The Burroughs calculator

This is the third photo in the series by Angie Turnbull that she photographed here at the museum with some objects from our collection. Angie uses a Deardorff large format camera with a Honduras mahogany body (because timber accepts harder use better than metal) and leather bellows between the lens and film plane. Angie manipulates the flexible planes to control the image, focus area and adjust parallax errors and perspective. The camera captures images on a negative that is 8 x 10 inches (20,32 x 25,4 cm).

Angie states:

A sensational object out of the Powerhouse Museum, long exposures at maximum aperture of F64 was needed to get maximum detail deep into the workings through the crystal casing which is part of the object and not an add in. The black baked enamel pain on the edges are done justice in the finished print with all the tones in between to the high tones. The metallic workings are lifelike. While setting up the lights for this object I realized there were more shadows than I would like. So by having a long exposure these were ‘burnt out’ or reduced in the final image with minimal shadow below the roll and underneath the body of the calculator.

Photography by Angie Turnbull
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Tags: basement, black and white, calculator, collection, large format camera