I hope you don't mind a second entry. I was given this half-plate camera in 1952, while I was still at school, by my grandfather who bought it in the 1890s. I used it for a bit as I was able to find a source of long out-dated "ordinary" emulsion plates which I could afford out of my pocket money. It was my second camera as the first had been the statutory Kodak Box-Brownie (long gone to glory). Eventually I was given the roll-film camera which features in my earlier entry.
I dug the camera out of a drawer a few months ago and tried a few exposures using Multigrade printing paper. Encouraged by the results I obtained a new set of bellows from Camera Bellows in Birmingham (our English Birmingham, not yours) and did some refurbishing. While I was at it I made some card inserts which would hold lengths of film cut from a 120 roll. as an alternative to paper. These strips are easy to load into a daylight tank in a changing bag for ease of processing. My image below was taken on FP4+. I couldn't resist a sepia tint! The exposure was made using the original Thornton Pickard roller blind shutter. I think from my results the shutter speeds are now about one stop slow which isn't bad for a 100-year-old gadget; however as I don't think anyone makes the traditional rubber bulb remote releases I fixed a small brass nut onto the release bar with epoxy resin glue which enables me to use a modern cable release.
We have my grandfather's albums with many of his contact prints in them. I thought you might be interested to see part of a 1901 picture of his taken from a viewpoint not far from mine. The location is just east of Kew Bridge, on the North bank of the Thames. The graceful tower is not a minaret, by the way! It was built in 1867 as a water tower by the company supplying water to the western areas of London. You can see a puff of steam coming from it in the 1901 shot. Nowadays the water works and tower are part of Kew Bridge Steam Museum which has an impressive collection of engines. The modern high-rise buildings nearby are, in my opinion, a disgrace to the architectural profession, but that may be fighting talk.
Henry Rogers
Strand on the Green in 2008, taken by Henry with his grandfather's camera
Strand on the Green in 1901, taken by Henry's grandfather
Cool camera and story! BTW, I thought it was interesting to see how the two of you differed in your technique. Your grandfather placed greater emphasis on the foreground, allowing the background to go out of sharp focus (a decision undoubtedly aided by the foggy conditions), whereas you placed the focus closer to infinity. Even disregarding differences due to changes to the landscape, coloring and grain, the two pictures have a very different feel despite having been taken by the same camera and lens!
Best regards,
Adam
Posted by: mcananeya | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:01 AM
Hmmm. Henry, nice job. But...
Does anybody else think that the passage of time simply ruined Strand?
In Henry's grandfather's photo, there's the riot of rushes, steam coming out of the tower, people walking by, boats pulled out on the strand, boats on the river...
In Henry's photo, it's all nice, clean, there are some birds there, but it all looks rather sterile.
Posted by: erlik | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:24 AM
Fascinating to see what changes and what doesn't over 107 years. Same weather, for instance.
Posted by: Richard | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:28 AM
Fascinating to see what changes and what doesn't over 107 years. Same weather, for instance.
Posted by: Richard | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:28 AM
COOLEST. POST. EVER.
Posted by: yunfat | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:29 AM
Magnificent. And nice to see Strand-on-the-Green again. I spent a very happy few years renting a flat there, just on the right hand margins of those shots, and my Dad many a year commuting to Kew Gardens where he was on the scientific staff, so an area I have an affection for.
The high-rise buildings don't look any better in real life. Just out of shot on the left (over the river) is the Chiswick brewery - just as ugly, but easier to put up with....
Y
Posted by: Yanchik | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:36 AM
I love this! I would definitely enjoy seeing more "then and now" forgotten camera shots like this. Nicely done, Henry. Thank you for sharing!
Posted by: Drayke Larson | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 09:45 AM
Fantastic, great story and approach. I like this.
Posted by: Peter in Bangkok | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 10:01 AM
I can't even say how cool that is...
Posted by: David | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 10:16 AM
I used to live in the Chiswick area and the Strand on the Green remains one of my favourite parts of London. Where you see a striped hut on the right, there are now some substantial-looking posts - I always wondered what they were for. Anyway, it's a great area for a lunchtime or evening pint.
Posted by: John | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 10:38 AM
This is really great stuff Henry.
I just can't seem to get Bryan Ferry singing "Do The Strand" out of my head now.
We are witnessing some really fine things from this exercise.
Posted by: charlie d | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 11:31 AM
I love all of the forgotten camera posts. But to me this one represents the essence of the idea with the family history and the images of the same scene 107 years apart. Great post! and lovely job with the images.
Posted by: Brian | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 12:23 PM
Erlik at 8.24
John at 9.38
Yes it is sterile nowadays, what used to be a working river is now something else. At least there are fish in it nowadays which wasn't the case as recently as 50 years ago. If you look at the full size scan of 1901 you can see boats and barges on the shore all the way along to the bridge. Just behind the striped hut is a steam launch of some sort I think. In 2008 there really isn't any foreground detail except shingle. Which is why I went for clouds and reflections. I didn't use a filter of any sort btw.
I've always wondered about the modern posts where the striped hut was. They aren't very beautiful!
From other pictures in the same album (some dating from 1897) one can see that even then the Port of London Authority (or someone) moored boats and working rigs at a buoy not very far from the one in my picture.
Posted by: Henry Rogers | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 01:06 PM
Hi - I live in Sheffield, but my folks come from over the river and my grand-daughter goes to Strand-on-the-Green school - she can walk all the way to school meeting no cars from Hartington Court(Art Deco)off the right of the picture - still a good area, I'd say. I should get out my old Sanderson quarter plate (passed from father, not grandfather) and do the same thing
On the river there are often plenty of sporting fours, eights and sculls here but why no lazy pleasure skiffs anywhere these days?
I support your theme, Mike, keep it going why not a separate site and give it its own life?
Posted by: Danny Roberts | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 05:04 PM
Oh man, seeing "then and now" pics is old hat, but the same scene shot 100 years apart with the camera? That is fan-fricking-tabulous. I'd like to think that my K10D will still be clicking away somewhere in 2108, but I'd say the odds are longer than... well, as close to zero as you can get without getting there.
Posted by: Peter F | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 05:20 PM
Wow. This and others (practically all of the other Forgotten Camera posts) have made my day. Simply amazing.
Posted by: Yuan-Juhn Chiao | Wednesday, 03 September 2008 at 06:38 PM
Henry, I work across the bridge in Kew Gardens, used to live in a flat just on the right of this view in Strand on the Green, and I collect vintage photographs and to a less extent cameras as a hobby. So you can imagine my delight at seeing your post. I would love to see more of your grandfather's photos. Should you have any that you can't identify the location of or need further details for I have set up and run a website for identifying old photos - see http://www.whatsthatpicture.com - it's all free so do feel free to post any unidentified pictures there.
Posted by: James | Monday, 08 September 2008 at 06:02 PM