So, this is  my sojourn into photography in the 1960’s. The highlighted texts are links. Just click on them to find out where I’m taking you. If you want to make a comment or see the comments just click on the title.

These two were a hoot!

Focus Prints was on the 2^nd floor and at the rear of 1255 Pender St. We shared that floor with a few interesting characters.

Across the hall was Al Sens; a very creative cartoonist and animator. When he finished a project he would call us in to show the product.

Down the hall, in a huge studio-like room was a Costume Rental. The proprietor mainly rented to theatre companies. He was forever dressing up in his latest costumes and pay us hilarious visits. Often, we’d go over and share a few beers while he would duck behind a screen and change into dozens of different costumes.

Josephine and myself taking advantage of the Costume Outfit.

Glenn had an office down the hall. He was a freelance commercial artist and very busy. The first year Ken and I did all the Focus Prints work. It wasn’t that much and we had plenty of time to play chess.

Definitely I was being exposed to some very creative people but this was only the beginning. Gradually I was getting acquainted with Glenn’s working friends. These were some of the most interesting characters I would ever meet and their ingenuity would influence me for the rest of my life.

Dick Dunne, model builder, had an office across the street where he constructed scale model buildings. His clients were architects who used his models to show clients just how their new building would look. The work was quite exacting and Dick paid scrupulous attention to detail.

In the same building George McLachlan did illustrating for advertising agencies. Another genius in creativity. Once George took a photograph of me and transformed it into a 60 year old man. Grey hair and all. (lost it somewhere over the years)

Hal Arnold didn’t seem to have an office or a need for one. He was kind of a freelance art director. If and advertising agency had a project that needed skill of a veteran director they would hire Hal. So, his office was in the agency or his west end apartment.

Joane Humphrey, Dick Dunne.

Joane Humphrey, another old friend, started out her career as a model then went into broadcasting. (JJ Mcall)

Dick Wyndham, another talented designer, had an office across the street as well.

Every morning Dick Dunne, George McLachlan, Dick Wyndham, and I would meet before work for coffee at a little coffee shop in the same building. (Sometimes Hal would appear but never Glenn. He was one of those people who could never show up on time. A familiar sight would be Glenn running down the sidewalk, briefcase in hand, and tie streaming over his shoulder)

Have you noticed what all these people had in common? They all had land or a special affection for Hornby Island.

me in the hall.

Stanley Park/1968

Ken-Lots of Fun to work with.

5×7 camera for copying images. Azos as well as continous tone photos.

So, this is  my sojourn into photography in the 1960’s. The highlighted texts are links. Just click on them to find out where I’m taking you. If you want to make a comment or see the comments just click on the title.

Autumn of 1967 I was perusing the job ads in the newspaper when I came upon an advertisement for a ‘Darkroom assistant’. I called and arranged an appointment.  We lived in Marpole at the time. The shop, Focus Prints, was downtown (1255 Pender st) so it was a fairly lengthy bus ride.

Ken, the manager.

Focus Prints was located up one set of stairs and down a long corridor all the way to the back of the building. The office and workroom had gorgeous views of the Burrard Inlet. I was met by the owner, Glenn Startup, and the manager, Ken. The interview seemed to go well. I showed them some of the pictures I’d made in my tiny darkroom in the attic of my in-laws. (Glenn later-much later-told me that they didn’t think much of my photographic skills.) I got the job! I think what cinched it was on seeing a chess set on the coffee table I remarked that I played chess. Ken was an avid chess player and was always challenging the salesmen that came to the door.

Glenn Startup/owner

So, I went to work. Eventually I bought a little scooter which made the commute tolerable. I was taught the basics of the business. Focus mainly dealt with the advertising agencies that seemed to gather close to Pender. We had a delivery boy that would pick up and deliver copy. The main occupation was making what we called Azos. Using a 5×7 camera we made line negs (black and white negs, no shades of grey) of the copy sent to us. Then we made prints to the size ordered. This way the commercial artists could letraset their advertising without worrying about fitting it to the page. That was our job to enlarge or shrink the lines. Fairly exacting work.

Beer and chess/ life was good!

We also had a giant Photostat machine which would make newspaper size copies on photographic paper. This was all pre-Xerox. It was a huge darkroom in a box. Using belts and pulleys the paper was pulled through a developing tank and ended up in a tray of fixer. We would wash it and put it through that electric dryer. The firms would use these prints to check the placement and accuracy of their work before sending it to the printer. The Photostat gave an incredibly faithful copy of the proposed page including photographs.

The Photostat Machine-developed paper negatives from rolls 18″ wide.

A plus at Focus was the beautiful view and, by means of a ladder, we could access the flat roof and eat our lunches in the sunshine. The daily chess game was an added bonus. I felt I had arrived…