Jozef Pacholczyk - Western Photographic Historical Society

PHOTOGRAPHICA DIGEST
Western Photographic Historical Society • Vol. XV No. 8 © August 2008 • wphsociety.org
September Program
Dr. Jozef Pacholczyk
In This Issue:
September Program
Fall 2008 Camera Show
15th Annual Auction Results
Looking Forward
The Ainger Hall Photometer
Snapshots
Arizona Highways “The Photo Issue”
From the Internet
Q & A
Calendar
Prepare yourself for an outstanding program as
WPHS member Dr. Jozef Pacholczyk will present
a program on Photography in Ethnomusicology:
Granada and Fez.
Dr. Pacholczyk, an ethnomusicologist and pianist,
is Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School
of Music. He is a collector of Leicas and Leica copies.
He was educated in Poland at the Warsaw
Conservatory (piano, MA), and at the Warsaw
University, in the Department of Arabic and Islamic
studies (MA in Arabic and Indonesian). He received
his PhD in music (Ethnomusicology) at the University
of California, Los Angeles. He has held professorial
and administrative positions at UCLA, University of
Ottawa, University of Maryland, Baltimore County,
and the University of Maryland, College Park. He
built a graduate program in ethnomusicology at
the University Of Maryland Baltimore County. He
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guided 14 doctoral dissertations in ethnomusicology
and his students are now holding professorial and
administrative university positions in the USA, Egypt,
Turkey, Iran, Taiwan, Slovenia, and Croatia. He
conducted field research in many parts of the Muslim
world including Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco, India
(Kashmir), Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey and
is the author of scholarly books and papers on various
aspects of music, culture, literature, and religion in
various parts of the Muslim world. As a pianist, he
has given concerts in Poland, Italy, USA, Egypt, and
Indonesia, and records for Ethnodisc Classical.
He has been involved in photography since
childhood and, together with field sound recordings,
uses it extensively as a part of musical, ethnographic,
and cultural documentation. For many years he taught
graduate seminars in field and laboratory methods
in ethnomusicology that include sound recording,
photography and film/video.
Fall 2008 Camera Show September 28, 2008
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by Gerry Whitaker & Paul Garrett
The 47th Semi-Annual Camera & Photographica
Show will be held once again at the InnSuites Hotel
on September 28, 2008. Plans are underway for some
interesting additions & exhibits to this show not often
seen at the show regularly in the past. We also hope to
present another interesting and informative repeat on
the topic dealing with digital camera use.
The show committee is contacting their members,
reviewing plans and assignments, and looking for
additional members to continue to spread the work
load and improve show results. The best assistance
that every member of WPHS can provide to the
organization is, when possible, to attend our shows,
auctions, and monthly meetings. Please consider
showing up, getting to know fellow members, and
sharing your expertise in whatever way you feel
comfortable.
The shows and auction are WPHS’s primary
fund raising efforts and so far we have been very
successful. The shows have developed, over the years,
into a routine that looks like it happens by itself. Not
True! Those who normally help are very loyal and
dedicated, enjoy the process, and are proud of the
outcome. It is a continuing process and please call if
you can spend some time with us either in the yearround efforts or just a couple of hours on show day.
Call Paul Garrett at 520-299-9117 or Gerry Whitaker
at 520-299-9046.
As we go to press it would appear that some
of our west coast exhibitors/members are heading
to Boston (our competing show for the weekend)
and it may or may not have an impact on our table
sales. Our word-of-mouth customers’ consignments
are constantly building and they help generate the
buying public to the shows who provide WPHS and
the consignors the venue for this success. With the
special exhibits being planned, the great amount
of photographica to shop, and the special digital
demonstration, we hope to see you on Sunday the
28th. Bring your spouse, friends, or others interested
in photographica & join us at the show to browse,
visit with other members, and spend a couple of hours
helping make our show another success.
their collection and eBay sellers saw dollar signs.
Auctioneer Mike Henry kept a steady pace as helpers
scurried to move items to the auction block.
To all of you who attended the auction, whether
you bought anything or not, we are grateful. Of
course, we give special thanks to those who did buy,
and to those who brought items to sell.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our
members, we have, once again, raised a significant
amount of money for scholarships for higher
education in photography.
Looking Forward
WPHS is looking forward to some good times
and programs in the fall. In September, we will hear
Dr. John Pacholczyk who is a Leica and Leica copy
collector as well as a very accomplished musician.
Later, Rick Soloway will be presenting a program on
Photo Truvee (found photos). He looks for the unusual
subjects, not just the mustaches, hats and fluffy
dresses. We will also be hearing from the Center
for Creative Photography. (Don’t miss their current
exhibit of Lee Friedlander’s photos of American
monuments.) Of course, our December meeting will
be the annual holiday party.
Be sure to mark the date of the Fall Show on your
calendar, as well. That date is September 28, 2008, at
Inn Suites.
Photographica Digest is the official monthly publication
of the Western Photographic Historical Society (WPHS),
a non profit 501(c)3 organization which meets the first
Thursday monthly. The contents are copyrighted the
year of publication. It is distributed to members, other
similar organizations, and posted on our website. Other
photographic groups may reprint material provided credit
is given to WPHS and the author and a reprint copy is sent.
Membership is $20 or $5 for students per year (Jan. - Dec.)
and accepted through our website or by mail.
Fifteenth Annual Auction Results
by Gerry Whitaker
The August 7 meeting was our 15th annual
photographica auction to raise money for scholarships
for higher education in photography. Three hundred
sixty-three lots were offered with one hundred twentysix lots sold.
We had our usual tremendous response to our
call for volunteers to help with the auction. Many
thanks to: Jerry Day, Jo Ann Garrett, Paul Garrett,
Wilson Graham, Mike Henry, Ron Kuykendall, Tom
Norris, Jerry O’Neill, Rudi Punzmann, Ria Ryne, Al
Schillinger, Rick Soloway, and Liz Whitaker. All of
the volunteers served in more than one capacity so it
was no surprise that we finished on time.
The evening saw some tremendous bargains
as buyers snapped up pieces to fill in a gap in
Board Members
Standing Committees
Rick Soloway, Pres., Treas. Jerry Day, Student Support
Ron Kuykendall, V.P.
Paul Garrett, Shows
Ria Ryne, Sec., Publicity Norwood Hazard, Tel. Tree
Mike Henry, P. Digest
Brian Rose, Digest Editor
Tom Norris, Meetings
Joyce Rose, Archivist
Frank Boyle, At Large
Gerry Whitaker, Consignments
Phil Hardy, At Large
Liz Whitaker, Program Chair
Wilson Graham, At Large
Tim Shih, At Large
<info@wphsociety.org>
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The Ainger Hall Photometer
Photos by Robert Suomala
© 2008 R. A. Suomala
In the process of researching the previous articles
dealing with the SEI Photometer, I came across
references to an earlier “Spot” meter known as the
Ainger Hall Photometer.
British Patent 508122 was issued for this
invention on June 27, 1939 having been first applied
for on March 25, 1938. The inventors are listed as
John Ainger Hall, Francis Harold Schofield, and
William George Haughton Turl1.
The patent document describes the invention
as “A photographic exposure meter comprising
in combination an optical system consisting of an
objective lens for forming an image of the field to
be photographed and an eyepiece for viewing same;
means whereby a small part of the image plane
viewable through the eyepiece is illuminated by an
independent light source, means for adjusting to
equality the brightness of the image of a selected
object in the field and said illuminated part, and
means for indicating said brightness.”
The years 1938 and 1939 (remember WWII?)
were probably the worst time to try and market a
photographic exposure photometer that was not
particularly suited for use by military photographers.
This instrument was originally manufactured by the
Bowen Instrument Company in England. One source
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(Ref. 1) indicates
that some of these
instruments were
still being hand
made on special
order in the 1950’s
by one of the
inventors, W. G. H.
Turl.
The Ainger
Hall exposure
photometer
(Schematic shown
in Figure 1) has
an equivalent
acceptance angle
of half a degree
and its range is just
over 1,000,000 to 1.
The spot intensity
is effected by
withdrawing the
lamp, the lower
part of the body pulling out and turning at the same
time under the control of a spiral guide slot (Indicated
by arrow in Fig 2). No spot color control or selfcalibrating feature is included, but a single adjustable
wedge is incorporated for resetting the calibration
against a candle flame2 in a darkened room.
During the October 1945 meeting of the Scientific
and Technical Group of the Royal Photographic
Society, J. F. Dunn and G. S. Plant presented a paper
(Ref. 2) describing an improved exposure meter based
on the same commonly known principle used in the
Ainger Hall instrument. This new instrument was the
SEI Exposure Photometer. Whereas the Ainger Hall
instrument relied on calibration with a candle flame
in a darkened room and depended on stable battery
voltage between calibrations, the SEI provided a
photocell and rheostat that allowed for calibration at
any time. During the discussion that followed, Mr.
Ainger Hall described the possible problems that the
SEI might encounter by the introduction of a rheostat,
photocell and ammeter. Some of Ainger Hall’s other
remarks were recorded as follows: “He thought when
he designed his instrument that the twenty-five percent
accuracy, which meant about seven percent voltage
on the lamp would be a great trouble, but to his
surprise using an ordinary unit cell, he found he had
not yet used a cell so long that needed any change. He
usually took the cell out of the instrument for safety’s
Snapshots
political figures, artists, and writers. Modotti
also served as a model for Weston; some of this
exhibition’s most entrancing photographs are of
Weston’s partner and muse. A small selection of
Modotti’s own Mexico photographs will be featured
in the exhibition as well.
This exhibition, drawn from the collection of the
Center for Creative Photography also includes
archival materials – letters, journals, and personal
snapshots - that deeply enriches the story.
“…the ultimate end, the print, is but a duplication of
all that I saw and felt through my camera.”
—Edward Weston
“a consummate technician with a marvelous eye for
formal beauty”
—The New York Times
“Weston brought a conscious Modernism to the
genre of photography and helped elevate it in the
public mind from the status of snapshot to that of
art.”
—The Arizona Republic
Phoenix Art Museum
Norton Photography Gallery
August 9, 2008 – November 15, 2008
Full of striking compositions, dramatic still lifes,
and exquisitely beautiful landscapes, Phoenix Art
Museum presents an artistic exploration of Mexico
seen through the lens of one of the twentieth
century’s most influential photographers, Edward
Weston. Edward Weston: Mexico examines a
variety of Weston’s early and rare photographs
revealing his devotion to the ideals of art, his
progression toward the modernist style and his
passion for love and life.
This stunning collection of 60 photographs displays
the local culture and scenery of Mexico in the
1920s – a rich period for the arts known as the
Mexican Renaissance. Weston used a large camera
to create technically accomplished black-and-white
photos rich in detail and markedly abstract. Mexico
allowed him to experiment with new subject matter,
such as still lifes and landscapes, making this period
one of the most pivotal of his career.
A Career Transformed in Mexico
Born in 1886, Edward Weston began his career
practicing a popular photographic style called
Pictorialism, creating portraits and nudes. The
pieces with minimum contrast and soft-focus had
a dream like quality. In 1923, an uninspiring and
stagnate commercial portrait business prompted
Weston to relocate to Mexico with Modotti. While
there, he created innovative work exploring a
modernist aesthetic characterized by sharp focused
portraits, abstractions, and richly textured still lifes.
Weston’s work was met with praise and recognition
in the midst of the vibrant Mexican artistic culture.
Inspired by a Love Affair
Weston spent roughly three-years in Mexico with
his lover, Italian-born actress Tina Modotti. The
powerful photographs in this collection visually
tell the tale of his passion for both Modotti and his
new environment. Modotti played a crucial role in
Weston’s Mexican experience. She had visited the
country before their move and together Modotti and
Weston set up a commercial portrait studio as an
income source. They explored the cultural climate
of their new country, making friends with leading
sake when it was in store and he had always lost the
battery before it changed from the first calibration”.
My experience with the SEI photometer verifies
Ainger Hall’s comments regarding battery life.
References:
1. J. F. Dunn, Exposure meters and Practical
Exposure Control, The Fountain press, London, 1952.
2. The Photographic Journal, Vol. 85B, 1945,
pages 114-119.
Notes:
1. John Ainger Hall, 10 Kitson Road, Barnes,
Surrey.
Franicis Harold Schofield, of 8 Seymour Road,
Hampton Hill, Middlesex.
William George Haughton Turl, 15 Cambridge
Road, Hampton, Middlesex.
2. I tried this with an SEI photometer using a
cheap store bought candle and it works, but the
flickering of the flame makes it a chore. Initially the
standard of luminance was that of a special spermaceti
candle weighing six to the pound and burning at the
rate of 120 grains per hour or 2 grains per minute
(The sperm whale was named after the milky-white
waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and
originally mistaken for sperm. This substance was
used in making candles of a standard photometric
value). As the requirement for a more precise standard
became necessary, the term “candela” was adopted
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to differentiate it from the term “standard candle.”
Initially, the candela was defined as the luminous
emission of a Planckian radiator, a type of blackbody,
at the temperature of freezing platinum (2045 K). This
correlated roughly to the light emitted by a typical
candle, making it a more precise measure. In the
late 1970s, it was determined that the experimental
difficulties in creating a Planckian radiator at such
high temperatures made the existing definition
of candela less than desirable. Breakthroughs in
radiometry allowed scientists to have a more specific
definition, and so the current hertz/watts definition of
candela was adopted. It is technically defined as the
intensity in a given direction of a source that emits
monochromatic radiation of a frequency of 540 x 1012
hertz and which has a radiant intensity in the same
direction of 1/683 watts per steradian. Personally I
rather like the idea of using a real candle since this
seems to produce results accurate enough for practical
photographic purposes.
exposure. Street price approx. $1600, available in
October.
Graflex Flash
Ever wonder what happened to all those Graflex
flash guns once the electronic flash units became
affordable? Check out this website: <http://members.
aol.com/yodashous2/building.htm>.
Star Wars fans are probably paying more for the
handles than photographic collectors. It seems the
original “Light Saber” was made from a Graflex flash
handle which has made them much sought after by
fans seeking authentic Star Wars props. Just when we
thought they were totally useless.
Need More Memory?
Arizona Highways “The Photo Issue”
Don’t miss the September, 2008, issue of Arizona
Highways. It is “The Photo Issue” and there are some
incredible photographs included. One interesting
article is “Digital Versus Film” by Lawrence Cheek
with some spectacular photos by George Stocking and
Lawrence Cheek. There are also wonderful black and
white photos, but poor printing (failure to match color
and shading on photos requiring more than one page)
detract from them. An article by Jeff Kida provides
tips for shooting fall color. All in all, it’s nice that the
magazine recognized the art of photography that has
made it an enduring feature in Arizona.
Q & A by Jerry Day
What c1948 35mm camera that was
So spring-motor driven and priced at $700
was discontinued in 1950?
From the Internet
Canon EOS 50D
Pre-Photokina 2008: No surprises to hear that
Canon has launched the much anticipated EOS 50D,
an upgraded version of EOS 40D. On the surface
it looks almost similar to its predecessor. However,
there are quite a few significant improvements: fifteen
megapixel CMOS sensor, faster DIGIC 4 processor,
3.0" VGA LCD monitor with Live View mode
offering 3 AF modes, ISO sensitivity expandable to
12800 and an HDMI connection for high Quality
Image viewing. It also includes a new Quick Control
screen which shows the most commonly used settings
and Creative Auto mode for automatic focus and
Answer: The
35mm Foton
camera by Bell
and Howell
was priced at
$700 and then
reduced to $500,
but it still was a
marketing failure.
The spring driven
motor could take
six frames per second. This unusual camera and
accessories are probably worth more today then the
opening price in 1948.
What comapny made the c1939
4x6.5cm rollfillm camera named
Futurit? The company name
means ‘cable factory.’
And Now
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Photo courtesy <http://wphsociety.org/b_bellhowell_foton.htm>
SanDisk has introduced the Extreme III 30MB/s
Edition line of SD High Capacity (SDHC) memory
cards. Featuring a 50% speed boost from previous
20MB/s cards, the new card makes it possible to
record 39 6MB images while shooting at 4.5 fps complementing the new range of DSLRs. In addition,
they are also capable of operating in temperatures
ranging from -13 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit or -25 to
85 degrees Celsius.
PHOTOGRAPHICA DIGEST
PO Box 14616 - Tucson, Arizona 85732-4616 - 520-529-5072
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UPCOMING SHOWS AND EVENTS
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TUCSON AZ
PERMIT NO 5
MONTHLY MEETING
Visitors Always Welcome
(Always the 1st Thursday Monthly)
Thursday, September 4, 2008
WPHS MONTHLY MEETING
Photo Fair, San Jose, CA
Camera Expo, Carson, CA
Boston, MA
47th WPHS FALL 2008 SHOW
Pima County Medical Society Building
5199 E Farness Drive (From Grant Road South
on Rosemont then East on Farness Dr.)
OCT 2 WPHS MONTHLY MEETING
4 WPHS 4TH Quarter Board Mtg
19 Camera Expo, Carson, CA
6:00 Consignments presented, buy, sell, trade
tables! Social time – refreshments.
NOV 6 WPHS MONTHLY MEETING
23 Camera Expo, Carson, CA
7:15 ANNOUNCEMENTS – SHOW & TELL
Bring your Leica or Leica Look-a-Leica
DEC 4 WPHS ANNUAL MEETING
AND CHRISTMAS PARTY
7:30 Jozef Pacholczyk — Photography in
Ethnomusicology
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