Gary Briechle – ‘Gary Briechle’

Gary Briechle was Charcoal Book Club’s photobook of the month for June 2018. It’s an interesting book, beautifully designed and full of somewhat disconcerting photographs of Briechle’s family and friends. That said, had it not been for my subscription, I might not have picked it up myself. One of the benefits of a Charcoal Book Club …

1970s Ricoh Compacts, part 2: the Sears 35rf

The Sears 35rf (not to be confused with the Sears 35|RF) is a Sears-branded variant of the Ricoh 500 RF,  a compact rangefinder from 1980, and one of the last  in the line of cameras that began with 1972’s 500 G.  Like other cameras in the series (and I’m going to tire of writing this), …

1970s Ricoh Compacts, part 1: the Ricoh 35 ZF

The Ricoh 35 ZF is a zone focus, shutter priority (and full manual) 35mm camera from 1976. With a 40mm f/2.8 lens, shutter speeds from 1/500 to 1/8 (plus B), and an ISO range of 25-800, there isn’t too much to worry about: set the shutter speed (1/250 or 1/500 in daylight), put the aperture …

Unboxing ‘Edward Weston: Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio’

‘Edward Weston: Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio‘ is a beautifully printed reproduction from Michael Smith and Paula Chumlee‘s Lodima Press. A copy of the original, owned by Ansel and Virginia Adams, is in the Weston Archive at the Center for Creative Photography, and Bonham’s auctioned off an original in 2013 for $80,500, so a reproduction, especially one …