Fun in Rochester

My new honey
Originally uploaded by argusmaniac.

I returned home last night from my weekend in Rochester, NY, where I attended the Photohistory Symposium XIII. It was a fun time, and I was there along with some other fellow members of the Michigan Photographic Historical Society. Four of us went together in a van, and had no problem with Canadian or US Customs. It had been a few years since I'd been in Canada, and the quick way to Rochester was through Canada. We arrived Friday afternoon, and the evening's get-together featured free drinks. Everyone received a free copy of a huge volume on Steiglitz's photos, courtesy of Eastman Kodak!

Saturday was cool and cloudy, and all of the presentations were at the George Eastman House (GEH), the premier center for photographic history. The first talk of the day was on the history of digital photography -- it was by far, one of the best presentations that day, and also very informative. The rest of the presentations were certainly informative, and like all symposiums, the quality of the presentations varied. There are clearly some amazingly knowledgeable people out there, and I came away with a head full of new facts and ideas.

some nice colorful Brownie Starflash cameras at GEH.
I didn't get too much time to fully explore the GEH, except for the newest exhibits and the gift shop -- which was damned good for a lover of things photographic. Of course, what I really would have liked to have seen is a Kodak Factory Outlet store! I did pick up some nice books, and a GEH hat. They had a lot of goofy plastic cameras there, including the Holga and the Lomo Fisheye. Oh yes, I did try out the real photo booth -- and didn't realize that everything started as soon as I put the money in... it was laugh, though.

Gift Shop Cameras



The camera trade show was Sunday, I was there for a couple of hours -- it was great to see new "junk" that I had not seen before. That's the trouble with going to local camer shows year after year, so a new place was refreshing. I didn't buy too much because I just didn't have the money, but it was fun looking. (I'd also like to know where in hell some of these people get their prices...)



Trade Show sample