Yearly Archives: 2012

Instant: The Story of Polaroid

Book reviews

Book review.

From Chapter 5:

This is a gripping read, not least for nuggets like the above where Edwin Land, the creator of the Polaroid camera, forsees the cell phone as we know it today.

Inventors like Land come along once a century. In the 19th it was Thomas Edison. In the 20th, Edwin Land.


Click the book for Amazon US. I do not get paid if you do that.

I got the Kindle edition and the pictures are both poorly reproduced and wrongly formatted. Get the hard copy version.

I have experienced the thrill of seeing a black & white print appear in a tray of developer under a red safety light. I enjoy the immediacy of digital almost daily. But nothing compares with the sheer magic of watching a Polaroid SX-70 color image appear in your hand some sixty seconds after the print has emerged from the camera.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in photography and awed by a genius who made the last great photographic invention of the analog era.

Bob Gorman

Photographers

An old friend passes.

Few simple things in life afford me as much pleasure as taking the pup for his evening ramble two blocks down the road to drop in on Bob Gorman at Weimax.


Bob Gorman, RIP.

To Peninsula regulars, Weimax is as good a wine shop as it gets. None of the mass merchandising of the big chains or the soullessness of the supermarket. The people here know you (and your dog) by name, are always happy to make time and chat, and no one minds waiting while locals shoot the breeze.

For me a trip to Weimax with Bert the Border Terrier always meant one thing. A chat with Bob on the latest happenings in the world of photography. We would share exhibitions we had seen and strongly felt opinions, and often exchange books from our burgeoning photography libraries. Recently he loaned me a monograph on Lee Miller and I replied with one from my collection. Bob loved photography and he had a rare eye for beauty.

I last saw him just before Thanksgiving when he explained he was off camping in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz forest off Highway 35, close to the Pacific, with the obligatory few bottles of favorite red, with food to match. Bob lived well. Today I dropped by with a recommendation for a new book only to be told by his assistant:

“Bob does not read any more.”

“Aw, c’mon, everyone reads. And Bob reads more than most.”

“Bob had a stroke at Thanksgiving and passed away.”

Bang. A brutal message, no punches pulled. But how else to put it? I was floored.

Just like that. No warning, no alert, no tell-tale hints.

Bob had moved on.

There’s nothing I can say.

Bob’s Flickr page survives him. It’s a repository of the many, many things he saw, loved and felt he had to share. Bob was a great enthusiast, and he knew all that is good and right, be it Paris, Italy or his beloved Bay Area. To get a sense of his eye, take a look at his pictures from Le Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris. His Flickr pages – where he posted under the pseudonym ‘Romaneye’ – are wonderful resources for those looking for subjects. (Yahoo account needed to login).

Here’s the last snap Bob posted to his Flickr pages which contain thousands of his images – it’s a study of the Olsen Residence designed by architect Donald Olsen in 1952. Bob and I both loved the work of Julius Shulman and the modern International Style architecture school, so ably portrayed here. I cannot think of a better way of saying ‘Goodbye’ to a dear friend.

Wherever he may be, you can be sure of one thing. Bob is still busy snapping the many things of beauty his eye could never resist.

Q&A five years on

Photography

A few changes.

Five years ago I published one of those Q&A sessions you see occasionally in the press, so it’s fun to revisit that and see what has changed. Where there have been changes the older answer appears in parentheses.

Who Inspires You: Cartier-Bresson, Erwitt, Penn, Parkinson

Favorite (re)discovery: Old Nikon MF lenses. (Digital imaging)

Best gadget ever: The iPhone. (Those clip on eyes for the old Leica M mount 50mm DR Summicron)

Best camera you ever used: Nikon D2X. (Leica M2)

Best lens ever used: 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor-S, MF made in the 1960s. (A tie. 90mm Leica Apo-Summicron-M Asph/Canon 85mm f/1.8)

Best picture ever taken: The one I just snapped. (Darling, there are so many it’s impossible to say)

Most capable camera you ever used: Nikon D700. The 5D’s capabilities with better build and a far better sensor. (Canon 5D which I use to this day. A jack of all trades and master of most)

Best computer for photography: My Hackintosh HP100+ built by my buddy FU Steve (New question and answer).

Favorite photo venue: The Mission District, San Francisco. (The streets of Mayfair, London, preferably on a sunny day)

Favorite watch: My Patek Philippe Nautilus. (Any Patek Philippe; an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak for sports wear)

Favorite champagne: None, I no longer drink the stuff. (Bollinger NV)

Jeans: Levi 501 button fly. The classic.

Favorite writing instrument: The Bic Cristal ball pen. Another classic.

Shirts: Ralph Lauren. (Brooks Brothers and L L Bean)

Suits: I no longer wear a suit. (Paul Stuart, Madison Avenue)

Favorite restaurant in the whole world: Ristorante Rocca, Burlingame, CA, where I am amongst friends. (La Grenouille in Manhattan, but only if I have a gorgeous brunette to accompany me. On my own it would be any McDonald’s whose stock and food I adore)

Most exciting location you have ever dined in: Windows of the World, 107th floor, World Trade Center, north tower.

Favorite car: Ferrari. It has avoided me so far and somehow continues to do so.

Photographic ambition: A biography of the best of the best in photography, made as a movie documentary, with a highly opinionated voice-over by yours truly, of course.

Greatest fear: That soon 51% of US voters will be working for the government

Favorite leaders: Churchill for his courage, Reagan for his optimism, Thatcher for her determination, Golda Meir for her guts.

Favorite actresses: Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Rachel Ward, Claudia Cardinale, Eva Green. (Rachel Ward, Claudia Cardinale, Eva Green)

Favorite actors: Brad Pitt, George Clooney. (Who cares?)

Favorite city: Los Angeles. (Beverly Hills. A focus of vapidity in a sea of pollution)

Least favorite thing to do: Listen to some moron vent about politics. I never fly. (Commercial air flight)

What you do to relax: Read women’s fashion magazines – Vogue, VF, Bazaar, Elle. Walk my dog. Watch Formula One. Read philosophy.

Person who irritates you most: Anyone in, or running for, public office.

The greatest crime in a free society: The religious right. (The Income Tax)

The greatest influence on you as a photographer: Caravaggio

Painters who mean most to you: Caravaggio, Giorgione, Mantegna, Ucello, Corot, Manet, Degas, Seurat, Sisley. (Caravaggio, Giorgione, Mantegna, Ucello, El Greco, Gericault, Corot, Manet, Degas, Seurat, Rothko)

Favorite music: Chopin, though I rarely listen to music. (Chopin when I’m depressed. Mahler when I’m really depressed. The Rolling Stones when I’m recovering)

Favorite dog: Any Border Terrier, but especially mine.

Favorite musician: Horowitz

Favorite composer: Chopin

Favorite woman: The one I wake up next to.

Favorite photo: The one I haven’t seen or taken yet.

Favorite photo you have seen: I suppose it has to be The Great Brailowsky. HCB at his luminous, spontaneous best.