Australian_Photography_-_June_2016_

4 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

ESTABLISHED IN 1950

EDITORIAL

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ISSN 0004-

AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY JUNE 2016

EDITOR’S NOTE

Old school

E

ver wanted to take photos with a lens your great

grandparents (or their grandparents!) might

have used?

In April, Lomography announced that their replica of

the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens had successfully

been funded on Kickstarter. Inspired by the world’s first

optic lens designed by Chevalier and Daguerre in 1839,

the lens was attached to a Daguerreotype camera. The

new version is notable for allowing photographers to,

“create modern images that look like the world’s earliest

photographs bathed in a powerful, alluring veil of light.”

Their words, not ours.

 With a series of plates to change the aperture and

manual focus, it seems like the sort of product that

would have a niche audience, yet by re-releasing the

beautiful telescope-esque lens with a modern camera

mount, it completely knocked its target of $100,

out of the ballpark: easily reaching $700,000 on the

crowdfunding platform and virtually guaranteeing

it will enter production sometime this year – we’d

always known there was an appetite out there for retro

throwbacks, but this must surely take the cake.

 In 2016 the consumer is increasingly involved in the

development of new products. FujiFilm acknowledged

they spoke to many photographers during the four-year

development cycle of the new X-Pro2, which we’ve

reviewed on page 66. It’s probably safe to assume Fuji

scrolled through their fair share of online forums while

brainstorming features that needed improvement as

well. Now like never before, the internet has given us a

clear line between the consumer and the end product.

We’ve even jumped on the act – the cover shot by Luke

Tscharke on this issue of Australian Photography was the

most popular in an online vote on our Facebook page.

 With new photo gear always available, it’s easy

to forget the most important part of a photograph is

the person clicking the shutter.  I was lucky enough

to spend time with street photographer Julio Muñoz

on my recent trip to Cuba – he’s quite content with

using a basic camera from 2007, a veritable dinosaur

in this day and age. To be fair, his refreshing approach

to photography comes from living in a country with

little access to new technology, but it’s also forced

him to focus on the image he wants, rather than the

gear he wants – for me it was a great reminder to keep

things simple. You can read my interview with Julio,

and pick up some of his tips for taking amazing street

photographs, on page 28.

 When it’s all said and done, the camera is just a tool

to take photos, and regardless of whether you shoot with

gear from 1839, 1997 or today, having a clear vision of

what you want to achieve is the most important thing. ❂

LEFT

Some of the

vintage gear from

the new Australian

Photography

camera museum.

We thought it was

high time these

old gems were

put on display

at the Australian

Photography

office.

Mike O’Connor,

Editor

IMAGE: © JAMES OSTINGA