M9 and Nostagia

[TonyField]

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In the 1970's I was a student at the University of Calgary.  Of course, as an avid photographer, I joined the Photo Directorate to shoot images for the newspaper and the year book.  This was effectively a private club of about six students who had access to a good office/studio and darkroom -- all well equipped by the university.  The work was all volunteer ... not like today in which the student photographers are surprisingly well paid.  No one in the group liked shooting things like theatre, dance, art and other cultural things ...  however I did and shot a lot in the university theatre.

 

In those days I shot with an M3 and and M4 with 35, 50, and 90mm Summicrons ... I was a poor student, however did spend one year making decent money before I went on campus ... I squandered all of my money on Leica -- a body, in those days, was about $400 to $500 - but I bought second hand for about 1/2 the price

 

By odd chance, last night I went to this same theatre to watch a local ballet school's production of Coppélia -- not a bad production at all considering the skill of the dancers.  For some reason, I took my M9 along with my very ancient 50mm Summilux.  Unlike the old days during which I could be shooting from stage level and moving around as I chose to capture the rehearsal, my friend and I were stuck off-center and more than a dozen rows higher than the stage. 

 

Since my M9 was in my hand, I took about twenty snaps of the performance.  Being in the theatre with a Leica in my hand, I instantly felt right at home,  fifty years younger, and eager to get to the Photo Directorate's darkroom to develop the images, make prints and give them to the newspaper's editor for the next edition.

 

The souvenirs of life have a strange way of catching up to you when you least expect it.  As Einstein suggests ... time dilates,  but he was wrong ... you can indeed revisit the past.

 

The first B&W images are from about 1970 or 1971.  Film was Tri-X processed for ASA 800,  the colour images are from last night at ISO 1250.  Two of the colour images are heavily cropped ... as you can imagine with only a 50mm lens that covered the entire stage from my sitting position.

 

tony

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Edited May 30, 2015 by TonyField

[Loren]

Really, really, nice work. Thank you for sharing!

 

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[darylgo]

Thanks Tony, enjoyed it thoroughly and surprised you have the photos from 1970.  I was on the yearbook staff about the same time, all negatives were discarded once the book was published.  

[TonyField]

Thanks Tony, enjoyed it thoroughly and surprised you have the photos from 1970.  I was on the yearbook staff about the same time, all negatives were discarded once the book was published.  

 

Ah Ha !!!  The good old days when Pat TIvy was editor of the Gauntlet    True indeed for SOME images from SOME of the photographers who did not care.  I never let the Gauntlet or the Tallystick near my negatives - I only gave them prints - which was the only thing they wanted - and they made their selection from contact proofs only  !  Otherwise, I would not have images from people like Xaviera Hollander, Muhammad Ali, and various great Canadian musicians and politicans that came on campus.

Edited May 31, 2015 by TonyField

[derleicaman]

Excellent! Time travel is fun isn't it?

I was shooting stage work back in the early 70s (1973 I think) with my trusty and well loved Black Paint SL. I was in High School and knew some of the kids in the productions. I was using either my 90 Summicron or 135 Elmarit. I got some pretty good results using either TriX of Ilford with some hot- rod developer. Good practice for later professional work,too.

Brings back some good memories. Thanks for that!

[tobey bilek]

Position is bad,  but the photos are not.