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There are over 170 photographs in this amazing two album collection documenting photographic experiments, camera parts and repairs, new inventions as well as a few shots of the repairmen at work from the famed and beloved Professional Camera Repair Service shop in New York City. Started and run by repairman and inventor Martin Forscher, and joined by additional talented "mechanical wizard" Buddy Graves and others, the repair shop serviced camera bodies of all types for more than 40 years (Marty owned it from its birth in 1946 to when he sold it in 1987), as well as birthing new camera related alterations and creations that changed the ways and locations cameras could be used forever. Marty's most famous invention was the Pro-Back, patented in 1982, which was "a Polaroid attachment for a 35-millimeter camera that gave photographers an immediate proof print, letting them test a shot without having to wait for the film to be developed." Famed clientele of the shop included fashion photographer Richard Avedon, street portrait and landscape photographer Joel Meyerowitz, celebrity and fine art photographer Annie Leibovitz, and photojournalist and portrait photographer Mary Ellen Mark. Included in these albums are photos of equipment by well-known photographers, including Mildred Grossman (Civil Rights Activist), Robert Galbraith, Ken Korsh and Peter Moore. The albums in this collection are spiral bound and measure 10" x 11.5", and each has a label on the cover for PCRS. The albums appear to be complete, with a few loose photos and pages. All pages are black paper and plastic-covered with photos (Polaroids and 8x10s) primarily attached with tape, some loose behind the plastic. The first album is full with all pages used, the second album has a few blank in the back. Photo dimensions vary up to full 8" x 10" sheets, mostly black and white studio shots of camera bodies and equipment, with 6 color photos including 2 polaroids and 3 photos of the inside of a body cavity using one of Marty's inventions - a camera attachment allowing doctors to photograph and see instant photos from inside the peritoneal cavity (there is a full paged magazine article clipping detailing the story with the doctor and Marty accompanying the photos in the album). Other inventions pictured include helmet mounts, ski mounts, fish eye super wide angle lens alterations, a studio shoot of a photographer sporting a mount specifically made for use with an arm in a hard cast (and a signed photo from the injured photographer with thank you note), and many more. Another magazine article clipping details one of Buddy's inventions, the "Buddywide" which enables slight shifts in the lens mount without tilting the camera for an architect seeking to capture his whole subject without distorting important perspective lines. Also included is a hand drawn mockup diagram of new mounting hardware. This collection is truly an amazing piece of photography history and an up close and personal look behind the scenes in the beloved camera butcher's lair. A few pages and photos are loose, the emulsion on some older photos appears to be sticking to the plastic covering of the page, and the front cover of album one is detached. Otherwise, the photos and albums are in good condition. Marty Forscher was such an important and admired figure in the photography world, and in the world that shifted due to what photography could expose to the public (from war zones to critical documentation of brutality in the Civil Rights movement and more), that the New York Times published a loving obituary following his death in 2009. From the New York Times obituary (October 10, 2009): "Marty Forscher, whose intimate knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the camera and of the myriad ways in which photographers can unsettle them made him for decades the most sought-after camera repairman in the country, died on Sept. 30 in Pittsfield, Mass. He was 87 and lived in Pittsfield. [.] For more than 40 years,
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