to all of the things it must have seen, the places it was taken, and the people who used it. My dad was her youngest child and is the guy on the right in the image above from 1959.
The lens and shutter are in particularly nice shape, given that they were kept inside the folding case for decades. However, the body is noticeably well worn. This folding camera was never particularly valuable, it's just been made more interesting by time. The mechanical nature of it all, the hinges, the simple springs, etc. are all very cool to see up close. It's a beautiful piece of memorabilia, and obviously for me, it's meaningful because of the family connection and the pictures that were taken with it. I'm very happy to have this memento from my Grandma's life.
My dad has always had a casual interest in photography. Not so much on an artistic level exactly, but more so in a playful "I'm just going to shoot and see what happens" kind of way. Traditions like our annual family picture in Police Point Park or the random images that I've seen him take on holiday seem related to this endeavor. All things considered, in the mid-1970s he felt motivated to buy this relatively expensive Minolta XE-5 camera to pursue this hobby.
I recently adopted the camera as a decoration, but aside from needing new batteries it still works. That was actually the reason my dad had for retiring it. The camera had no auto-off and if you left it on the two small watch-type batteries would run out. They were costly to replace, and frankly, they still are. It's a good looking camera though, and there's a part of me that's tempted to buy the batteries and film and test it out. Maybe one of these days I'll actually do it, but I feel like I need a special project to make the effort worth it. Digital is too convenient, and it's spoiled us all.
