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Title |
Retromania |
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Author |
Lawrence Harvey |
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Editions |
Logos |
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Year |
2013 |
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Format |
15 x 21 cm |
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Pages |
176 |
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Price |
14.95 € |
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Cover |
Cardstock |
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ISBN |
9788857605623 |
PLEASE NOTE THE REVIEW IS REFERRED TO THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE EDITION
A small volume that wants to propose, as the subtitle says, a list of the most original cameras of the golden age of photography through their images, their packs and much more accompanied by a brief text that tells little anecdotes. If you are looking for reviews Retromania is definitely not the book but, if you want a quick roundup (for each proposed model are indeed devoted two pages including pictures) of some of the most popular models of amateur photographic and cinematographic equipment perhaps to take the cue to start its own collection, this text can fulfil its task very well.
The book begins with a brief descriptive introduction, followed by two pages of summary of film types and formats (indeed, rather incomplete, but this is due to the fact that it only refers to the models shown in the volume), followed by the main body entirely dedicated to cameras and divided into chapters (1900-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1999 and 2000 +).
As mentioned, for each model presented you’ll find a very short historical overview, some notes in some cases linked to the author’s personal experiences and photographic apparatus consisting of cameras, images of packaging or accessories and reproductions of advertisements and manuals of the era. Some models are actually “momentous” for what they have contributed to photography in terms of mass distribution or technological progress, while others impress because of their rarity, bizarre or nonsensical functions forms (two out of all, very little known, are the Ricoh Mirai 105, undoubtedly one of the ugliest camera ever, and the Keystone Everflash).
If you are a curious of camera history or an insatiable collectors always looking for new pieces, then this book can do for you.
Aesthetically, the Edition (edited for Italy by Valentina van Deventer and translated by Karen van den Bergh), is built with printed images and paper quality suitable for the target audience of this book as well as the soft cover; the format is guessed for its portability, a little less for storage in a well-ordered library!