Unique chance to take photos like the old-timers?

Date: 02 September 2016 By: Anton van Zyl

For more than a decade the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror’s annual calender has been a popular item among readers. The competition to decide which photos to publish on each of the 12 calendar pages has also attracted entries from the region’s top amateur photographers. This year, however, something totally different is being planned.

For 2017, the theme is “vintage” and we present it in the form of a challenge. Only photos taken with cameras older than 50 years will be considered. The older the camera is, the more preference the photo will get when we eventually select the final 12 pictures.

This does not mean that we want “old” photos; no, we want “new” photos taken with old cameras. We want to limit the photo entries to black and white photos and mostly landscapes.

To make it easier for the region’s top photographers, we are making available our vintage cameras and black-and-white film to members of photographic clubs who wish to participate in the project. The cameras in our little museum date back to 1897 and include various Leicas, a Hasselblad and numerous Kodak and Agfa cameras. Some use plates (which we won’t be able to provide), but others use 120- and 35-mm format film.

Ideally, the photographers will go out into the region and collect the most amazing images on the most amazing old cameras. They will bring back the film, we will develop it and scan the negatives. The photos will be entered in our calendar competition and the 12 winning pictures will appear next to a small picture of the photographer and the camera used.

We can, unfortunately, only accommodate a limited number of people, which is why the challenge is limited to members of photographic clubs or experienced photographers. The black-and-white film used is very expensive and we have to absorb these costs as well as the developing cost. To take photos with a camera that is close to 100 years old is also not the easiest of ventures. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you are very likely to end up with a negative that is either pitch black or clear as glass.

Interested photographers are more than welcome to visit the newspaper’s offices in Joubert Street and have a look at the cameras. Feel free to ask how they work and, if you’re up to the challenge, experiment with the camera. The next step would be to choose your destination and the subject you want to photograph. Remember that the medium is black-and-white and that the cameras normally do not come with large telephoto lenses (so much for the Kruger as a destination).

The challenge opens on 1 September and ends on 30 September. (Yes, it coincides with Heritage Month). For more information, contact Anton, Andries or Isabel at (015) 5164996/7 during office hours.

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Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

More photos... 

This camera will probably not work for this challenge. George Janse van Rensburg holds a Mycro Illa dating from 1953.

The camera that Isabel Venter holds, will provide a real challenge to photographers. It is a Kodak No 2 Brownie in fashionable maroon, manufactured in 1929.