[rollei_list] Re: The Photographic Reality
- From: David Sadowski <dsadowski@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:15:52 -0600
Torkel Korling was a top industrial and commercial photographer from
the 20s through the 60s. He was also noted for photographing
children, and he had at least one cover shot on Life magazine. In
later life he was a noted nature photographer who published several
books, some in conjunction with the Field Museum of Natural History.
I saw an exhibit a while back in a museum about the construction of
Frank Lloyd Wright's Johnson Wax building. Torkel Korling was the
official photographer. There have been any number of exhibitions of
his work since his death in 1998 at age 95.
His cover shot for Life was a picture of a rooster, and he talked Life
into leaving their logo off the magazine cover for that issue, as he
felt it would spoil the composition. It was the only time they ever
did this.
In addition, he was an inventor. He patented the automatic diaphragm
mechanism for cameras. His invention was later incorporated into the
Graflex RB Super D.
He held two other patents. One was for a tripod that looks a lot like
a Tiltall. The other was some sort of rotating triaxial tripod head.
When I met him, he told me the Japanese camera manufacturers refused
to pay him royalties for his auto diaphragm invention. They waited
until the patent expired, and then came out with 35mm SLRs that all
used his invention.
Under the circumstances, I think he knew what he was talking about and
had valid opinions about photography. When I asked him the question
about his overall approach, I felt like I was talking to an older
generation that had pretty much already disappeared.
Yes, I'm sure he used 4x5 and 8x10 sheet film. That's what commercial
photographers did back then. Some were still doing it in the late
1980s when I spoke to him. Doubtless some are still doing it today.
Even if film hadn't been expensive, I doubt he would've shot off
hundreds of shots on a shoot like modern shutterbugs do. He would
probably say, you don't know what you want.
What of it?
---
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