Topic: London in 1883

[Nigel]

I just love these shots. How magical must photography have seemed in 1883.






More here : http://vintage-everyday.blogspot.com/2011/10/b-london-photographs-in-1883.html

[Late Developer]

Hi Nigel......that's 5 years before Jack the Ripper went about his terrible business. Wild 

Photography still seems magical to me - particularly the film type. Although I no longer have a darkroom, I still remember vividly the first time I saw a print emerge from the whiteness of the paper and it continues to fascinate me to this day.

[Thom Stone]

I was about to say! Photography is still definitely magical to me. I think why I love polaroid so much is because it feels like magic every time, as does printing but I dont get the opportunity to set up my darkroom all that often.. still, I will never forget the moment my first print started to appear before my eyes! amazing.

fantastic photographs aswel. I bought the exhibition book of the Museum of London street photography exhibition and there are some fantastic shots from the 1880's one in particular was 1882 by henry dixon with motion blurred carriages that always makes me think of modern long exposures of roads with all the headlights and tail-lights blurred out :-P

.....

infact here it is.

[Paul Mitchell]

Went up to Whitby last week and even though I'd seen them dozens of times I always make time to pop into the Frank Sutcliffe gallery

http://www.sutcliffe-gallery.co.uk/gallery.html

It's just wonderful to be able to still stand in the exact locations. There's even a slideshow on the site showing a before and after

Paul

[Francois]

Two things I find funny in that last one:
it's the 1800's and there's already a traffic jam
I don't know if it's a fender bender or stalled engine though...

And has anyone noticed the Bicycle School sign?

[astrobeck]

I can't take my eye off that "Singer Sewing Machine" sign!

Photography is still magical to me as well.  It's like being in wonderland holding a camera and framing a scene knowing that if I click the shutter, I'm going to forever preserve that moment in time.  It's a precious moment, even if the photo doesn't mean anything to anyone else, to me it's a treasure because I've preserved something.

[DS]

Went up to Whitby last week and even though I'd seen them dozens of times I always make time to pop into the Frank Sutcliffe gallery

I love Whitby. Its mere existence makes me happy. I really want to go and take piccies at the goth festivals at some point.

Last time I went to the Sutcliffe gallery I bought a few prints. One of my friends found some original framed darkroom prints stamped in the '20s in a charity shop. I'm happy for them but just more than a little jealous...

Hopefully you got a fish super at the magpie cafe while you were there

[Paul Mitchell]

Went up to Whitby last week and even though I'd seen them dozens of times I always make time to pop into the Frank Sutcliffe gallery

Hopefully you got a fish super at the magpie cafe while you were there

The queue was about 30 deep so we had a take away and ate them on the quayside... bliss! 

[LT]

thanks for all these pics - I absolutely love early photography.  The depth of detail and tones always blows me away. the local contrast is truly something else.  We just don't manage this feel with modern techniques and equipment.  Even modern platinum prints, as wonderful as they are, don't get that incredible feeling.  I wonder if it is about silver content in the film, or maybe heavy working with pencils on the back of plates to bring out detail? Maybe the effect of age on the prints? Not sure, but it is amazing.

And the haziness in the backgrounds is incredible too - atmospherics? pollution? ortho-sensitivty? a mixture of all 3 I suspect.

Whatever it is that causes the above, it all came together in a magical moment to create something that we no longer seem able to do.

[LT]

I love that in the first of Nigel's pictures, Mr Johnson is a Coke Merchant.  Not something you'd want on your shop front these days