Wooden Egg Cups and 1885 Calendar and Argus 75 TtV Collage

This collage documents my first foray into Through the Viewfinder (TtV) photography. I appreciate TtV photos because they look so old school, plus they have such an imperfect and distinctive look. They all have a black border, blurred edges and the thick viewfinder glass gives a fun fisheye effect. Dust and scratches add character to the photos, giving them an authentic TtV look. You may have to edit or 'flip' the TtV photo since all photos are mirror images of what was photographed. Obviously, the photo must be flipped if it contains lettering - since it would be in reverse and therefore unreadable!

This is a very clean Brown Argus Seventy-Five pseudo Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) Camera sporting a 75m Argus Lumar fixed lens single meniscus element, with a fixed aperture around f11. Focus Range: 7 1-2ft to infinity. The Brown Argus 75 series was produced beginning in 1958 and ending in 1964. The main features marketed back then were the extra-large subject viewing window, the double exposure prevention system, no wire plug-in attachment flash unit and its ease of use.

The shutter is cocked by winding the film, so you have to wind it before the shutter will fire. When it is cocked a red shutter cover is revealed behind the lens to tell the user the camera is ready, and to help prevent wasted frames. It takes 6cm x 6cm exposures. It was designed for 620 film, but it can be used with 120 film so some people still use these today. The cameras tend to give a wonderful soft yet sharp look favored by many art photographers.

Argus Inc. was a camera maker based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Before 1939 it was International Research Corporation, a department of International Radio Corporation, Ann Arbor. It was the American company that popularized the modern cartridge 35mm film in the U.S., especially by its characteristically brick-shaped rangefinder cameras. The first camera of Argus, the Argus A, resulted from a patent that the company received in 1936. Before that time the company had produced radios, among them some bake lite models. Argus became a great name in the Ann Arbor's economy. Several buildings of its heyday are still known as Argus building. One of these pearls of the city's brick architecture has become a modern office building now, with a public area where a permanent exhibition of Argus cameras

The calendar is from the year 1885 and the days are correct for 2015. Since this calendar was printed in 1885 it has been correct for 14 years to this date. On the 8th of May 1885 Harry Truman was celebrating his first birthday. One of the savvy sayings that made me laugh on the right side of the page was “Cowboys don’t have thoughts about women until 35. Before that it is just feelings.” LOL

The antique wooden hand painted egg cups help make this collage more interesting, although I confess not being able to find any information about this specific pair. If you have any information please leave it in a comment below the photo.

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