Recent experiments with Tetenal Gold Toner, a precious commodity nowadays. One litre costs nearly £100, if you can find anyone that still has stock of it.
Setting the tone
Hugo van Wadenoyen
A recent commission to restore an old photograph taken by Hugo van Wadenoyen has prompted me to review his representation on this website.
I often get enquiries about the man as there is so little information available about him, either on the web or in print. He was undoubtedly an innovative and important individual in the story of photography in the UK but is rarely mentioned or cited.
I have therefore ‘promoted’ him to his own category under Photographers and will be adding some new material relating to him that has been discovered.
If you require any faded or damaged photographs restored then please get in touch via the Contact page.Guy Bellingham’s ‘Victorian Polaroids’
A nice little video on the wet plate technique used by this photographer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-bristol-58505275
The Kite book in print
Copies of the book may now be ordered direct from Blurb.
The Kite book on Blurb
1960s Cambridge
A friend of mine found a copy of the German magazine ‘du‘, dated March 1967, in a secondhand shop.
Following an introduction in English by Paul Roubiczek, a Fellow of Clare College, the rest of the magazine is in German. Most of the issue is devoted to life as a Cambridge student in that decade, with contributions by Peter Cole, Jonathan Davies, Simon Hoggart and Paul Medlicott, who were part of the Varsity newspaper editorial team at that time (1967).
It would appear – although never directly credited – that the photographs with which the articles are illustrated were taken by Paul Medlicott.
I’ve never come across Paul Medlicott, but if indeed the photographs are his then they are quite remarkable in their documentary style, which is so very typical of the 1960s and reminiscent of some of the more well-known photographers active during the decade.
Below you may view a selection of some of them, or download a PDF file of the set below. Click an image to see it bigger, better than the slideshow option.
Interesting competition winner
Good to see a print made by traditional methods won the prize in the 2019 International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition.
Today’s Alternative to Picture Post?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/faroe_islands_postal_service
Some of the picture stories published under the ‘BBC Stories’ banner are to my mind filling the gap left following the demise of print-based photojournalism such as the old Picture Post or the in-depth coverage of the Sunday colour supplements in their early days.
They are providing a much-needed outlet for good reportage photography.
Created using software called ‘Shorthand‘, which is capable of producing a linear picture story comprising images, text and video in a scrolling single screen layout, they replicate turning the pages of a print publication in this digital age.
Easy to navigate, easy to read, and capable of displaying still photographs in a documentary fashion that echoes some of the great printed photo-stories of the past.
Books
A Google search involving the term “Colin Osman” recently turned up a link to a bookseller previously unknown to me – http://www.creativecamerabooks.co.uk/
Quite a fascinating selection on offer. I’m tempted by one or two, but was also interested to see the asking price for a few rarities that I happen to own already. Seems there are a few editions amongst my own collection I should take special care of!
Photographers at the BBC
Back on iPlayer for the next few weeks, this classic compendium from the BBC’s archives, first shown a year ago.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08jgr3w/on-camera-photographers-at-the-bbc
