Charles Caito Feature Photography
Horse Groomer
I purchased my first view camera in 1998. It was a 1957 Gandolfi half plate camera that was hardly used. The camera came with half and quarter plate backs and original accessories which included glass plate holders, dark cloths, four various lenses (one dates back to the late 1800s), a shutter release, leather carrying case and a box of unused glass plates. Some of the holders were still loaded with glass plates. In 1998 the Gandolfi Camera Company was one of the last companies that produced cameras by hand, one at a time. Finding this extraordinary collection of equipment in a London antique camera shop started me on my way to large format photography.
I had 5x7 and 4x5 film hold backs made for the camera and then carefully stored everything away except for the camera and lens. Several years later when I was getting ready to move back to the U.S. I decided to open the box of glass plates. What I found was not the balance of unused plates, but six exposed and developed plates with various degrees of frustration and quality from whomever had owned the camera prior to me. Out of the six glass plates, one was in perfect condition and the exposure was correct and the commission framed nicely. I made contact prints and the end result was this photo. I believe it depicts a very good idea of what stable looked like in the 1950s.