Since we broke the chronology yesterday with the June 6, 1943 and 1948 birthday images of Joel (22nd and 27th birthday respectively), let’s stay in 1948 for a little longer.
I found these 4 medium frame 2 1/4″ x 2 1/2″ image size slides in an envelope tucked between boxes and these don’t fit in any of the other 1940’s formats.
Few things caught my attention. The slides were color, but not Kodachrome. Standard color slides, with clear signs of fading over the years. There were plenty of other commercial answers to the success of Kodak Kodachrome and Joel must have tried one of these out. It is not clear which camera he used, as this is roll film domain. Either 120 format or 620 format. The latter wildly popular in the 1940’s.
The images are numbered ! That’s a first for Joel, but of course, we don’t know how the numbering scheme works. It’s hard to conceive he had made 5,000 + slides or even negatives by then.
And the images, notwithstanding the fading, are beautiful.
In order to show the text in proper orientation, I must show the subject in mirror image. Keep that in mind when you try to recognize a location.
Joel would photograph these Pacific Rocks in Monterey multiple times during his career.
As for the overall size of these slides, they are roughly 3″ x 4″, the standard size of a glass lantern slide. This format was the way to show slide images as entertainment form prior to the advent of 35mm slides.
Joel loved playing with “the media”.
Next blog post we’ll look at more 1947 and 1948 work. Keep in mind 1948 is the year Joel graduates from COP.
Cheers !
Finding Joel Pahl Dardis 