Another strange one to author…and as yet I have no real plan for this feature but it’s full of stuff that once again, I feel duty bound to share.
Pretty much everything connects up too in the end if the direction it’s taking me turns out alright!
It all comes to us via the late John Couzins “The Wanderer” you see, you will of course have read about him here right? 😉
Of course so you know that John’s workhorse was his much adored Gandolfi 10×8…together they had one of the dream careers in modern photography.
Right place, right time, in amongst a whole heap of social and economic variables we shall never see the like of ever again and this is their tale.
The photo above shows John’s workhorse…and his secret lover. The rare special order 10×8 with red bellows coming to light after his passing…this beautiful camera has perhaps never been used and we’re very lucky to have it here in the shop with us.
We shall take a real close look at her later but let’s start with some of the stuff I wanted to share with you…John, being pretty meticulous and a bit of a hoarder, kept everything including all the receipts and docmentation and the letter surrounding the purchase of his cameras and later, work he conducted for the brothers
In doing so he’s endowed us with a pretty unique glance into the world of Gandolfi and how they interracted with their clients, who were, let’s be honest, fellow professionals and craftsmen. They were shown due respect as you will see.
In 1972 John, knowing what direction his career was heading in, and having worked hard and saved the funds, ordered and bought his first Gandolfi…
It would have been his pride and joy, not just a camera to work with.
Here’s the receipt showing a full and final settlement of some £166.00
Pretty good price when you consider that a good quality 10×8 camera now, a new one (yes of course they’re still made) will cost about £1000 more ( I personally doubt the accuracy of the B of E thing…if these were to be made today you would have to be looking at approx £3,500 to £4,500+)
It’s clear that John adored this camera…why?
This is the point where we start to see things knit together in terms of business for the Gandolfi brothers, you hear in their own words later how busy things were getting…John being informed here of a wait of at least one year.
The brothers getting more and more orders as the demand by advertisers responded to client’s demand for photographs that could be reporduced to show the most intimate detail of their products…photographs that would look perfect even on sixty foot billboards, John would have been sailing the crest of that wave even at his young age at this time.
The order was placed, but this time for something a little bit special…
Here’s the damage:
1x 10×8 Mahogany Precision Camera with Red Leather Bellows (special order) ~ £217.80 to include the new Value Added Tax!
Also 1x Gossen Lunasix III Light Meter ~ £30.66
Shall we do the maths on that?
So using the aforementioned tool that calculates (not) in todays money to:
Camera ~ £2,120.95 + VAT 212.09 = £2,333.04 and another £330 for the Gossen light meter…Incidentally, as a matter of interest, we also sell Gossen Light Meters to this day but don’t stock any of their models that cost that sum., though there are some available.
From experience I will assure you that today, due to the shortage of th finite skills required in manufacture plus the types of high tech materials used nowadays, you would not get a new camera of this quaility nor heritage for that sum of money….I adhere to my former statement. So there!
Never mind all that….let’s just revel in the beauty of that camera:
As you know, I don’t repeat written histories, but I felt it appropriate here to share my potted history of Gandolfi, Makers, London…
| L. Gandolfi & Sons was founded in 1885 by a 21-year old Londoner, Louis Gandolfi, whose family background was part-Scottish and part-Italian. Louis was born in Clerkenwell in 1863 and in 1880 aged 12 he was an apprentice to a cabinet maker. Having acquired enough skills at age 17, he cutting his photographic teeth, working for one of many small businesses making plate cameras – Lejeune and Perken, based in the city. However, after 5 years Louis was forced to leave that business, his skills, his speed of work and his quality was earning him much more money than his colleagues! Human nature eh…this putting of noses out of joint caused too many complaints against him and awkward working conditions that Louis it was time to hoof it and he then decided to set up his own camera making business. By 1913 the company was well established and doing well taking on improving premises until settling to a former hat-pin factory at 2 Borland Road where Louis brought his three sons – Thomas, Frederick and Arthur, into the business as soon as they came of age which was 14 years old..you’ll hear though how Fred had a natural curiosity about what was going on in the processes. Louis Gandolfi died in 1932 aged 68. He left the the Company to his three highly skilled sons, it company continued to make cameras, doing rather well, accepting commissions from the War Office, military, prisons, Police and private sales they traded in increasing demand until the late 1980s. In that time the elder brother Tom passed away leaving a great burden on Arthur and Fred who took over the running of the business, he specialising in the cabinet making and final assembly, Arthur, trained by Mum I presume, untertaking the immensly skilled task of French Polishing, cousin Tom brought in to make all that precision brass work…a great team! Time passed, years went by and it was the youngest of course that couldn’t stand the pace…it was Tom, the cousin who was the slacker (I jest) deciding he’d done enough so at the tender age of just 63 he wanted to retire, though working long enough to see the business through it’s centennial year. Tom’s skills lay in making the all important brass architecture, a part of the manufacture that had moved in-house as the previous Birmingham maker pulled out. The two remaining brothers, by now still spritely in their late 70s, they noticed that they too that time had caught themm up and they couldn’t continue as they had, the need to retire was reluctantly accepted. Parting would have been heartbreaking to them, this was their life, their family life as long as they had living memory, contination of this must have been of some importance so selling would have been a wrench for them and a pain for prospective purchasers, it’s clear they were protective, and why not? A buyer was sought one that would keep the company going within it’s traditions but all required Fred at least to be a part of any future plans…”They want my body” he stated…but age and reluctance prevented more anything more than a consulting role at best. Eventually a compromise sale was agreed and Brian Gould and his partner Sir Kenneth Corfield, took set up Gandolfi Ltd and carried set off to preserve this fantastic entity. Part of the deal what that in order to avoid any comproise on quality last Gandolfi apprentice Fredrick would sign a satisfaction certificate. With this sale, the company moved to new premises in Andover, Hampshire, and The Gandolfi camera maker reached its 100 year mark, but the it was never the same and when that infamous crash of 1989 happened, the one our guys here all felt, the disappearance of freelance work killing demand for their services would have led to the plummet in demand for such fine hardware. The story ends soon after, Fredrick died in his own home in 1990, and the last of the Gandolfi brothers Arthur died on 22 January 1993 at the age of 90. |
By 1974 John was clearly undertaking commissions from Gandolfi, it that were me I’d be thrilled and I am sure he was!
In this letter from Fred Gandolfi that seems to be the focus but at the end he invites John to stay home on July 29th and watch the BBC documentary at them!
How about a cuppa tea and a look at that?
I’ll share if (bad boy!!) below from YouTube 😉
Just after originally publishing this feature, I managed to locate some of the missing negatives (it was uncanny, I think John is haunting me!) and was then duty bound to sort a few nice shots out and add them in the follwing gallery.
These show Fred and the Gandolfi workshot in Peckham as it really was…there then follows the BBC documentary made at that exact same time.
So John was working for the brothers…what did he do?
Hence know for sure that John was a common sight at the factory, he photographed it, the brothers and in his own studio a whole range of their products perhaps like the shot here to the right.
I’m a particular lover of Fred’s letter dated 22nd August 1974 to John stating:
“Incidentally I much prefer this snap to all the others as it looks a more natural casual pose.
The other chaps will keep taking large size and I just dont make a good photo”
The absence of punctuation is original…the brother’s did everything in house to an amazing standard but their secretarial work is their weak point, often made on random sheets of paper, office work seems to have little concern and I love that!
This shows us that Fred had little by way of formal education…becoming instead, a craftsman from a very young age…
Here’s that letter and that photograph by John, it’s made from a photo of a contemporary print I’m afraid as the negatives for job no: JMC175 have yet to be located…I’m looking for them but JC must have set them aside for some reason.
Follows is a small selection from the files in no particular order. All by Fred Gandolf to John, we don’t have any copies of John’s responses but these do give us a glimpse of two perfectionists working together…
These tell us hows that Fred has a great respect for this young photographer and admires his working methods as well as the results of course, like many tradesmen he can come across as…not so much abrupt, but overly formal.
I particularly love the one telling John off for not collecting his camera!
We know now that the work John was commissioned to do was primarily used to support Fred’s lectures to various institutions. There has been much intersest in what follows…
A view of Wood Camera Construction by F.L. Gandolfi
We feel that large format lovers will like to cherish this…
Fred’s lecture near enough ends my lecture..here’s his final working words…
There’s still some unfinished business however…in 1989 for reasons unknown, John was once again talking to Gandolfi. This time it was the new Gandolfi Ltd that had taken on the responsibility
I have no information regarding what this line of communication was about nor the outcome but the paperwork is very interesting and includes a price list so let’s take a look at how pricing has evolved in those years…the B of E tells us, I have added the figures in red for your perusal.
Finally we’re going to share with you the rather posh Gandolfi brochure, it’s pretty much the last we see of the great name, some of the photos must surely have been made by John I reckon.
That…is pretty much the end of our Gandolfi story but it doesn’t mean the end of wooden camera manufacture…far from it!
This is now…
I’m hoping, actually presuming Fred and his family would be in approval and reassured that, in this day and age, large format photogrphy is not only going strong but getting even stronger.
Here at Nik & Trick we’ve invested a lot, personally and business wise into investing for the future of this fantastic area of photography and to end this post we wanted to show that by way of sharing with you some of the camera makers we now deal with..all have Fred’s passion and that’s a wonderful thing to be working with.
Mr Zhang, Shen Hao Professional Camera Co
A great place to begin is with the affable Mr Fu Ming Zhan, the man behind Shen Hao Cameras
Shanghai Shenhao Professional Camera Co. (the “Shenhao”) of Shanghai, China was founded in June, 1994 as a privately owned company.
The success story of Shenhao started when the company showed six of its first-generation signature cameras, the GJ45-A at its premier visit to Photokina, Cologne in September, 1998.
All six cameras sold almost instantaneously at the event! It was a complete triumph for Shenhao…
The founder of Shenhao, Mr. Fuming Zhang (“Zhang”), aged 65 at time of writing, like Fred, hates being photographed!
He started as a worker in Shanghai 4th Camera Factory in 1978.
He did well and in 1984 was invited to undertake a degree in Mechanical Design which led to him being promoted to Equipment Design Engineer.
(click above photos for a better view)
When the state-owned enterprise was reformed and then shut down in 1993, Zhang, took his all-around expertise and experience, and it gave him the idea to do his own thing, he saw an opportunity and soon took the decision to form his own company.
He persuaded four of his experienced and highly skilled former colleagues, including technician, engineer and senior worker, to join in the establishment of Shanghai Shenhao.
Their aim has always been to pursue skill and technique, a DNA that runs in Shenhao to date, it can be easily spotted in Zhang’s choice of co-founders, it is, naturally, reflected in each and every camera they produce….I for sure loved the one I had, a terrific and feature rich 5×4 like the one shown.
Keith Canham of Canham Cameras in Arizona USA
Keith has always been a gentleman to us so it was impossible not to include him….When I asked him for a photo to include he’s gone the whole hog and here we see him with a massive 20″x24″ camera from his workshop.
He tells us: “I started building cameras about 40 years ago, the reason being is that I wanted a large format camera!”
“I already did fine woodworking and I taught myself to be a machinist so that I could build a camera, at that time I was a physics and mathematics teacher.
One thing lead to another and I started a business!”
Once again, incredible amounts of craftsmanship goes into his creations and they’re simply amazing….we hope one day to stock one or two.
If you would like to see how he makes his lovely cameras then follow his Facebook page…he often adds videos of them under construction and you can get a great idea of just what exactly all of these guys put into making large format cameras in this modern age, well worthwhile.
There’s more!
Allessandro Gibellini
The newcomers to the block are Gibellini Cameras based in Modena, Italy…the second supplier we have in that town (sadly the other is not Ferrari!).
Set up by Allessandro in 2017 Alessandro Gibellini upon a partnership with SAU, a company committed to precision mechanics and quality tools engineering and with the help of Alain Mestadgh, a carbon fiber expert their aim is to create precision cameras made using modern high-tech lightweight materials and techniques.
Allessandro began making his cameras from his own prototype designs at an early age, off the back of this passion he attened Uni to gain a degree in engineering and forming an embryonic company that won, in 2015 the business incubator contest “Entrepreneurship in Modena,” winning the first price for the mechanical sector.
A great achievement at such a young age, and of course, Nik & Trick as winners of the SilvergrainClassics Award for Industry Collaboration…we’re there to help!
In January 2022 we shall begin stocking some of Allesandro’s basic models and hope to move onto some of his other fantastic offerings…though not the £12,000+ super exotic, super wonderful titanium and carbon fibre GP810Ti…although we shall order one if you want one!
What’s great about Gibellini Cameras is not only a range that caters for most budgets what we love is that they have recognised a new age in terms of people’s desires to be proud of what they do and to express that with a custom look for their camera, something perosnalised and unique Gibellini cater for this as did Gandolfi.
Gibellini hardware is for sure something to watch out for from now on….
Chamonix Cameras
Our mainstay in terms of handmade large format cameras comes from Chamonix Cameras.
Their workmanship is lustful and the models they make aim to be lightweight and easy to setup and use.
Made in China by proper craftsman using teak and carbon fibre, a material Fred could only dream of, it’s feather weight and strength now a dream material for those making larger formats.
Chamonix cameras sell before they even arrive….demand is akin to that described by Fred in that these guys just can’t make them fast enough!
Ah well that’s that….but why not give myself a little mention!
Not that I am any form of craftsman like these guys, God no….but I do like once in a while, to restore a basket case of an old camera…here’s a little before are after of my modest activites just to wind this article up for the last time! 😀
..or is it?
When we first penned this article we had just bought a Deardorff 10×8 for restoration, this is how it arrived. A pretty sorry state I think you’ll agree…
Ansco 10×8 before and after…Our first!
Kodak Mk2 7″x5″ from yuk
to intended “grunge” look
Ansco 10×8…from basket case to beautiful!
We decided that the best thing to do with this would be to make it the best one around, we were offered some new old stock compents, we had new bellows made and we cosntructed it with all new stainless steel screws at vast expense.
That wasn’t enough for us, we decided to look to how Gandolfi constructed their cameras and thus spent months French Polishing all the wooden parts, building it up with the screws pointed the same way and so on…
The end result is an absolutely stunning camera which can now be acquired at our shop Nik & Trick Photo Services in the Old High Street of Folkestone.
Take a look:
Quite beautiful I think you’ll agree. Literally something most special and you want it don’t you?
So you’ve made it to the very end and we hope that our modest article help more people understand just how special large format photography truly is.
The hardware alone is adquate demonstration but wait until you see the utterly outstanding quality that comes off of cameras like the ones shown here.
A genuinely amazing area of photography that traces it’s origins back to day one and remains as relevant to this day as it always was.
That’s it, all done! Thanks for coming
Damn! To be to speechless isn’t helpful, but what a legacy, and dude! All this documentation and the background data! What a find and a treasure trove! Too bad about the inflation bits, but this makes me feel better about the state in which these cameras are being carried on in future generations.
This is a brilliant post, thank you!!!!❤️❤️❤️