Lomography and the London Underground

I spent Wednesday and Thursday last week working in London, although the rain made it difficult to be productive I did get the job done. After work on Wednesday I stayed the night at my brother in law's flat in Kilburn. I slept well but woke up early at 5.30 am on Thursday. My working day wasn't due to start until 10.30, so I had time to kill. I had breakfast, showered and watched the TV but by 6.30 I was getting stir crazy, so I got a train back into central London and looked for photographs.

At 9.30 am I was in Liverpool Street station when I remembered that I'd read that the Lomography Gallery were once again selling 110 film, this is a significant event. The film has been not been available for many years and although I have a dozen cassettes in the freezer, I decided to do the 20 minute journey and head west and buy a roll of film.

Every visit to London is inspirational, whether it's something I see or hear, the place always leaves its mark. So I share with you a short journey from Liverpool Street to Soho.

Paris

The Seine - A View of Paris from the West Bank

After putting it off for weeks, I finally arranged transport and accommodation for a week in Paris. Booking flights and hotels over the internet makes me anxious, I long for the days of a travel agent. Dates, times, booking numbers, invoice numbers and worst of all, credit card numbers. Anyway it's all done, and I'll be travelling with my assistant at the end of August. The mornings and evenings will be spent taking photographs, the rest of the time sightseeing.

Bespoke Black strap in Poland

Bespoke Black strap on Fuji X100 - Thanks to Steven for the Photo

Nikon F2 S Photomic and the Walky

Last week was a time of coincidence, I found three separate items. On Monday I found a mans wallet lying on the pavement which I returned it to its owner. On Wednesday I found a glass marble, which is unusual. And on Thursday, while walking to the post office, I found the photograph you see below. Was the photo lost or discarded? Whatever, it has a new home now, in my collection. The type is known as a Walkie.

People are ingenious in finding ways to earn a living from a camera, from weddings to wars and everything in-between, but without doubt the boldest and bravest were the Walkies. These were the men (I've never known of a woman Walkie), who spent 12 hours a day, seven days a week patrolling summer holiday resorts and snapping holiday makers, walking towards them.

Found image taken by a Walkie

Until about 20 years ago, every seaside resort in Britain had at least one Walkie. Starting around mid morning and finishing when the crowds thinned out, the Walkie would comb every inch of beach, promenade and fun fair, taking photographs of anyone and everyone. What a job, eh! The very thought of it makes my feet ache and my shoulders sag.

The Walkie's I remember were extremely professional. They would appear in front of you with a broad smile and take a single photo. You were given a card with the name address of a shop or pub, where you could view your photo, usually the next day. They were always well groomed with polished shoes, smart trousers, white shirt and polyester tie (used to clean the camera lens). Occasionally you'd  see the a showman Walkie, with a monkey or parrot on his shoulder. Men at the top of their game.

There can't be many people in Britain who don't have a snapshot taken by a Walkie, I have at least ten photos of members of my family with a walkie stamp on the back. It was always part of our summer holiday to find our photograph amongst the hundreds on display, either in a shop window or behind the bar of a pub. The photo was affordable and usually cost the same as a pint of beer.

The photos in most collections and those that are found tend to be like the example above, rather bland and casual. But like gold nuggets on a pebble beach, there are examples where subjects are caught in a moment of happiness that transcends the snapshot and becomes beautiful record of social trends. 

Walkie from my collection

Walkie cameras had to be tough to cope with the summer conditions of heat, humidity, salt and fine sand blowing around. Leica and Nikon were obviously the most popular brands, indeed I once saw Walkie using a Leica 3f, whose film advance knob had been worn to smooth brass. Which brings me to the Nikon F2 S Photomic, you see below, it's a Nikon F2 with a DP-2 head and was the considered very exotic in its day. This one is a veteran ex-Walkie camera that spent ten years on the sea front at Blackpool between 1974 and 1984. It's one of two Nikon F2's owned by the same photographer. One camera was loaded with negative film for prints the other loaded with slide film which was used to make little souvenier viewers on a key ring.

Nikon F2 S Photomic - The Walkie Camera

Nikon F2's are remarkable cameras, elegant in form and function, and you can fully appreciate the quality when you handle and use a well worn example. Despite the hard professional life the camera still works perfectly and there's no evidence of sloppiness, it walks and talks as it should. The heart of the camera, the shutter, sounds smooth, strong and its slow speeds are music to my ears. This is from a camera that has never had a service or CLA (clean, lube and adjust).

Bespoke Strap attached to an iPhone with Gizmon iCA case

Bespoke Strap attached to an iPhone with Gizmon iCA case

My thanks to Fred for the photograph.

Making prints

I've spent half a day in the dark, developing film and making prints. I still get a kick from developing a print, placing the paper in the chemical tray and watching the image appear, it's quite magical. The process of making an image is very satisfying, I should do it more often. The finished print has an added value for me because of the time and care involved in making it. But for all the care in the world I've never managed to avoid the dreaded dust spots. I used to crave the perfect print and go to extraordinary lengths to avoid dust on the negatives, which when printed become white dots. I would run hot water in the darkroom until it was full of steam, in the belief the water vapour would weigh down the dust. Making prints in those conditions was like working in a rain forest and of course there was always one speck that avoided the steam and managed to get itself printed for posterity. Now I don't mind a few dust specks on my print, I quite like them in fact.

Miranda F Camera with red bespoke strap

Miranda F Camera with waist level finder plus Red Bespoke Strap

The model for my latest red strap is a beautiful black Miranda F camera. The Miranda camera company produced dozens of different models from 1953 to 1978 when they disapeared from camera making. My model F was made around 1967 and is the only black Miranda F, I've ever seen.

I have a soft spot for over complex cameras, and the Miranda is very close to my heart. Miranda's marketing was about creating a camera that did everything, therefore it should  appeal to everyone. Unfortunately, it didn't. The camera has two shutter releases, one on top, one on the front. Two lens mounts for screw or bayonet fitting lenses. Two flash sockets. Three viewfinders and three focusing systems. Lovely!

Miranda F camera with pentaprism and waist level finder

Fuji X100 Camera with Red Bespoke Strap