Red River Paper Blog

Newly arrived immigrants in New York City during the late 1800s quickly found that rumors they night have heard about the “Promised Land” were just that; the streets of America were not paved with gold. In fact, if you were poor, just finding a place to sleep was incredibly difficult....read more

Richard E. Baker, professional boxing photographer for 40+ years says if you can handle the violence, he recommends it to stretch your photographic skills. Get pointers...read more

A 39-year-old German photographer, with 20 years experience in photography, carried with him a bulky camera and was probably the world’s first parachutist to document his own jump...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich— Comparing painted backdrop art to photographic backgrounds which are used in productions today, they light better and you can interpret the reality...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich— Kodak had come up with a new line of small cameras and wanted to sell lots of them along with its newer, faster, color print film. A perfect storm for a campaign...read more

By Tony Bonanno— Baron Wolman died peacefully on November 2, 2020 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was 83. I feel privileged to have been able to call him a good friend for almost two decades. Baron was Rolling Stone magazine’s first photographer and actually had a major role in getting the unique rock music...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich— The Wien Alaska Airlines war-surplus C-47 made a large circle in the dark, noonday sky. All I could see out the window as it began its final approach was the bright moon shining on a small cluster of lighted buildings surrounded by a vast expanse of ice. I lifted my camera...read more

By Peter E. Randall— Photographing and producing a book on Ghana was not on my mind when I first visited the West African country in 1984 as a United Nations consultant. I was hired to document an improved method of smoking fish, a vital task in a country with little access to refrigeration to preserve...read more

By Peter E. Randall— Sand and surf. Babes in bikinis and babies in diapers. Muscular teenagers and spry golden agers. Boardwalks and arcades. These were among my subjects in the summer of 1983 at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire’s largest tourist destination, where I set out to document tourists relaxing, playing, and romancing. I like challenges...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich–   Gary Samson was an aspiring 25-year-old photographer in 1976 when he first met Lotte Jacobi in New Hampshire. She was 80 and a successful German portrait photographer from Berlin who had emigrated to New York City in 1935, narrowly escaping Adolf Hitler’s persecution of the Jews. Samson was working for...read more

By Jérôme Brunet– My love for music began long before I found my way into photography. My mother was a classically trained musician and teacher, and had me playing the cello at age four. I continued on for the next ten years into my teens, but when I first heard the opening riff of Led...read more

by Arthur H. Bleich– Jack Delano’s fascination with trains began when he was eight, but it wasn’t until he was nearly 30 that he got a photographer’s dream assignment: Document the nation’s railroads in time of war. The year was 1942. Delano (pronounced de-LAY-no) was born Jacob Ovcharov on August 1, 1914 in the small...read more

By Christine Pentecost– Digitally restoring old and damaged photos and bringing them back to life has been a very rewarding and challenging hobby for me over the past 15 years. I have restored photos from the late 1800s that were mounted on cardboard, to Polaroids from the 70s, and to photos ravaged by Hurricane Katrina’s...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich– In the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage, a team of scientists and their submarine are reduced to microscopic size and inserted into the bloodstream of a colleague to remove a blood clot in his brain; a procedure too risky to do surgically. Science fiction? Of course­– but a thriller all the same....read more

By Michael Freeman– There is now a significant and growing reverse flow in photography, towards the new black and white. It’s new because it’s created from colour with processing software that makes the experience a delight, which means that you don’t even need to decide at the start that it’s a black-and-white image you’re after....read more

By Chris Gatcum– You only have to look at what’s happened to photography in the 21st Century to see how rapidly the technology that underpins it is moving: in the year 2000, full-frame cameras were a mere suggestion; a digital SLR costing less than $1,000 was a dream; and CSCs [Compact System Cameras], sophisticated camera...read more

by Arthur H. Bleich– Now that we’re into the holiday season, I’d like to recommend three photography books that are stand-outs and would make great gifts or be worthy additions to your library. All are currently available at Amazon in used (but mostly like-new) condition at about $10 or less. Some are going for as little...read more

I came across a gem of a video the other day and thought I’d share it with you. But to digress a bit, its title brought back some great memories of Don Novello, a comedian whose character, Father Guido Sarducci, made millions of viewers laugh in the late 70s and early 80s when he appeared on...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich– In the early days of amateur photography, enthusiasts were always being warned to “keep the sun at your back” because films were slow and  needed lots of light to record a decent image. But before photography became the beloved hobby of the masses, Victorian studio photographers had discovered that the best way...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich– In 1966, Richard Baker aimed his M-16 at the Vietnamese; today he uses an arsenal of analog cameras to shoot them. His goal is to photograph all 54 ethnic tribes in the country where he was once sent to fight. Now 68, the twice-wounded Army veteran has been back to Vietnam...read more

By Drew Hendrix– I have a friend whose daughter died when she was a teenager but he still greets her every day with: “Hi kiddo, how’s it going?” And he says she always replies with a smile from within her picture frame on the wall. He told me that when he views her image on...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich– Critics of computer-altered images usually divide photography into two time periods: the honest analog days and the dishonest digital ones. If it were only that easy. Tinkering with images is as old as photography itself; it’s merely become more sophisticated. In the early days of photography, “spirit” photos depicted departed loved...read more

By Al Lockwood– Although most contemporary photographers inkjet print their work, a smaller (but growing) number print their images by historical or “alternative” means. These are the processes developed in the early 19th century– albumen, Van Dyke, Kallitype, salted paper and others; easily 100 different processes. Each offers the photographer an opportunity to create something...read more

By Arthur H. Bleich–   America, 1935. A land in the midst of a Great Depression. Drought and over-cultivation of farmland had spawned dust storms that stripped vital topsoil away. In a country that was predominately rural and small-town, the massive crop failure that ensued caused millions to lose their farms and homes. Blown out,...read more

 By Harald Johnson–      A few years ago, I asked myself a simple question: What and where is the oldest photograph in the world? It took some research and bit of travelling, but in the end I found it. Along with its story.   First, some definitions are in order. Like: What’s a photograph?...read more