The Complete History of the Camera, 1987-2000 A.D.
Introduction to the Reader
Ladies and gentlemen, below you will find a comprehensive archive of developments in camera technology over the last 13 years. Much of the information below has been compiled during many years of personal camera use, but working at the forefront of technology as I do, I am quietly confident that what follows can be said to be a general, well-informed piece.
Period 1: the Mechanical Age
During this era in history, man had to do much of the work involved in taking a photograph for himself. Cameras such as the Boots Minigrip (retailing at ten pounds sterling) featured a toothed wheel which the user would rotate noisily after taking a picture in order to wind the film inside to the correct point for the next photo to be taken. If indoor photography was required, flashes were available but these were of the expendable variety. For two pounds ninety-nine pence, one could buy a tower of ten flash bulbs which were sequentially exploded in synchronisation with the opening of the camera shutter. This generated a lot of waste, and range was not what one might call "Far".
Film was of the 110mm variety, which certainly provided adequate ability to record a moment in history. Film quality was well matched to the hardware, no focus of any kind being available.
Examples of Mechanical Age Photography
Taken on the French coast, this shot shows an ability of the Minigrip found in the most high-tech modern cameras: a rotation through 90 degrees allows a picture to be taken which is taller than it is wide.
The subject matter: basketballers from the Netherlands winning an away match against a (slightly upset) French home side.
It was in order to prepare for the perfect photograph that the British Author spent a great deal of time behind the sidelines of the court.
Nature provides an opportunity for a showcase of Mechanical Age magic on the west coast of Scotland. Definition is perfectly suited to the terrain, which if more clearly defined would reveal thousands of deceased jellyfish waiting to be degraded by passing visitors.
Life on the rocks: at Newquay in Cornwall some imagination is needed to ascertain exactly what the garments of the Mech Age must have looked like. It would be hard from the photograph to categorise the curious hairstyle of the Author, or the body art of his neanderthal compatriate. This may however have not been possible under any circumstance.
