Sunday, January 27, 2019

Happy 127 Day!


©J. M. GoldingInto this future; northern California, USA; Yogi Bear 127 camera, Rerapan 400

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Tomorrow is 127 Day!

Tomorrow, Sunday, January 27 (1/27), is 127 Day!

127 Film Photography will feature 127-format photographs made on  January 27, 2019, in a special exhibition. You're invited to participate!

No fees, no competition, just a friendly virtual community joining together to make 127-format photos on  January 27, 2019.

To show your work,
  1. Take 127-format photographs on January 27, 2019.
  2. Send one of your photographs from January 27 to 127 Film Photography. Please email one jpg file, 500 pixels wide, to 127filmformat ~at~ gmail.com by February 27, 2019.
  3. In the subject line of your email, type "January 2019 127 Day."
  4. In the body of the email, please include the copyright symbol, your name, the title of the photograph, location, camera and film types, and your website address (or other link to your work). In that order. Please follow this example exactly (you don't have to use initials if you prefer to be known by your full name!):
©J. M. Golding,  As we walked; Peak District, UK, Yogi Bear 127 camera, Rerapan 400, http://www.jmgolding.com
All types of 127 film format are welcome, whether the film began its existence as 127, or you used 35 mm film in a 127 camera, or you respooled 46mm film, or you cut down 120 film to 127 size ... or maybe you have a technique that I don't know about yet - if so, please tell me so I can share it with others who love this format (with full credit to you, of course - or perhaps you'd like to write a short article for 127 Film Photography about it!). Photos made on 127 film in a different size camera are welcome too.

127 Film Photography will publish all photos received (as long as they are in 127 format and do not contain images of nudity, violence, or exploitation).

I look forward to seeing your 127 Day photos!

Sunday, January 20, 2019

One week till 127 Day!

January 127 Day is only a week away! It takes place on Sunday, January 27 (1/27).

127 Film Photography will feature 127-format photographs made on  January 27, 2019, in a special exhibition. You're invited to participate!

No fees, no competition, just a friendly virtual community joining together to make 127-format photos on  January 27.

To show your work,
  1. Take 127-format photographs on January 27, 2019.
  2. Send one of your photographs from  January 27 to 127 Film Photography. Please email one jpg file, 500 pixels wide, to 127filmformat ~at~ gmail.com by February 27, 2019.
  3. In the subject line of your email, type "January 2019 127 Day."
  4. In the body of the email, please include the copyright symbol, your name, the title of the photograph, location, camera and film types, and your website address (or other link to your work). In that order. Please follow this example exactly (you don't have to use initials if you prefer to be known by your full name!):
©J. M. Golding, Take the first step, then the next; northern California, USA; Yashica 44A, long-expired mystery film (Panchromatic Black and White, Belgium, believed to be Agfa), http://www.jmgolding.com
All types of 127 film format are welcome, whether the film began its existence as 127, or you used 35 mm film in a 127 camera, or you respooled 46mm film, or you cut down 120 film to 127 size ... or maybe you have a technique that I don't know about yet - if so, please tell me so I can share it with others who love this format (with full credit to you, of course - or perhaps you'd like to write a short article for 127 Film Photography about it!). Photos made on 127 film in a different size camera are welcome too.

127 Film Photography will publish all photos received (as long as they are in 127 format and do not contain images of nudity, violence, or exploitation).

I look forward to seeing your 127 Day photos!

Saturday, January 12, 2019

127 Day Online Exhibition - December 7, 2018

Welcome to 127 Film Photography's 127 Day online exhibition! The images below were created in 127 format on the December 7, 2018.

If you photograph in 127 film format, you're invited to join us for the next 127 Day on January 27, 2019.


©Amy Nicolazzo, Orthrus; Akron, OH, USA, Sawyer Nomad 127, Kodak Verichrome Pan (expired February 1965)


©S. Blanks, untitled; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Yashica 44, Bluefire Murano


©Nigel Middleton,  Autumn pruning; Northamptonshire, United Kingdom, Purma Plus, Fomapan 200


@Nicholas Middleton, Rainy Morning; London, United Kingdom, Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 520/18 ('Baby Ikonta'), Ilford HP5+


©T. Byrne, Door; Tulane Street, Princeton, NJ, USA (right in front of the Record Exchange, the coolest store in town), Topcon Primo Jr., Expired Verichrome Pan (expiration date unknown)


©Mike Maguire, U Street; Washington, DC, USA, 1940 Detrola KW, Kodak Verichrome Pan (expired 1962)


 
©Takgyver, The Mill; BC, Canada, No. 0 Brownie (Model A), EFKE R100 (expired December 2013)


 Dave Hughes, Darley Abbey Mills; Derby, United Kingdom, Agfa Billy O, Verichrome Pan (expired 1976)


 ©Kenneth Hooper, untitled, Mission Viejo, CA, USA; Kodak A.G. Vollenda, ReraPan 100


©Salvador Busquets, Up in Núria; Núria sanctuary, Catalonia; Vest Pocket Kodak, Rerapan 100


©J. M. Golding, Take the first step, and the next; northern California, USA; Yashica 44A, (Agfa) Panchromatic Black and White, Belgium (expiration date unknown)



Saturday, January 5, 2019

The Brownie and the mobile phone - surprising effects

In recent years, many of us have given a great deal of thought to how mobile phones have changed photography. To say that they've made photography widely available is an understatement. They've created new (often online) communities; for example, Facebook groups, Instagram, Flickr groups. There are also Meetup groups centering around mobile phone photography, and contests for, exhibitions of, and awards for mobile phone photography.

But this is not the first time that access to photography has expanded rapidly. A recent article by Eric Shewe (which summarizes an academic journal article by Marc Olivier) describes how, in 1900, Kodak's Brownie cameras - many of which use our lovely 127 film - increased access to photography as never before.


Shewe describes how Kodak introduced the first camera with easy-to-load film in 1888, but because of its expense, photography was still inaccessible to most people. The Brownie, at 4% of the price of Kodak's prior camera, "allowed women, children and the working classes to take pictures where, when, and how they wished." The parallel to the ubiquity of mobile phones seems clear.

The articles explain that the Brownie was named for fairy-tale sprites originating in Scottish folklore and popularized in a series of books and plays by Palmer Cox. (There is an image of an original advertisement for the Brownie, with the sprites looking at it and climbing on it, on p. 8 of Olivier's article).  Olivier saw Kodak's marketing of the Brownie as an attempt "to portray snapshot photography as a phenomenon both modern and magic" (p. 2) ... sound familiar?

Olivier also describes the beginnings of "snapshot culture" and Kodak's creation of the Brownie Club of America (p. 15) - although open only to children and younger teens, perhaps a in some sense forerunner to some of our contemporary online photography websites and groups.

Thanks to Mike Maguire for alerting me to Shewe's article!