Photography: from the Box Brownie to the smartphone
The Cosmic Symbol was Russian made and its simple adjustments meant it was easy to use and gave great results in varying conditions.
I collaborated on a project a few years ago that required the use of vintage cameras to capture the type of images I needed. I found it easy enough to source these old cameras and I was even able to get the type of film that they once used.
The whole process reminded me of the old photographs that lay in a dusty box in my parents' bedroom. These were pictures of times gone by, snaps of days out with their friends, picnic trips to Knocknashee and Sunday cycles to Lough Talt. I am quite sure it was these simple images that gave me my interest in photography.
While my parents' snaps came from the 1940s and my own first photographs were taken in the late 1970s, we must go back almost 200 years, to 1826, to see the very first photograph. Known as the “View from the Window at Le Gras,” this image was captured by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce using a process known as heliography. With an exposure that lasted several hours, Niépce captured the view from an upstairs window at his estate in Burgundy, France.
Photographer, Aaron Reed says: “At a glance, you might mistake the photo for a charcoal sketch, but this humble image marks the beginning of an era. This photograph, despite its simplicity and fragility, embodies the revolutionary power of human innovation.”
A breezy 35 years later in 1861, the first colour photograph arrived on the scene. Known as the 'Tartan Ribbon', this image was created by the famed Scottish physicist and mathematician, James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell’s pioneering work in colour theory and photography led him to the realisation that by combining black and white images taken through red, green, and blue filters, one could achieve a full spectrum of colours by reconstituting the images together.
My own preference is landscape photography. For me it ticks two boxes; it takes me out in nature and while there, I get to spend time at my favourite hobby. In the early days, I was often disappointed with my results; scenes were flat or incorrectly exposed or missing that certain something. Through trial and error, I found what worked and this largely happened because I got to understand what a camera could do, and more importantly, what it could not do. While we might think of a camera as an eye, it is not. The most sophisticated camera can never do what your eye can do. Mind you, some of them these days get very close to achieving that miracle.
I have a saying (at least I think it’s mine): “You can take a good photograph with a bad camera but you are never guaranteed a good photograph with a good camera.” What I mean by this is: if a photograph is properly composed, it will look well regardless of the quality of your camera. A well-composed photograph is pleasing to the eye, drawing you in and ideally, telling you a story or asking you a question – I wonder who lives there? What’s around that bend or how did that happen?
Composing an image is a skill - some have it, some don’t – but it is an essential requirement of photography. The good news is that it can be learned. Without getting too technical, there is a rule that makes well-composed images pleasing to the eye. This rule will give an image a focal point, depth and width. It gives the impression of looking into a scene rather than looking at a flat plain. It is called the Rule of Thirds. Look it up if you are keen to learn. It is simple enough to follow and will revolutionise your photographs evermore… if you practice and perfect it.
The oldest camera I own is an old Kodak, dating back to the 1920s. Most cameras of this vintage were simple to operate. The two main features in such cameras were the speed of the shutter and the length of time the shutter remained open. These cameras could operate well in good light while being held steadily to avoid shake (what they could do), and they gave poor results on dark days or when held carelessly (what they couldn’t do).
Going back to my own first steps into photography, after starting on a very cheap instamatic camera, I soon learned that 35mm film gave better quality negatives. These negatives, which are really what a film photographer produces in the camera, allowed for clearer images with greater potential. So, I moved on to the cheapest 35mm camera I could afford at the time and while it was basic, it was a little peach. It was a Cosmic Symbol and while I don’t have the original, I was lucky enough to get one second-hand online. The camera was Russian made and its simple adjustments (through symbols rather than technical numbers) meant it was easy to use and gave great results in varying conditions.
Today, photographs are everywhere; we see hundreds if not thousands daily. We can capture and share images with the greatest of ease, thanks to our smartphones. The disadvantage here is that most of these images are seldom seen again once captured; they remain hidden and are soon forgotten, not printed off and framed like the precious photographs of old. However, the advantage of such photography is that we can snap, again and again, until we get the right angle, the right pose, the right composition. Unlike the snaps of old, this can be done without cost or the fear of wasting frames on an expensive film.
Camera phones are great for that quick pic, the impromptu shot, but they are not great for learning the art of photography. Using an old camera, that will only allow you 24 frames on each roll of film, focuses the mind. Through time, the photographer learns from each frame used, each negative produced. Starting in this way, we learn how a real camera works, we work with its limitations and we eventually reach a place where we know roughly what will work, and more importantly, what won’t.
Dig out that old camera you saw in the drawer in your bedroom last month. Find out what kind of film it uses and have some fun with it. Take a road trip into the Ox Mountains, having first studied the Rule of Thirds. I guarantee that when you get your film developed, you will have at least one well-composed photograph that you will want to frame and put on your wall.
Another advantage of having taken out this old camera, and learning the basics of photography, is that the photos you take on your camera phone from then on will be much better. Email me your best efforts and in the coming weeks I will do a feature on them – oxmountaintrail@gmail.com.
The photograph alongside, was part of the poetry publication I collaborated in with my sister, Bernadette, during the Covid crisis in 2020. It was captured on the simple Cosmic Symbol described above. The use of black and white film chimed with the old memories contained in many of her poems. The book, , remains available from www.mayobooks.ie.
