Monday 4 August 2014

Ye Olde Photoshoppe

Last year I picked up an interesting book snappily titled 'The Art of Retouching Negatives and Finishing and Colouring Photographs' by Robert Johnson.  This copy is a ninth edition, revised and brought up to date by T.S. Bruce and Alfred Braithwaite and dated 1918.


I always use this book when I'm teaching advertising analysis to our social science students.  Many are familiar with Photoshop and the problems with heavily manipulated advertising images though they are often surprised to learn that photographic manipulation is almost as old as photography itself.


Johnson's book gives a fascinating insight into the techniques that photographers were using nearly 100 years ago to do everything from alter the shape of a woman's neck to the removal of the veins in a sitter's hands.  Going into detail about some of the latest advances in retouching Johnson writes:

"The urgent need of something easier to use than the knife, and safer in the hands of the amateur, arose, and so "Negafake" Erasing Pencils were invented by Mr. J.W. D'Anter, a well-known and long-experienced London photographer, and have proved themselves a veritable boon to all retouchers, a great number of the leading trade and professional houses employing them extensively, and expressing the utmost satisfaction with the results."

There are several plates illustrating the techniques and possibilities of using various knives, tools and inks on mainly portrait shots showing both before and after stages.  One of the big challenges facing photographers in the early 20th century was how to represent colour accurately.  That might seem like a strange statement, given that they were shooting exclusively in black and white, but the photographer had to consider how to treat, for example, red hair which photographed as black or fair hair which came out much darker than the customer might desire.  The owner of Johnson's handy guide had only to turn to the back from where 'Buildup', 'Buildub Black' and a 'Dixon 400' pencil could be ordered from The Vanguard "N" Co. of Maidenhead, England.  And if you didn't know how to use them?  No problem, just order some postal lessons from T.S. Bruce of Hampstead, London.  I wonder what T.S. Bruce would've made of YouTube....



Friday 1 August 2014

Wardrobe Convos with the 35B

Occasionally I do some photography for Kim and Helen over at Wardrobe Conversations, usually shooting on either my Canon 600D or Helen's Panasonic G5.  So it was a nice change to try shooting some material on the Rollei 35B.  These shots weren't for use on their site, just for my own amusement.  Check out this post if you'd like to see the G5 versions.



Helen and I went for a day out in Dundee, taking a snoop round the grounds of DJCAD and also a visit to the world's smallest street market.  We managed to get some nice shots using cracked concrete and graffiti as backgrounds which always works well for fashion shoots.  The street market, organised by Richard Cook, took place on the site of one of Dundee's slums and now home to Richard's vintage spectacle shop.