1970's Photoshop layers before Photoshop

Photoshop Layers before Photoshop

Michael Critchley

A collection of photographs by Michael Critchley

Where would we be without Photoshop?

Back in the 70’s, long before Photoshop, I experimented with creating layered images, achieved in-camera by double/multi exposures.

This involved winding the film forward whilst depressing the rewind button under the camera to disengage the sprocket mechanism.

This would allow the shutter to be cocked without winding the film forward, allowing the next shot to be exposed onto the previous shot.

All very hit and miss but very rewarding when a few succeeded.

After a while I got used to quickly operating the right hand whilst keeping the film taut with the left. Then focusing on the subject in the first exposure and refocusing on the background for the second exposure. I would also shoot the subject for the first exposure, then zoom in for a closer crop on the second exposure. At rock concerts I would expose the musician, then turn around and expose the audience on top to give more atmosphere to the event.

There’s always a solution to a creative idea!

Frank Zappa performing in D端sseldorf 23/11/1971

Alvin Lee from Ten Years After performing at Philips Halle in D端sseldorf 05/03/1972

Warrington morris dancers marching in the Hilden Carnival parade in 1972

Warrington morris dancers at the Hilden Carnivals parade in 1972

Dagma

mar

This double exposed transparency used different parts of the model’s body

A series of double exposure images of my favourite model from the 70’s and experimenting with dramatic flash and smoke.

A double exposure of a kayak competitor, in focus and then out of focus.

A double exposure of classic motorbikes using two different subjects, one in focus and the other out of focus.

A double exposure for promotional material from a series of school children painting murals.

A double exposure on Rosen Montag at the Kรถlner Karneval, one in focus and the other out of focus.

Grappling in Salzburg I would photograph all sorts of events and ultimately end up taking some double/multi exposures to try and capture the atmosphere that single shots often don’t have.

Conveying movement in photography was also a technique I often used to help create the atmosphere. I still use it to create a painterly feeling to my photographs. Let’s face it; the camera is just a tool for creating images.

A multi- exposure of grapplers, in focus, out of focus and introducing movement into the equation.

Using movement to create the atmosphere.

I loved every minute of my time there but unfortunately in July 1976 the company was bought out by ICI and the advertising department was retrenched leaving only a skeleton staff. The advertising and sales promotion was then handled by a Frankfurt agency. A few months later in October I moved to Sydney Australia, and from paint to cosmetics as art director with Avon Cosmetics for nine years.

For the photos in this book, I used two Pentax Spotmatic cameras which my father bought for me around 1968 for Christmas.

I subsequently added wide angle and telephoto lenses plus some flash gear and used it all until 2003 when I changed to digital.

These photos were taken (in my free time) between 1971 and 1976 when I worked for Lack Fabrik Hermann Wiederhold, a German paint company based in Hilden, 15 km from Düsseldorf, Germany.

This year, 2014 (forty-odd years later), I decided to resurrect some of my favourite images and scanned over 200 of them on an ‘Epson Perfection V500 Photo’ scanner.

It did a reasonable job but not as sharp as I had expected. There was plenty of fungal growth on the negs which I would expect to be sharp when scanned, but it wasn’t, so there’s room for improvement and if I can find a better scanner I may re-scan them all again.

Lots of retouching and colour correction was needed and many trannies had lost colour and faded drastically so I had to convert them to black & white.

For all those traditional darkroom photographers still amongst us, I hope you enjoy the images and memories of dip and dunk and please accept my apologies for the softness of these scanned photos.