Gorgeous camera paintings highlight the beauty of vintage photo gear

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posted Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 3:27 PM EST


 
 

Our focus here at Imaging Resource is obviously on photography, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate a great painting when we see one. Toronto-based artist William Fisk is clearly a man after our own heart, and he's identified what might just be the perfect subject matter for us. His "Portraits" painting series, the work of more than a decade, largely focuses on yesterday's forgotten technology. Among the series are some really gorgeous paintings of vintage cameras.

In all, there are a good couple of dozen camera models among the collection, as well as many other items from days gone by -- headphones, telephones, binoculars, telescopes, microscopes, televisions, and plenty else besides. (No object is too small for Fisk to find its hidden beauty, it seems -- even coaxial cables and tape measures are lusciously recreated with impressive detail on canvas in oils. And it's a good thing, too -- we could easily spend hours admiring them!)

Other series by Fisk include spectacularly detailed paintings of classic motorcycles, and all manner of other subjects. (Take note, though, a few of those in the archives are very much not safe for work.)

If you want to see his art in person, a visit to the Nicholas Metivier Gallery at 451 King Street West, Toronto might be in order. If you're lucky, you'll catch an exhibition -- Fisk's works have been featured in two at the gallery over the last couple of years. And if you're not in Toronto, there's plenty to appreciate on Fisk's website.

Following are a few of our favorite camera images from the Portraits series, used by kind permission of William Fisk. For a whole lot more, see the full series here.

 
Revere Model 16 Magazine movie camera (1940s)
 
Hasselblad 500 C/M (1970)

 
Busch Pressman Model C with Kalart rangefinder and flash (1940s)

 
Yashica-Mat TLR (1957)

 
Paillard Bolex H-16 Supreme movie camera (1954)

(via Trend Hunter)