All Through a Lens: A Podcast About Film Photography

Disposable Cameras and Their Permanence (w/ Jenny Sampson)

Full show notes at:  https://www.allthroughalens.com
 
On this episode, we’re talking to Jenny Sampson (@jennysampsonphotography on IG), tintypist and author of Skater Girls. We’ll also be taking a good long look at disposable cameras - from the very first in 1886 to the very last … to be released by Kodak in the near future - Apparently, the future is disposable too. We’ll also share some news from Shanghai and ORWO, as well as talk a bit about what we’re up to. Then there’s the answering machine and a couple of zine reviews. Let’s go!
Jenny Sampson
We both recently discovered Jenny Sampson through stumbling upon her book Skater Girls - filled with tintype portraits of skater girls. Then we realized we briefly met at Polacon in San Francisco right before the pandemic hit.
Jenny is a third generation Californian, has been shooting film from an early age, and has spent the last decade or so making tintypes of skaters. She’s also the board president of the East Bay Photo Collective, and is a member of the Rolls and Tubes collective.
IG: @jennysampsonphotography
Web: https://www.jennysampson.com/
Here are a few of her tintypes:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disposable Cameras: History and Future
From the very beginning of photography, shooting and developing pictures yourself was a huge pain in the ass. The cameras were complicated, unwieldy and expensive. The film wasn’t film, it was glass or tin. And developing was dangerous, highly flammable, toxic and required a cadre of chemicals with names like pyrogallic acid, sulphate of uranium, and chloroplatinate of mercury.
But then in 1888, the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company from Rochester New York released a camera called The Kodak - a wooden, leather-covered box with a single shutter speed, and a single aperture. Inside was a roll of film - invented a few years earlier by Eastman - long enough to take 100 pictures. There was no focusing, no metering, hell, since the photos were round, there wasn’t even a need to level.
Here are some ads and whatnot from various historical disposable cameras:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Zine Reviews
Portrait of a City by Ben Yount
Bulldozed Future #3 by  Ryan Berkebile
 
 
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists

Dev Party - Encouraging Casual Conversation (while Developing)

In this episode, we are just kicking back, developing some film and having a lovely little chat. The conversation meanders from film to developers, from that one town in Idaho or maybe Montana to whatever.
Vania developed a mystery roll of Vericolor II (expired in the early 80s), and speculates as to what's on it. She devved it in C-41, though she obviously wishes she had one of Eric's ECN-2 kits.
Meanwhile, Eric developed a glorious roll of the greatest emulsion ever - Ultrafine Extreme 400. And he did it in Pyro PMK (1+2+100; 13mins).
 
Here are some of Vania's pics:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And here are some of Eric's:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists

Murder vs. Death: Books of Crime Scene Photos (w/ Jon Hilty)

For full show notes and photos: https://www.allthroughalens.com
 
We talk to Jon Hilty (@amphetadreamer on IG) because we were wrong about Autochromes! There’s also some history about the View-Master, and we take a good look at two books of early crime scene photos. There’s also Tiffen (@tiffen.sinclair on IG), zine reviews and some other fun along the way.
Jon Hilty: DIY Autochromes
In our last episode, we talked about autochrome color photos, basically saying that it couldn’t be done.
And with that, we got a bunch of folks messaging us, saying that we should talk to Jonathan Tod Hilty who had done it.
IG: @amphetadreamer
https://www.jonhilty.com/
A guide to making autochromes:https://www.jonhilty.com/autochromeguide
It’s a bit older, but here are some more pictures of the autochromes he’s made:https://www.jonhilty.com/autochromegallery
Here are some examples of the Lippmann plates:https://www.jonhilty.com/lippmanngallery
Here are a few of his latest:
 
Short History of the View-Master
The View-Master was introduced in April of 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair. This was also where RCA introduced television, Dupont introduced Nylon, and Einstein gave a speech about cosmic rays.
What fairgoers witnessed was a futuristic improvement upon the stereocards of old. Using a stereoscope (which every antique store is legally required to sell), the grandparents of these spectators could look at 3D renderings of individual photographs, taken with special stereo cameras. Stereo photos pre-dated the Civil War, and so by 1939, they were old hat.
What View-Master provided was an exciting update.  Round cardboard circles (which they called “reels”), held 14 16mm Kodachrome transparencies, which made seven pairs of photos – one for each eye. When looked at through a View-Master, they would be rendered in 3D. And with the flick of the lever, the reel would advance to the next 3D photo. 
Here’s a bunch of ads:
 
Murder vs. Death: Early 1900s Crime Scene Photos
Back in April, we did an episode called Mugshots and Memorials (episode 41 if you were wondering). In the main feature, we talked about Alphonse Bertillon, the French police photographer responsible for the creation of mugshots. Bertillon, an exacting fellow, noted all sorts of things about the human face. He believed that things like ear size or arm length might determine someone’s criminal potentiality.
But oddly enough, we’re not here to talk about Bertillon and his crime scene photographs. Not directly, anyway.
A while back, we picked up two books on crime scene photos in hopes of making some larger piece with them. 
The first, Murder in the City, a collection of glass plates from New York City in the 1910s and 20s, is very much in the vein of Bertillon – it’s almost classy.
The other, called Death Scenes, is a book of crime scene photos from 1940s LA. It’s very candid, very matter-of-fact. Though the subjects are dead bodies, the way they are photographed is nearly the opposite of Bertillon – at least as far as unintentional artfulness went.
It might seem a little obvious that photos of murder victims would be potentially unnerving and upsetting. But we weren’t really prepared to deal with the photos in one of these two books.
We’re not sharing many photos from either book, but here are some photos about the God’s Eye View Tripod setup:
But here are some of Eugene de Salignac’s photos:
 
Zine Reviews
Future Condos by Jesse Rinyu – @jrinyu on IG
 
Toy Golf by Garon Kiesel (@grain_or_die on IG)
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists

Dev Party - The Great Exchange

On this episode, we talk about our experiences shooting each others cameras (while developing the film we’re talking about).
Vania shot Eric’s Mamiya m645j, while Eric shot Vania’s Hasselblad 500C.
Answering the previous episode’s Answering Machine Question, we both talk about the various animal encounters we’ve had (some together!).
Eric developed Foma Retropan 320 in Foma Retro Special, and here are a few of his:
Vania shot Kodak Lumiere. And here are some of her’s:
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists

Kodak‘s New Prices and How We‘re Never Happy

This episode is all about Kodak’s recent price increases: Why’d they do it? How high will they get? And what the hell do we do now? But it’s not just us who will be talking – we asked a few former guests and some friends of the show their thoughts on it.
There’s also the answering machine, Tiffen Sinclair, Autochromes, and zine reviews.
Kodak’s Price Increases
Kodak recently announced that starting in January 2022, they’d be raising the prices on nearly all of their film. Well, they didn’t exactly announce. They emailed the stores who buy directly from them and the news leaked out.
This follows a roughly 20% increase from last year, a similar increase the year before that, and a 10% price hike for 2018. To put things in a bit of perspective, a five-pack of Portra 400 in 120 cost $29 in 2018. As of now, it’s $55, so come January, that same pack will be closing in on $70. In less than four years, the price of Portra will have more than doubled. Quite a lot of film has.
So we got to wondering – what do some of the friends of the show have to say about the price increases? How are they dealing with it? And how will it affect their work going forward?
We talked to Brandy B, Charley Camugila, Danielle Wrobleski, Hannah Grace, Jamie Maldinado, and Kat Swansey and got their takes on all of this.
Brandy: @film_diary_of_a_redhead
Charlie: @casualscience
Danielle: @girlwithtoomanycameras
Hannah: @h.gracephoto
Jamie: @jamiemphoto
Kat: @katswanseyphoto
As part of the piece, we also talked with Blue Moon Camera out of Portland.
@bluemooncamera
Autochromes
Somehow me managed to have a minute or two to talk about an old color process called autochromes.
Here are some examples of them:
And Now For Something Completely Tiffen
Tiffen Sinclair tells us about two photo books that inspire her on weeks where she does nothing photographic.
Be Happy by Igor Samolet
Fuck Me by Josh Kern
Zine Reviews
Everything is So Beautiful Today by Stephanie Gonzales
https://www.etsy.com/listing/695992839/everything-is-so-beautiful-today-zine
The Need for Restlessness by CC Camuglia
https://shop.themselvespress.com/product/the-need-for-restlessness-cc-camuglia
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists

Nailed to the Xtol (or Maybe Exel)

Finally… Finally Vania returns to Xtol, the developer that nearly killed her (in a very metaphorical sense). Meanwhile, Eric tries out Foma’s version of Xtol called Fomadon Exel.Both are ascorbic acid developers, and while Kodak claims that Xtol is good for “fine grain and high sharpness,” Foma claims that Exel is great for “fine grain and excellent sharpness”! The drama!
The real story here is the camera Vania used to shoot Tmax 400: The Maco! A plastic 1950s underwater camera that was more than a bit leaky. Seriously, she pre-washed her film in the ocean.
Here are a few of Vania’s pics:
Meanwhile, Eric devved Ilford Delta 400. Here are a few:
We also answer the previous episode’s answering machine question: How does anxiety/mood affect your photography.
And there’s a lot of banter about: crows, feeding crows, parking meters, change, surfing (obviously?), and one of us forgets that they’re recording a Dev Party. Guess who!
END CREDITS
www.allthroughalens.com
Vania: IG, Flickr, Zines, WebsiteEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 Kits

Carte de Vistas: The First Social Media Experiment (w/ HawnFawn)

And on this episode, we’re winding our timelines back to the first social media experiment (that seems to have gone a LOT better than the current one) – CDVs, Cabinet Cards and the mania they kicked up. We’ll also be talking to Bay Area portrait photographer and everybody’s best friend, Han Phan (@hawnfawn on IG)!  There’s the answering machine, zine reviews, Tiffen Sinclair (@tiffen.sinclair on IG), and how to find meaning in your shitty work (or at least how we did). 
Hawn Phan (HawnFawn)
We’re so happy to finally be able to sit down with Han! We talked about her portraits and stories, her parents and a project she’s started with them. Lots of talk on cameras and film too.
Website: https://www.hwnfwn.com/
IG: @hawnfawn
Here are a few of her portraits:
CDVs: The First Social Media Experiment
In the early decades of photography, sitting for your portrait was a ritual reserved for the wealthy classes. With the costs of the rare photographer, the glass, the frame, and the experience, few besides the rich could afford the luxury of this one of a kind photograph. 
But in 1854, that all began to change, though not without the protestations of the elites. It was in this year that Andre Adolphe-Eugene Disderi patented the carte de visite – literally, visiting card.
In this longer feature, we dig into the weird little history of what turned out to be the first Social Media Experiment. Lasting less than a decade, 300 to 400,000 CDVs were cranked out per year.
We look at the lighter side and a bit of the darker side to the first affordable photo trend.
Here are some examples of CDVs, from the very typical to the very famous to the very odd:
Here’s an example of how the larger plate was exposed in eight different segments:
 
And some larger Cabinet Cards:
 
Zine Reviews
Abandoned Cameras Rescued Film by Mark Jensen
https://www.etsy.com/listing/932576642/abandoned-cameras-rescued-film-zine-1
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists

Dev Party - Devil is in the Double X

On this slightly less spooky episode of Dev Party, we're twinning! Both Eric and Vania are developing 120 rolls of Kodak Double X in FA-1027.
We go into the details and the weirdo data sheet that accompanies FA-1027. We also brush up against the long history of Double X. 
Not only that, we both give our answers for last episode's answering machine question: Which photographic trends or cliches are we no longer doing? 
Here are some of the shots Vania developed: 

And here are some that Eric did: 

 
END CREDITS
www.allthroughalens.com
Vania: IG, Flickr, Zines, WebsiteEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 Kits

Ghosts, Orbs, and Exploding Nitrate Film (with Dave Wilson of Victorian Photography Studio)

On this spooky episode, we’ll be talking to Dave from Victorian Photo Studio in Gettysburg (@vps_gettysburg on IG) about tintypes and ghost photos! We’ll also tell you all about some ridiculously explosive film that was essentially gunpowder.  Ever wanted to know how to spot a fake ghost photo? It’s pretty easy, but we’ll tell you how anyway! There’s also Tiffen Sinclair (@tiffen.sinclair on IG), zine reviews and oodles more.
Dave Wilson!
Dave is a tintypist and historian who brings your Victorian dreams to life (or death) using traditional old timey photography. He’s also been trying to replicate William Mumler’s techniques of producing “spectral images.”
Our talk with him was wonderful and entertaining. Here are a few of his tintypes:

During the interview, Dave mentioned a couple of Civil War photos:
Tidball's Battery
Regiment resting at Fredericksburg, Va
Nitrate Film
Have you ever seen the words “Safety Film” marked on the edge of your rolls or sheets? Just what does it mean? If this film is “safe,” is there “unsafe” film? 
Nitrate film (or as they called it then, film) wasn’t dynomite. Yes, it was hazardous, it was explosive, but a lot of things were back then. I mean, they had kerosene lamps in the house - just burning away above your heads. That said, nitrate film, especially when it came to motion picture film, wasn’t without its victims.
At room temperature, nitrate film is almost perfectly safe-ish. But get too much above (say, 200 F) and you’re inching towards a very low flash point. Remember, this is essentially gun powder, except more explosive and more flammable.
For fire to burn, it needs oxygen and fuel. Take either away and out goes fire. A candle can be snuffed out by a bell, which deprives it of oxygen, or by cutting off the wick, which removes the fuel. Nitrate film is fascinating because it contains its own oxygen and is its own fuel.
Simply put, it can never be extinguished - it has to burn itself out. Even submerging it in water won’t do the trick. You can’t smother it with dirt or even in a fire blanket. And if you try to, it’ll release clouds of poison gases.
Here are some scenes from the 1929 Cleveland Clinic Fire, which we discussed in the episode:

Zine Reviews

Elsie’s Camera is a ¼ size zine out out by M Forrester - @itsbittertooth on IG. After purchasing a huge lot of old photographs, they found a few featuring a woman named Elsie. Unable to find out anything more about this Elsie, they put together a zine. 
In these 28 pages, they feature 13 photos of Elsie probably taken around 1920. They also included the backs, where brief little nuggets of information were found. Things like “Here is Elsie with her hair bobbed, taken in the front garden.” and “Dick bought this coat Elsie has on”
It’s less than $3.00, and you can get it on Etsy. The link will be in the show notes:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/649347071/elsies-camera-found-photography-zine
Blu. is a small female empowered surf zine made by women for women. Our first edition is dedicated to the unseen and the unsung, featuring female works who we find to be inspiring and empowering without the need for any negative space. For a long time, men have been at the forefront of the surfing industry, that’s why with Blu., we’ve created a community built up for women by women, without the need for any expectations. If a woman can surf, then she’s a surfer, regardless of what society may say.
Zine size: 16cm x 24cm, paperback, 42 pages.
10% of profits will be donated to www.seasisterslk.com
https://www.alinearnold.com/shop/blu
PATREON
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!
patreon.com/allthroughalens
THE CREDITS OF ENDING
Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Vania: IG, Flickr, ZinesEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 KitsTiffen: IG
All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists
 

Dev Party - The Loneliest Pine

Full show notes at allthroughalens.com!
 
On this episode of Dev Party, we talk about our day in Lone Pine, California, the Museum of Western Film. We also talk about Museum of Western Film History, which we visited. There were some amazing clouds, some perfect skies, and some photos we’re super stoked about.
We also talked about the non-photographic mediums that have influenced our photography. How how safe it is to photograph lightening. There’s a whole lot here, really.
Vania developed Arista Edu Ultra 100 (aka, Fomapan 100) in FA-1027 (much more on this developer next Dev Party). Here they are:
 
Meanwhile, Eric developed a roll of Ilford Pan F+ that he shot at Lone Pine. He devved in Pyro PMK. Here are four:
 
Vania devved her Lone Pine shots a few weeks ago, and … well … check them out:
 
Concerning the non-photographic mediums, Eric talked about Andrew Wyeth, but also Albert Bierstadt. Here’s the Bierstadt he talked about:
Vania talked about John Everett Millais’ “Ophelia” … and as Polonius said, “I shall be brief.”:
END CREDITS
www.allthroughalens.com
Vania: IG, Flickr, Zines, WebsiteEric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 Kits