FOCUS
Newsletter of the North Cheshire Photographic Society
May 1999
‘Does the camera ever lie?’
When I retired, photography was one of the new interests I wanted to explore. My retirement present was photographic equipment and a City and Guilds course 923, "An introduction to black and white photography was commenced.
One of the most difficult skills attempted was "Restoration of old photographs" –without the use of a computer or airbrush.
I found an old "carte de visite" size photo of a lady in 1880’s dress. It was obvious that an inkblot had landed on her waist and the surface had been rubbed away as someone had tried to remove the stain.
We used a 5x4 monorail combo camera. After experiments an 8x6 print was produced, but a Kenro "spot-on" bottle kit and "spot-off" had to be purchased to complete the artwork. The result was then rephotographed to produce the original size print and sepia toned to copy photos of that period.
Three months later my aged aunt came over from USA and stayed with us. As soon as I showed her the photograph she said, "That’s my Mother; but she never had a figure like that!" I had used the exercise to give her the figure I thought she should have.
During that conversation I learned that she had owned a dress and corset shop, being a trained dressmaker, before she married.
Next day I took her to the museum of English costume in Platts Fields. I had rung the curator that we were coming and that my auntie was a primary source of information about dress in the Edwardian period.
At one point in their conversation my effort to restore the old photograph was mentioned and, to my surprise, they agreed that I had only followed in the footsteps of photographers of that period. They too enhanced the figures of their lady sitters, as a matter of course.
The curator said that photographers often produced three or four prints with progressively smaller waists, for the lady to choose the one she preferred. Tiny waists were more often produced in the darkroom than in the dressing room.
Stuart
An agenda for this year’s AGM should be posted on the notice board by the time you read this. The AGM is your opportunity to have your say about the club’s activities and to elect your committee for next year. (Nomination forms available on the notice board.)
This year the committee has been severely depleted; there was no official Exhibition Secretary and one member acted both as Competition and Syllabus Secretary. The club cannot continue to function at its current level without the time, effort and enthusiasm of a full committee so if you feel you have something to offer, be sure to come along and have your say.
We bid a welcome return to David Platt on May 18th for the final talk of the season, "The Best of Nature". Many of you will remember the outstanding slide-show he gave last year, featuring Martin Mere and I am sure that this contribution will be of an equal standard.
Provisional dates for this year’s outings are June 8th and 22nd and July 5th and 19th. Details of venues etc. will be posted on the notice board shortly (further suggestions welcome). Otherwise contact Jon Allanson for details.
Whilst on the topic of outings, is there any interest for "a weekend away"? I understand they were popular some years back. If you are keen to resurrect this event, could you make your feelings known to the (new) committee, perhaps offering general suggestions as to location (UK/overseas), cost, duration and preferred method of transport (coach, plane etc.)
Next year’s syllabus will have theme evenings where members may prepare and submit work to a broad brief. To give you a head start, the topics are, "steps and stairs", "(wo)men at work" and "a photograph suitable for an advertisement".