Cameras in Disguise
John Wade £4.99

978 0 7478 0637 0 (Album 449) 48 pp, 72 colour and 30 b/w ills.

Throughout the history of photography, from its very earliest days right up to the present digital era, an amazing number of cameras have been designed and manufactured to look like some completely different object. During and after the Second World War some of these were used for genuine espionage purposes. Others were made for no reason other than to provide photographers with something a little out of the ordinary, and a fair number, especially in the later years, were little more than toys. Whatever the reason so many manufacturers had for disguising cameras, their story makes an often overlooked and fascinating branch of photographic history.

John Wade began collecting cameras in the early 1970s, an interest which led him to a fascination for researching some of the more obscure aspects of photographic history. Other titles for Shire by this author (see below).

Discovering Cameras 1945-1965 Robert White £4.50

978 0 7478 0298 3 (Db 286) 112 pp, 86 ills.

This book traces the changes in the years from 1945 to 1965 when there were considerable advances in photography and in cameras. At the start of the period most snapshot photographs were black and white contact prints made from box and folding bellows camera negatives; by the end snapshooters enjoyed the simplicity of instant loading cameras, automatic exposure control, built-in flash and colour prints. The interchangeable lens 35 mm camera with coupled rangefinder enjoyed a boom but had finally to give way to the single-lens reflex; 6 cm square twin-lens reflex and folding roll-film cameras grew steadily in popularity until they were pushed aside by cameras taking smaller negatives. Tiny cameras using 16 mm film and half-frame 35 mm cameras were popular for a while whilst the Polaroid instant picture system, launched shortly after the end of the war, went from strength to strength. The post-war period of shortages gave the chance to camera makers in Britain, America, Italy, France and elsewhere to challenge the strong German industry but only until the German industry fully recovered. By then German camera makers faced competition from Japan; by 1965 names such as Nikon, Pentax and Canon, unknown in 1945, had become world-famous.

Robert White became interested in the history of the camera whilst still a pharmacy research student at London University in the late 1950s. As well as collecting all manner of cameras, photographic books, accessories and printed ephemera he has lectured, worked as a photographic museum volunteer and written many magazine article.

Cine Cameras
John Wade £4.99

978 0 7478 0592 2 (Album 429) 48 pp, colour ills.

The theory behind making moving images was known long before the advent of photography, but the introduction of photographic processes, able to capture a fleeting moment in a fraction of a second, soon led early pioneers to think about what was originally known as animated photography. This book tells the story of those early years when movie cameras were used only by professional film-makers. It then describes the advent of amateur cine equipment and the growth of film-making as a popular hobby.

John Wade began collecting still cameras in 1972, an interest which eventually led him to a fascination for cine equipment. He is now a full-time freelance writer and photographer. Other titles for Shire by this author (see above).

The English Seaside in Victorian and Edwardian Times
John Hannavy £9.99

978 0 7478 0571 7 (HIC 14) 128 pp, 194 colour ills.

Photography and the seaside holiday developed together. As holidays became increasingly popular, the number of photographs offered for sale as mementoes of the magical week by the coast grew enormously. When ingenious methods of colouring photographs became available in the 1890s, the coloured holiday photographic print, and later the picture postcard, defined the seaside memory. Through a wonderful collection of coloured photographs covering all the major – and several minor – resorts around England’s coast, this unique book celebrates the heyday of the seaside holiday.

John Hannavy, Professor in Art and Design at Bolton Institute, is a well-known photographer, and a writer and broadcaster on the history of photography. Other titles for Shire by this author are:

Fox Talbot John Hannavy £3.50

978 0 7478 0351 5 (Lifelines 38) 48 pp, 28 ills.

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) is universally recognised as the father of modern photography. His 'calotype' or 'Talbotype' process was the first working photographic process to use the now familiar format of negative and positive. He was an ambitious man and was often described by his college tutors as a genius. His interest spread far beyond the confines of photography and it was as a mathematician that he was awarded first Membership and then Fellowship of the Royal Society before the age of thirty-three. He was an accomplished astronomer, a keen archaeologist and a fluent master of Greek and Hebrew. He patented pioneering ideas for internal combustion engines as early as 1840 and through his life was at the forefront of progressive scientific thinking in England.

Professor John Hannavy is Head of Art and Design at Bolton Institute and has been collecting, researching and writing about the history of photography for over twenty-five years. Other titles for Shire by this author are:

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Discovering Old Cameras 1839-1939 Robert White £4.50

978 0 7478 0266 2 (Db 260) 88 pp, 45 ills.

The camera obscura has been used for centuries as an artist’s tool but in 1839 the world heard that it was possible to capture the image by chemical means without the aid of the artist’s hand. This book traces the development of the camera from its origins, through the wet collodion period and the boom years for amateur photography which followed the introduction of fast dry plates in the 1880s, and into the 1890s when roll films and commercial processing made snapshots possible. The twentieth century brought smaller, even pocketable cameras which led in the 1920s and 1930s to the miniature camera using 35mm film. Novelty and special purpose cameras took panoramic views, made photographs resembling postage stamps or looked like pocket watches. Clues are provided for dating cameras and further information can be found from the comprehensive list of books, museums and collecting and historical organisations.

Robert White has been fascinated by old cameras since about 1960, when he bought his first, a Sanderson, to improve the quality of the pictures he entered for local camera club competitions. He has lectured on old cameras to photographic societies around East Anglia, has staged local exhibitions of his collection and written a number of magazine articles.

Photographic Accessories 1890-1970 Robert White £4.50

978 0 7478 0541 0 (Album 407) 40 pp, 86 colour ills.

Amateur photography blossomed in the 1880s following the introduction of easy-to-use photographic glass plates and roll film. To improve the quality of their pictures, and to extend the range of their cameras, photographers used a wide range of accessories. This book covers the more important types including tripods, filters, exposure aids, flash guns, rangefinders, lenses and viewfinders, as well as devices for taking and viewing stereoscopic photographs. Tiny objects were photographed using close-up aids. Self-timers allowed the photographer to appear in the pictures, and he or she could even appear twice in the same picture.
Many collectors like to take photographs with their old cameras and it adds to the enjoyment when they are used with contemporary accessories. These can be easily found at collectors’ fairs and on internet auction sites.

Robert White has been collecting photographic equipment, materials and books since the late 1950s. He has worked as a volunteer at a photographic museum, written over sixty articles for specialist magazines, and given talks to clubs all over Britain. He is the author of the Shire books Discovering Cameras 1945–1965 and Discovering Old Cameras 1839–1939.

Victorian Cartes de Visite Robin and Carol Wichard £7.99 £3.99 *special price until 31.1.08

978 0 7478 0433 8 (History in Camera 13) 112pp, about 120 ills.

In the early 1860s the craze for collecting cartes de visite photographs was at is peak. Between 3 and 4 million cartes were estimated to have been sold annually leaving a diverse and fascinating legacy today. This book attempts to introduce the reader to the world of the cartes de visite photographn and the context in which they were producted. It also shows how to date the images and how to start a collection.

Robin and Carol Wichard have been collectors of cartes de visite for over fifteen years and have now built a up a collection over over five thousand examples.

This book seeks to capture and convey something of what it must have been like to have been a photographer between 1840 and the end of the nineteenth century. The earliest practitioners were pioneers in many respects. This book explores what the Victorian studio looked like, what it contained, and what equipment and processes the photographers used. It looks at the styles and formats of early photography and the people who bought it, from the early days, when photographers had to carry out every stage of the process themselves through to the 1880s, when mass-produced materials started to become available over the counter.

John Hannavy has been collecting and researching Victorian photography, and writing about it, since the 1970s. He is the author of eighteen other books on photography, Dr Hannavy is Head of Art and Design at Bolton Institute. Other titles for Shire by this author are: