A recent headline in a newspaper in my area, “Film is alive and well,” surely made photographers using film feel all warm inside, perhaps even more alive. Using film requires more effort, as well as artistry. Amateurs shooting pictures welcomed first color, then digital, as each made it easier to end up with good photos. However, good is not the same as excellent.
The change in the process with digital was revolutionary in the speed made possible. The do-it-yourself approach suggested that photo stores and studios would cease to exist, but this did not happen. Digital storage is helpful, but many people still want photos, and they want to place them in frames and albums. Not just plastic-sleeve albums, either; I was surprised to see that those little corners that hold a photo on the page are still available.
My parents, Ina and Porter, as we called them, were portrait photographers in Houlton, so I literally grew up in a studio, said to be the largest in northern Maine. The main area, after the waiting room with its shelves upon shelves of framed photos, was huge to accommodate the large camera pushed around on “wheels.” The two separate “sitting” areas consisted of a faux window seat with fake windows primarily for posing children, and another area with a bench, pull-down backgrounds, and posing structures. Porter’s second love was woodworking, so he made those structures, which he copied from a catalog.
One wall was mainly large windows facing south, perfect for the retouching table. Porter took the photos and Ina divided her time between the retouching hood and the separate printroom/darkroom area. Besides the portraits, snapshots or candids were produced for customers who brought in their own exposed film from their cameras.
Ina processed the film, printed the pictures, then placed each on a huge metal drum that was heated and revolved slowly till the dry photos fell off. Next she placed them on ferrotype plates made of black spring steel, which left them with a glossy finish when they dried. Then she stacked the pictures between 8-by-10-inch sheets of glass with a weight placed on top of each stack. The weight was one of two big embossing stamps which left Porter or Porter Studios on the corner of each photo. The other photos that received this treatment were the 5-by-7 glossies that went to newspapers. Glossy had better contrast on the printed page.
Just writing all that rather wears me out. Such a contrast to the simple steps after clicking a digital camera today.
Byrna Porter Weir was born and grew up in Houlton, where her parents were portrait photographers. She now lives in Rochester, N.Y.
