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Monday 13 May 2013

The Catier Bresson influence.


I have been studying Henri Catier Bresson's work for some time among others. Which brings me to a new acquisition Published by Thames and Hudson about  Cartier Bresson. It has been a joy to read and is a pocket sized which accounts for it doing a lot of travelling with me being read at those odd times when I'm having coffee, waiting for an appointment or in a quite moments snatched between jobs. It is a thin volume that  has surprisingly taken quite a time to finish – which is  a good thing as it is one of those books I will be sad to see the back of.


It was not until recently that I noticed that all this reading about Henri and his methods, has influenced the way I have taken a number of pictures. All be it at a subconscious level. It is true to say HBC was a bit of a snapper, an opportunist when taking a number of his most well known pictures. His method in a number of cases was to wait at a location that interested him pictorially and watch life unfold in front of it. Some  favorites that illustrate this are: The stairway down to the street with the cyclist rushing by and the man jumping the puddle.
 

The picture of the lady walking her dogs along the sea front is a Bresson inspired image although at the time I did not realize this. My intention was to take an empty picture depicting the lamp post and line of the wall for a project that has been coming together over the years as an odd shot here and there. I was about to take the picture when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a group  were about to walk into shot or what I thought were people only to be present in the view finder as dogs. The next thing I know I had taken the shot with that little voice in your head saying that's a better shot. Having printed the picture it is not as good as when I took it. The day is depicted a lot duller than I remember but I do recall how brass monkey the weather was.

Do you find this happening to you when you have been reading about other photographers?

Saturday 23 March 2013

An Agfa Isolette has laneded


Recently a package arrive from a friend that was giving away a number of Agfa  Isolette cameras. I put my name down for one, not quite expecting to have my name pulled out of the hat. As it turned out not that many people were interested. The cameras were advertised as not tried and tested so you could end up with one that may not be in proper working order. However they are easy to repair if there is a problem.

 As it turns out, the one I have does not have any faults that I can find apart from needing a major clean. It has the dustiest insides I have seen in a long time with the bellows being full of fluff.  I have carefully cleaned it out using compressed air and a damp cotton bud. Having first earthed myself to reduce the static in my body. The lens was slightly dirty which has been gently cleansed with lens fluid on a cotton bud.

 
The Agfa Isolette was introduced in the 1950. It produces a 6x6 negative making it a member of the 120 medium format family. The camera pictured is an Isolette 2 With the press of a button the front flips open to reveal an 85 mm Apotar 1.4,5 lens that shuts down to F22 and has a shutter speed range from B to 200 hundredths of a second.  For a completely manual camera it is well designed and sophisticated, even by today’s standards. It has a number of features that shows its quality, firstly with a film holder that flips out of the camera back to allow the easy installation of a new roll. A shutter lock on the winding mechanism that can only be removed by advancing the film, helping to prevent double exposures. Although the lens has a focus ring it is not a range finder and therefore distances have to be guestimated. A range finder device was produced as an extra that clipped into the shoe on the top. It's compact size makes it just right to slip into the pocket of a gentleman's jacket, although the all metal construction makes it a little bit heavy for comfort.


With all the cleaning and checking done, all that remains is some good weather so the camera can be put through its paces.