Gandolfi: pilgrimmage to the sites of the Gandolfi workshops

[brighamr]

it was a 1984 bjp gpx

[GPX]

Ah, thanks. Interesting that the son Louis Gandolfi (grandson of founder Louis Gandolfi) is mentioned as being involved in making cameras in Andover, I haven't heard of that before.

As an aside, while Googling "Louis Gandolfi Andover" (which found nothing) I found that there is a cafe in Glasgow called Cafe Gandolfi that is actually named after the camera business: www.cafegandolfi.com

[brighamr]

his son was a typo
should of said louis gandolfi and sons
they were at portray house west portray
andover tel 0264 61216 according to the clip

robin

[GPX]

Thanks for that clarification, much appreciated.

[rahsoft]

Hello GPX

My comment is a bit late as I only recently discovered it whilst browsing around for the gandolfis.
If you ever take any photos of the peckham site - I would be interested to see them.

I have been inside the workshop( the one you see in the photo you have included in the photo) a few times as a very young child, but my memory is unfortunately rather hazy of it.
in the black and white photo that you have posted you can see my great grandfather( 2nd from the left)- thomas.
I was asked in the early 1980s if I would consider being an apprentice for fred and arthur, but I was more interested in computers, how things may have been different if I had said yes.
My interest in our family was piqued a few months ago when the last of the gandolfi children, my grandmother( apart from one adopted child) died and I was left something made by Louis and handed down through the generations( and no it unfortunately wasn't a camera, and yes my father and I have been searching for an affordable camera momento to reflect his grandfather)

Kind Regards

[GPX]

Wonderful to hear from you!

Have you seen the film "Gandolfi Family Business"? I know it exists, but I haven't figured out how to see it yet.

I think computing was probably a better career choice than camera making - it must have been a hard life. My Louis Gandolfi camera is such perfection of cabinet making it must have taken him ages to make it - even if he charged a lot for them it is hard to imagine he could have been making a big profit out of it. And the later "Peckham" era Gandolfi I have, well, by all accounts the brothers were struggling to meet demand yet also not exactly getting rich out of it. It just takes too much time to hand make a camera.

Please keep in touch!

Just out of interest here is a photo I took recently with my 4x5" Gandolfi camera (I was testing a prototype of a new instant film). The camera is rather well used - a lot of them went to art colleges and had a hard life - but still works fine.

[DKirk]

Ah, thanks. Interesting that the son Louis Gandolfi (grandson of founder Louis Gandolfi) is mentioned as being involved in making cameras in Andover, I haven't heard of that before.

As an aside, while Googling "Louis Gandolfi Andover" (which found nothing) I found that there is a cafe in Glasgow called Cafe Gandolfi that is actually named after the camera business: www.cafegandolfi.com

Nice coffee there and great food too - service on occasion can be quite slow though, plus (not sure exactly which model) but there's a camera on a tripod by the between the last booth and the seating area.
Well worth a visit if you're up this neck of the woods.

BTW, love that picture of Angel - need to try to arrange a shoot with her at some point when funds are available.

[rahsoft]

Wonderful to hear from you!

Have you seen the film "Gandolfi Family Business"? I know it exists, but I haven't figured out how to see it yet.

I think computing was probably a better career choice than camera making - it must have been a hard life. My Louis Gandolfi camera is such perfection of cabinet making it must have taken him ages to make it - even if he charged a lot for them it is hard to imagine he could have been making a big profit out of it. And the later "Peckham" era Gandolfi I have, well, by all accounts the brothers were struggling to meet demand yet also not exactly getting rich out of it. It just takes too much time to hand make a camera.

Please keep in touch!

Just out of interest here is a photo I took recently with my 4x5" Gandolfi camera (I was testing a prototype of a new instant film). The camera is rather well used - a lot of them went to art colleges and had a hard life - but still works fine.

ah.. I see you are following me on flickr then - i recognise the photo from your flickr profile

I would disagree that the brothers( family ) did not get rich. I Believe the majority of the money went into a trust to sponser photography students( didn't please my gran though).They could have been much richer, but felt the craft was important to them. I used to get the postage stamps from the orders they recieved from all over the world.


the gandolfi business video you can get off youtube ( they are two of them). I have taken a copy( plus the nationwide news article) off there as my copy on dvd( from my gran) is a rather bad vhs to dvd transfer.

the photo you took is quite beautiful . i notice there there is damage(?) at the top and the bottom. I Presume that is the wear and tear of the camera(?). the rest of your photostream is quite artistic and I see that BW/women is your genre


when I was about ten, my school visited a kodak factory in north west london and they had a small museum there. I saw one of my great grandfathers cameras there and i told the curator/tour guide "thats my familys camera.. my great grandfathers" I got the look of disbelief, the "yeah..right!!" and told my teacher. Later my teacher told my parents with a smirk about childrens imaginations. My father in his still strong american accent said yup, thats Thomas my late grandfather. cue jaw dropping from the teacher.


i would loved to found one of their cameras in Malaysia( from when it was malaya) because I lived there for several years( had a malay wife), it would have been the utlimate round trip. My in law family there were suprised by my heritage of the gandolfis plus my other being Bata( the shoe company- sorry shameless name dropping i know)





anyway I can be reached via flickr, as despite being a strong IT background I decided to keep low key.

My love of photgraphy may have been triggered by the family business( my father was not interested) been at it for about 35 plus years.

anyway hope you have many more years of pleasure from the camera. Kind of makes me proud that they brought joy to peoples lives.

Kind Regards

[GPX]

Thanks for the info, I'll look the video up. The photo has the odd top and bottom bits because it is an experimental 4x5" instant film called New55 where you have to peel the neg from positive.

[Andrew O'Neill]

The New55 looks much improved. I can't wait to get mine.