Severe Nostalgia gravis

[Sylvaticus]

Many of you complain of GAS, mine is nostalgia. I had a Fed1g around 1960 and I've yearned for it ever since. It's got so bad that I've just got myself another one. Anyway, I've put some of my first Fed pictures in my gallery, the link should show up below. Some of you have already made your way there on your own and left some encouraging comments, thank you. So far, they're all Agfa CT18 transparencies that have survived pretty well. Gevaert transparencies were blank after only 20 years. Kodachrome doesn't seem to have altered at all. On the other hand, just about all my Ektachrome pictures have yellow spots, increasingly after 30 years or so, so that pretty well all are affected. Think about that if you're thinking about posterity, maybe that's why so many use black and white.

 

[Jocko]

Ah, Sylvaticus, I think many of us tread that route! We were all young photographers..... and we can be again!

All the best, Ian

 

[clarence]

That kid with the Kiev and the turret finder looks absolutely wicked!

Clarence

 

[sf]

Yes, that was back in the day when cameras had some character. Out of necessity!

 

[reagan]

We were all young photographers..... and we can be again!

Love that shot. Great!

 

[Evgeny S]

Ah, Sylvaticus, I think many of us tread that route! We were all young photographers..... and we can be again!

All the best, Ian

Zorki-4, Kiev-4A (2A) and a Smena. Really cool photo! Whose was those boys?

 

[Jocko]

Zorki-4, Kiev-4A (2A) and a Smena. Really cool photo! Whose was those boys?

Hallo Evgeny - they are from a photobook entitled Kosmos-Moskau-Berlin published in 1961 (in Berlin), recording a visit by German Titov, the second man in space to the DDR capital.

I assume they are FDJ boys - the DDR counterpart to the Young Pioneers. There are quite a number of pictures of people using cameras in the book, but this was the best I'll translate the original caption a little later today, as it refers to photography at length.

Cheers, Ian

 

[Jocko]

Thanks to Babelfish and a German dictionary, the original caption to the picture reads -

"They want to photograph this man [German Titov] not simply because they want a snapshot, but rather because they want a human image of one who embodied all humanity, on that day of historic days when he ventured out onto the interplanetary road..."

And this is the gentleman in question - the lad on the right seems to have another smena....

Cheers, Ian

 

[lushd]

Ian - I spy a young Henry Kissinger in the background ...

 

[Jocko]

Donald - I nearly fell off my chair! 😀 😀 😀

 

[darkkavenger]

I admire the perfect "Contax Grip" of the kid holding the Kiev

 

[darkkavenger]

If it wasn't for the dates on your (wonderful) slides (and some unmistakeable details such as the cars, for example), I'd think these would be recent photos!

 

[xayraa33]

that guy with the Buddy Holly glasses sure looks like a young Henry Kissinger, I do have to admit.

 

[lushd]

Donald - I nearly fell off my chair! 😀 😀 😀

That's nothing. The young man holding the camera is quite obviously a member of the Kennedy political dynasty. Didn't JFK say "Ich bin ein Berliner!" Maybe he did more with his Berliner than he let on while he was there ...

 

[xayraa33]

That's nothing. The young man holding the camera is quite obviously a member of the Kennedy political dynasty. Didn't JFK say "Ich bin ein Berliner!" Maybe he did more with his Berliner than he let on while he was there ...

Jfk made the ich bin ein Berliner speech in june 26th 1963
the photo is circa 1960
was Jack in Germany in the mid to late 1940s?

 

[Jocko]

Jfk made the ich bin ein Berliner speech in june 26th 1963
the photo is circa 1960
was Jack in Germany in the mid to late 1940s?

According to orthodox historians, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr, Jack's brother, was shot down over Germany in 1944, whilst on a secret mission against V-weapon sites.

I scent a cover up!

 

[xayraa33]

ah yes, I see.. this is starting to make sense now.

 

[Sylvaticus]

Ah, Sylvaticus, I think many of us tread that route! We were all young photographers..... and we can be again!

Thank you Jocko. Most of my stuff is by SLR so I'll have to find a home for that elsewhere. Although autofocus is a kind of rangefinding .....

You liked the soft colours of "Winter 3". Me too, this has always been one of my favourites. This is where the polished photographic writer would say he chanced to pass this spot and realised the potential and made a note to return late afternoon on a cloudless day .... No, I chanced to pass this spot late afternoon on a clear day with a haze in the distance just before sunset....

Then there's the film and colour correction. This is Agfa CT18 which has survived, but not as well as Kodachrome. CT18 has (had) a reputation for being on the cool side with a hint of green. Now, 50 years later, I had to add a lot of red and subtract a lot of blue to balance the RGB which would have taken out any coolness while counteracting the deterioration. Colour correction may be largely mechanical, but the final strokes are probably subjective (wiping his brushes and putting his palet away).

Before you revealed the source, I thought the DDR boys were posing for advertising, otherwise incredible that were brandishing such gear in such a privileged position in front of the crowd. And now we know they were waiting for the astronaut, were they still posing for the book illustration, sprawling down the steps? Diplomats' kids?

 

[Sylvaticus]

OpenWater wondered if "Xmas 2" was taken in London. After all, they're driving on the left and the neon signs are mostly for well known international companies. There's one sign sign that gives a clear clue - Fridmans tryckeri. And for the initiated there's Martin Ohlson's specialty grocery. This is Stockholm.

 

[Sylvaticus]

If it wasn't for the dates .... and some unmistakeable details such as the cars, for example .... I'd think these would be recent photos!

Thanks, darkkavenger. There are other details too like absence of televisian aerials and definitely no satellite dishes. And possibly things like buildings demolished in the meantime. Or romantic farmhouses now turned into drive-in hamburger places surrounded by high rise flats (I don't know, but it is possible). There was another thread a few weeks ago about finding the right milieu for taking "1950 shots" today.

Then there's the film. The Agfa CT18 has survived remarkably well (see also above about colour correction) but I suspect I scanned them in the nick of time. I've always tended to under-expose, to save the highlights and avoid washed-out colours, and that may have given these old transparencies an extra ten years or so.

I dread to think what I'll find when I come to the next box. I'll hold my breath and lif the lid slowly.