Hello to Friends, Family, Fellow Photographers, Photo Editors, Photo-Collectors, Lovers of Film and Analogue:

In January of 2012, on a day where Kodak officially declared bankruptcy, I officially announced the launch of my 36Frames Project. This had been 3 years in the making and that day seemed the right time to launch.

A few years ago I started reflecting on my 35 year career and of all the Canadian Photographers, Photojournalists, and Photo Editors that had influenced my work and my life. Some I worked with for many years, some I rubbed shoulders with, others I have yet to meet. I might have been inspired by their work or advice… or it might have been a simple act of kindness to a young photographer growing up in Toronto. The resulting group make up the participants of this project.

One camera; One roll of Tri-X; 36 Self portraits by some of Canada's best photojournalists and photo-editors: roughly 1000 years of combined experience. All on 1 roll of uncut film and when processed will be impossible to replicate digitally. This is a celebration of film, of analogue, of life and....of Kodak.Once the camera is returned, I will drink 2 shots of Vodka to calm my nerves, then hand-process the film. That will be video-taped.

A monograph will be created with all 36 self portraits; the roll of UN-CUT film will framed, backlit and mounted; a traveling show will result and and hopefully this project will help support Canada's photojournalism programs.

Thanks to everyone and wish us luck!
Best Regards

Peter Martin

(P.S. The 37th Frame will be dedicated to the memory of Toronto Star photographer Frank Lennon...who gave an awe-struck and very nervous 16 year old a guided tour of the Star darkrooms...many years ago).

Norm Betts Hangs Above Centre Ice - #11

Another one of the three original Toronto SUN photographers, along with 36Frames participants David Cooper and Jac Holland, Norm has raised the bar when it comes to his 36Frames self-portrait.

He submitted this behind-the-scenes video and for all who know Norm...his legendary antics and never ending quest to get the perfect shot...it's 2.5 minutes well spent!

Peter Bregg Takes Frame - #12

Photojournalist Peter Bregg has traveled to more than 70 countries in 40 years covering a host of assignments including eight Olympic Games, Stanley Cups, World Series, Presidential trips, Vietnam in 1973, the Iran hostage crisis in 1979-80, and the imposition of martial law on the Solidarity movement in Poland in 1981. He was also in New York to cover the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001.

He was chief photographer at Maclean’s for 17 years as well as a photographer and editor with the Canadian Press and the Associated Press in London, New York, and Washington, DC.

Some of his many awards include a World Press Photo Award, NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year, Canadian Press Photo of the Year, Eastern Canada News Photographers Association Awards, a Canadian National Newspaper Award, and White House News Photographers Association Awards.

 

Peter Robertson - Frame #17

Peter was graphics editor for the Toronto Star for 19 years and a founding editor of PhotoSensitive. He has been the photo editor of several books and has lectured and conducted seminars on photography and communications at newspapers, community colleges, universities and at the National Archives in Ottawa. 

In 1986 he began a 22-year teaching career, first at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, and later at Ryerson University in Toronto. 

Boris Spremo - Frame #18

Arguably Canada's most recognized Photojournalist, Boris  Spremo joined the Globe and Mail staff in 1962 and moved to The Toronto Star in 1966, where he retired in 2001.

During his career, Spremo has won over 280 national and international awards for photography, including being the first Canadian to capture a First Prize Gold Medal in the World Press Photo Competition in the Hague in 1966.

In 1997, Spremo was awarded Canada's highest honour, the "Order of Canada" (C.M.) for his years of photographic excellence with a presentation by Governor General Romeo Le Blanc at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.  

The loves of his life are his Wife, his 4 grown daughters...and his '59 Caddy (pictured below...with the 36Frames camera case)

 

   

Yuri Dojc - Frame #19

In 1968, when Russian tanks were rolling into Czechoslovakia, Yuri's status as a "summer student" in London, England was amended to "refugee". 

Flash forward to the present and Dojc's hometown of Humenne has named a gallery after their native son. A major player on the photographic stage, prestigious ad agencies and designers revere his unique artistic vision. 

Often compared to two great fashion visionaries: Guy Bourdain and Helmut Newton, Yuri's work has migrated to such diverse subjects as  "What Remained," which pays homage to Slovak Holocaust survivors and garnered a medal of honour from the Slovak Ambassador to the United States.

An accompanying documentary film on the project is in post-production. Photos from his recent travels in Rwanda, Dojc's first trip to Africa, appeared as double-page spread in the French daily Liberation.

Bill Majesky - Frame #20

After leaving high school, I took a full time job at Black’s Camera in Scarborough. On weekends I went to as many events as I could in Toronto, trying to get through any door that would lead me to a newspaper job.

I met Bill Majesky, then a staff photographer at the Oakville Journal Record, during the annual Toronto Island CHIN pick-nick.  Six months later, he tracked me down and called, asking if I’d be interested in a weekend shift at the Oakville Journal Record. That was the beginning of my career.

Bill moved on to the Toronto Sun and a successful free-lance career himself.

Erin Elder - Frame #21

Erin Elder has been a leading figure in promoting the achievements of photographers and encouraging an appreciation of photojournalism for the past 18 years. 
In 1990, she began working at Maclean's magazine, Canada's national news magazine, as photographer and editor. After moving to Hong Kong in 1995, she became photo editor on Asiaweek magazine. 
In 1998 she became photo editor of Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, which in 2005 won a gold medal from the Society of Newspaper Design for Best Use of Photography. Under her guidance, The Globe and Mail continued to win numerous awards. 
Elder was the Canadian nominator for the Joop Swart Masterclass from 2003 - 2007 and World Press Photo jury member in 2007 and 2008. 
In 2008, she decided to move into Digital Media at the newspaper where she is responsible for business development in the online and other new media sectors.

Tibor Kolley - Frame #22

Tibor Kolley graduated from Ryerson's photography program in 1970. After freelancing for six years, he became a staff photographer for The Globe. He has won National Newspaper Awards for Spot News, the Canadian Press Picture of the year, nine Canadian Press Picture of the month awards and the National News Photographers Association's Photographer of the Year (Region2).

His photo of 75-year-old Canadian D-Day Veteran Alfred Finley still brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.

  Jac Holland takes Frame #16...

Life has been good to Jac Mazereeuw, who has gone by Holland since he immigrated to Canada. "I never actually changed my last name. When I first immigrated to Canada, I started my own business in Deep River. Mazereeuw was too difficult for native-born Canadians to remember so in honour of my birth country, I used "Holland" professionally.

Jac Holland, one of three original Toronto SUN photographers, along with 36Frames participants David Cooper and Norm Betts, recalls having so much fun they never took a day off until forced to do so.

The fun and passion for his assignment work near and far kept Jac glued to the tabloid from 1971 to the mid-80's. Ironically, one of the biggest benefits of working for the Toronto SUN, a two-month sabbatical after 10 years employment, turned his thoughts elsewhere. "I was spoiled after that", Jac recalls. "I realized there was more to life than work." In 1986 he left the SUN to teach and travel the world.

"I finally retired when I had to convert to digital"...   

 Two Dutchmen fighting over the camera case with Dick Loek (left) and Jac Holland (right). "Jac wanted to expose all the frames to make sure he got one in focus"

 

"I finally retired when I had to convert to digital"...

Dick Loek gets nervous...

Hey Peter 

Spent some time on the beach in Toronto. The "Banana Belt" is still snow-less but chilly. The Martin Goodman trail in the East End is one of my favourite area's in the city. I spent a lot of time, while working for the Star, jogging along the boardwalk during the early morning watching the season's change. Yesterday morning was overcast with sunny intervals so I thought it would be appropriate to take my portrait with the "Leuty Life Station" in the background.

The weather window was changing so I had to work fast to catch a bit of sun. Dave Ellis, former City Editor at the Star and my cycling buddy, offered to be a stand in. My bike was on stand-by but because of time shortage I ended up just holding my helmet with the mounted GO-PRO. My shirt is from "The Ride To Conquer Cancer", another event close to my heart.

Getting back home you get these terrible thoughts: did I change the exposure when the sun broke through, did I even focus? It's like when you sit in the plane to a far away country and wonder if you locked the front door and turned the stove off. Never realized how critical things get when you only have one frame. I hope I did all those things when I finally sqeezed the bubble. Hope it all worked out.

All the best, Dick

Toronto Star Photographer Dick Loek practices for his shot, the 15th frame on our roll of Tri-X.

Former Toronto Star City Editor Dave Ellis stands in for Dick's test shot down by the Toronto Beaches.

The Adventures of Doug Ball...

Apparently Doug Ball took my guidance to do what ever you want to do with your single frame to a new level: he took it hunting.

The 36Frames case seen at the Owen Sound Harbour where the Chi-Cheemaun ferries people and cars between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island during the summer.

As every experienced photojournalist knows...if you don't have a tri-pod with you...use a beer cooler.

Besides being a respected photojournalist, Doug has been a member of the Couch Cowboys Hunt Camp for 41 years. It seems he used my camera case to lure this 8-point buck into a trap....he won't tell me if the blood on the case is real...

3 Legends In A Row

From left to right: Doug Ball, Norm Betts and Peter Bregg talk serious photography at Jet Fuel in Toronto. Norm was there to hand the camera and case to Doug Ball and a beer got in the way (or is that a coffee?).

15 Down...21 To Go

After 11 months, we're almost half way finished.

The latest group of inductee's are:

 Peter Bregg - Frame #12
- Served as Chief Photographer at McLeans for 17 years
- Formerly a Photographer/Editor with CP and AP in London, New York and  Washington DC
- Was official Photographer for Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

  Doug Ball- Frame #13
- Long time Canadian shooter with 2 National Newspaper Awards
- Former Photographer with CP covering all major sporting and news events
- Former Montreal Gazette Photo Editor

 Hans Deryk - Frame #14

- Over 25 years working on staff at AP, CP and 7 major Canadian dailies including as Chief Photographer at the Toronto Star
- Has covered all the major sporting events of the world including 8 Olympics
- Currently Senior Picture Editor at Reuters in Toronto
- Former United Press Canada photographer 

 Dick Loek - Frame #15 

- Originally from Amsterdam he began his long career at the  Toronto Telegram in 1962 where he    became Chief Photographer
- Moved to the Toronto Star in 1971
- A member of Photosensitive, a non-profit collective of Toronto Photographers that explore how photography can contribute to social justice

The Adventures of The Hand Off

A wonderful short video (photographed and edited by Wendi Percival of OURKIDS Media), showing the 36Frames camera case being handed off from Barry Gray to Hugh Wesley to Andrew Stawicki to Dave Cooper to Gail Harvey!
(Note: The Password to view the video is k0dak)

Canadian Film and Television Director, and former Toronto SUN Photographer, Gail Harvey practices with her i-Phone, before taking her frame.

From Hugh Wesley:

"Hi Pete, Here were the images of my shoot, with my daughter Nikki (photog at the Oakville Beaver and Burlington Post) sitting in as a positioning model. The theme was my old rant to photographers when shooting profile portraits of people in stories, to bring back at least one frame with their face on the negative as big as a dime. "Big Faces" The picture above the mantel is of my grandfather who was born in 1868 and owned the Barrie Advance Newspaper. He died long before I was born but the presence of that portrait subconsciously may have landed me in the biz. His wife, my grandmother also developed her own pics from about 1905 and her prints are still around.

Hoping the project will be a huge success.
Hugh" 

Photographer / PhotoEditor Barry Gray holds the 36Frame case in his office before handing in over to Hugh Wesley

11 Done...26 To Go...It's Getting Serious

After 8 months, and one re-start, a third of our group of 36 have taken their self-portraits. As I see it, we are now at the point of no-return, meaning that any future screw-up will be permanently registered on the film...we will not re-start again!

The latest group of inductee's are:

 Barry Gray - Frame #6
- Former Toronto Sun Photograher
- Former Montreal Gazette Photo Editor
- Current Photo Editor at Canwest and Postmedia News

Hugh Wesley - Frame #7
- Former Toronto Sun Photographer, Photo Editor and Director of Photography
- Teacher, Educator and Entrepreneur

Andrew Stawicki - Frame #8

- Highly decorated award winning former photographer with the Toronto Star
- Founding photographer of Photosensitve, a highly respected group of Canadian Photojournalists who, through black-and-white photography, enrich, enlighten and educate Canadians on issues of social significance.

Gail Harvey - Frame #9 

- Award winning Canadian Film and Television Director 

- Former Toronto Sun Photographer 
- Former United Press Canada Photographer 

Dave Cooper - Frame #10 

- Holds the distinction of being one of 3 original day-one photographers at the Toronto Sun.

- Currently award winning photojournalist at the Toronto Star

Norm Betts - Frame #11  

- Also holds the distinction of being one of 3 original day-one photographers at the Toronto Sun.

- Currently stays busy traveling across Canada on various corporate assignments.

Meeting with Renowned Film Archivist

On June 12^th, 2012 I met with film archivist  Katherine Whitman, currently the photograph conservator at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. She offered valued advice for mounting and displaying the final roll of un-cut film.

She’s a former fellow of the Advanced Residency Program in Photograph Conservation at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography in Rochester, NY, holds bachelor’s degrees in biology from Michigan State University and fine art photography from the University of Oregon and earned her master’s degree in paper conservation at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

She’s been an archivist at the University of Oregon Knight Library responsible for the rare photograph collection and completed an internship at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna.

Her master’s thesis addressed the effects of polyester materials on the surface topography of gelatin silver prints during drying.

I was honoured that she agreed to meet and after spending an hour with her, I realized how little I knew about maintaining well fixed and washed film emulsion.!

GLITCH FORCES RE-START

As I feared would happen, we had a small glitch in Montreal and had to start over. This means our first two photographers (Gary Hershorn (Global Sports Photo Editor for Reuters in New York), and Denis Paquin (Deputy DOP at Associated Press in New York) will have to redo their photos in New York after the camera returns from Canada.

The good news is we now have 6 frames exposed and the camera will be moving on to Toronto in the next few weeks, before heading out west.

I am encouraging all participating photographers to take some behind the scenes images that will become part of the book and I’ve started posting some of these images on the website: www.36frames.ca.

Thanks again to everyone for the amazing response and show of interest in this project. I’ve received notes of encouragement from scores of people in 12 countries.

I’ll send occasional updates as the camera makes its way across the country.

Best Regards

Peter Martin

The 36Frames camera on display at the world famous Houston FotoFest back in March 2012.

Retired UPI and Ottawa Citizen photographer Rod MacIvor shows off his serious side. MacIvor's photo of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau carrying his son Justin under his arm was voted in the top ten Photo's That Changed Canada.

The Master himself, Gordon Beck of the Montreal Gazette, attaches the cable release to the 36Frames Nikkormat

Montreal LaPresse Icon Michel Gravel prepares to expose his frame, the first on the 36Frames roll.

Montreal Gazette Photographer John Mahoney prepares to take his self-portrait at Wilensky's, a lunch counter opened in 1932 and immortalized in Mordecai Richler's novel The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz.

After a small glitch in Montreal, we have to start over and re-load the original roll of Tri-X. My old friend Jean Bardaji from Camtec Photo supplies the second, and hopefully last, roll of Tri-X for this project.

The case arrives in the Big Apple

The case heads to New York on an early morning train to Penn Station