Finding Joel Pahl Dardis

Month: September 2022

  • High Time Movie Fire, Box 104, March 1, 1960

    High Time Movie Fire, Box 104, March 1, 1960

    Setting a short step back in time. We’re in 1960, and Joel covered the “High Time Fire”. The date next to the event is Tuesday, March 1, 1960. Then it dawned on me that the “High Time” reference must be related to the HIgh Time movie. I had no idea till today that this movie…

  • Various 4×5″ negatives, JFC

    Various 4×5″ negatives, JFC

    One of the negative sleeves I just came across in the Jessica Fong Collection has a few subjects stashed away. The writing on the sleeve relates to a lens test Joel did on his new Graphic View camera in 1957. Why these negatives ended up in this unrelated sleeve will always remain a mystery. As…

  • Infrared Stockton & Santa Cruz, JFC, 1963

    Infrared Stockton & Santa Cruz, JFC, 1963

    I mentioned before that Joel did some decent experimentation with infrared film in the early 1961-1963 time period. Since the previous blog post covered the 1962-1963 UOP Burns Tower construction, I’m throwing few more 4×5″ negatives in from the Jessica Fong Collection of Dardis negatives. The writing on the sleeve says “Infrared, Stockton and Santa…

  • Stockton Oak Trees, JFC

    Stockton Oak Trees, JFC

    This sleeve with negatives from the Jessica Fong Collection of Dardis negatives, contains about twenty 4×5″ negatives with mostly oak trees as subject. There is no timeframe mentioned, so I assume that this collection can span quite a period, especially in light of the apartment building in the last negatives. Joel worked hard to captures…

  • UOP Water Tower, JFC, 1962-1963

    UOP Water Tower, JFC, 1962-1963

    We now call the “UOP Water Tower” simply Burns Tower. When Joel penned this on the sleeve in 1962, he may not have known about the Burns dedication. The dates from Joel on this sleeves are Nov 1962-June 1963, possibly the timespan of his 4×5″ construction negatives in this particular sleeve from the Jessica Fong’s…

  • Soap Box Derby, Box 103, 1959

    Soap Box Derby, Box 103, 1959

    This is the second Stockton Soap Box Derby I find in Joel’s negatives. He was covering the 4th Soap Box Derby in Stockton on Saturday, July 12, 1959. All images are photographed in press format, so Joel is most likely using his trusty Graflex RB Super D in this case. I’ve scanned attached the newspaper…

  • Stockton Fog Picture, JFC, circa 1970

    Stockton Fog Picture, JFC, circa 1970

    I’ve mentioned before that the main reason for Joel to get into 4×5″ “Large Format Photography”, was most likely driven by his desire to be taken “serious” as a photographer. He had resigned into not being a professional photographer, this is, making a living out of it. But that didn’t take away Joel’s desire to…

  • Dick Bass, COP-San Jose, Box 102, Nov 1958

    Dick Bass, COP-San Jose, Box 102, Nov 1958

    The date is November 8, 1958 and College of Pacific is playing San Jose State. I’ve indicated before to keep a close eye on all of Joel’s football images of 1956-1959. There are plenty of them showing #22, so I checked who was wearing the jersey. Dick Bass. From Pacific website Hall of Fame: Joel…

  • COP Boxing, JFC, April 1957

    COP Boxing, JFC, April 1957

    Further exploring the 1955-1959 timeframe,I found a few sleeves in Jessica Fong’s Collection of Dardis negatives with the “Boxing, April 26, 1957” written on them. No further information about schedules nor athletes. These negatives are all shot as 4×5″. It’s most likely, from the angles and perspectives, including lack of positional movement, that Joel’s camera…

  • COP-Chico State, JFC, Dec 1956

    COP-Chico State, JFC, Dec 1956

    This basketball game was found in one of the 4×5 negative sleeves from the Jessica Fong Collection of Dardis negatives. The date on the sleeve is Dec, 1956. Since the Chico State basketball game is discussed in the December 7, 1956 Pacific Weekly, all seems to fit. Further research showed this game was played on…