C.Ellul's photostream

Hi to everyone,

I hope you find my Flickr page interesting as much as I find photography marvelous...

I was first introduced to photography rather quite indirectly.

My great grandfather Arthur Cuschieri began the photographic trade within our family. A self taught and able man, he started off his own business in photography in Sliema, Malta.

His son, my great uncle Nestu Cuschieri, then an established photographer in Sliema during the second World War was one of the primary reliance of the British Navy for reconnaissance work. In fact, the more elderly residents of Sliema who have had any photos developed at the time surely have heard of this man. His photographic equipment was then handed down to our family in the late seventies after his death.

What point am I trying to drive?

Throughout the years, I have heard many stories about Nestu's reputation and the profession he is most remembered for. I was always intrigued with the processes involved in taking and developing photos, not to mention the really old family portraits taken with plate cameras of which some still survive in our care.
Born and raised during a time when film was slowly being phased out by digital I had no prior experience with film cameras and in the early years of this century I bought myself a very ugly duckling of a camera as well as a mediocre performer - the Konica Minolta Dimage Z2. Nevertheless I took this camera everywhere I went and was rather pleased with some of the results.
During the 1st year of my Mechanical Engineering studies at the University of Malta, owing to lack of funds and more critically a lack of free time I decided to sell this little camera to a fellow mech eng student for a *modest* price...
I was then camera-less for about 2 years until the purchase of my first SLR, the Canon EOS 450D, which I presently use and am very happy with.

In 2008 I discovered what was to be the igniting spark which would take me back to the days of plate cameras and film. I had found an antique, 1880 period plate camera which belonged to the late Nestu Cuschieri. I was astounded by its sheer class and simplicity which made it such an impressive machine adorned in wood and brass. Alas it was in quite a tattered condition so I spent all Summer restoring it and polishing every brass component until it was shimmering. However due to further constraints on time I have not finished restoring the bellows and some other minor problems needing attention to this day. In any case, this camera has fueled my interest for vintage cameras and I started collecting a variety of vintage cameras there forth.

Every camera allows me to appreciate the engineering standard, way of thinking and design of that era. Not to mention holding cameras which were breakthroughs of their time. More recently I have bought some Ilford FP4 black and white film and loaded my first ever reel into one of my cameras. The experience so far has been unique for me, and I intend to build a darkroom of my own with the priceless help of a special little lady I am quite fond of (who shares this photographic interest as well as controls my spending!)... Perhaps in the Summer of 2010 as late as it may be!

Thank you all for reading, enjoy looking through my eye.

Chris.