147. J.S. Bach: Kaffee Kamera
atelier ying, nyc.
Lest we misjudge Frederick the Great, the import of coffee caused a large imbalance of trade for the 18th century Prussian economy.
But the pleasures of drinking bowls of sweet coffee in coffeehouses proved too great a thing and Frederick wisely capitulated, but not before employing "coffee smellers" to patrol Leipzig for any illegal coffee roasting.
I love Bach. This is my 24th Bach related design drawing for this great composer. They are all bucolic in flavor, celebrating the humbler aspects of this man's life, as a contrast to his elevated musical side. The subtler indirect reason is to point out that Bach's music and influence, in many ways, is universal; not relegated just to the world of Sacred classical music, as is exhibited by the following piece of his secular music which informs this design.
Bach's "Kaffeekantate" BWV 211, a kind of operetta, was popularly performed by his Collegium Musicum at the Zimmermanneschles Kaffeehaus in Leipzig.
Bach's camera has the largest viewfinder I have ever envisioned.
It only functions as an internal view device however, and mounts over a plain Brownie Box enclosure but modified to accept bellows and a 10cm f2.9 Anticomar lens from a Plaubel Makina, instead of the usual Brownie Meniscus lens. The uncoated Anticomar may lend subjective effects to please the photographer. The spinning bowl of the viewfinder has filtered natural light, angled mirrors and a set of slide views of Leipzig during Bach's time. Directly below the v.f. is a coffee grinder with two side opening hatches for putting coffee beans in and pouring out grounded coffee. The bottom hatch also detaches conveniently.
Focus is also done by the coffee grinder via its handle (which connects all the way down past the grinding mechanism) and rear ground glass. Each film holder is modified (like the Kodak Autographic) to allow Bach to scribble at least a single musical subject for a Fugue to expand upon later, should he come upon one while working on a street portrait. The smell of freshly ground beans would any subvert any wandering coffee inspector. If Bach had used this camera to take a suite of portraits of Frederick the Great's "coffee smellers" and donated it to the Leipzig Gewandhaus, it probably would have paid for all of its three historic renovations. Perhaps this thought exists only in the scope of this design but in a Cornellian world it would have been possible. Nevertheless, Bach could bring his modern-day "imported" Zimbabwe coffee to any Asian coffee shop and have them steam brew it for a taste from home.
This design is dedicated to Chris Land, who showed me late in life how to play Bach at the keyboard.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2013 by David Lo.
147. J.S. Bach: Kaffee Kamera
atelier ying, nyc.
Lest we misjudge Frederick the Great, the import of coffee caused a large imbalance of trade for the 18th century Prussian economy.
But the pleasures of drinking bowls of sweet coffee in coffeehouses proved too great a thing and Frederick wisely capitulated, but not before employing "coffee smellers" to patrol Leipzig for any illegal coffee roasting.
I love Bach. This is my 24th Bach related design drawing for this great composer. They are all bucolic in flavor, celebrating the humbler aspects of this man's life, as a contrast to his elevated musical side. The subtler indirect reason is to point out that Bach's music and influence, in many ways, is universal; not relegated just to the world of Sacred classical music, as is exhibited by the following piece of his secular music which informs this design.
Bach's "Kaffeekantate" BWV 211, a kind of operetta, was popularly performed by his Collegium Musicum at the Zimmermanneschles Kaffeehaus in Leipzig.
Bach's camera has the largest viewfinder I have ever envisioned.
It only functions as an internal view device however, and mounts over a plain Brownie Box enclosure but modified to accept bellows and a 10cm f2.9 Anticomar lens from a Plaubel Makina, instead of the usual Brownie Meniscus lens. The uncoated Anticomar may lend subjective effects to please the photographer. The spinning bowl of the viewfinder has filtered natural light, angled mirrors and a set of slide views of Leipzig during Bach's time. Directly below the v.f. is a coffee grinder with two side opening hatches for putting coffee beans in and pouring out grounded coffee. The bottom hatch also detaches conveniently.
Focus is also done by the coffee grinder via its handle (which connects all the way down past the grinding mechanism) and rear ground glass. Each film holder is modified (like the Kodak Autographic) to allow Bach to scribble at least a single musical subject for a Fugue to expand upon later, should he come upon one while working on a street portrait. The smell of freshly ground beans would any subvert any wandering coffee inspector. If Bach had used this camera to take a suite of portraits of Frederick the Great's "coffee smellers" and donated it to the Leipzig Gewandhaus, it probably would have paid for all of its three historic renovations. Perhaps this thought exists only in the scope of this design but in a Cornellian world it would have been possible. Nevertheless, Bach could bring his modern-day "imported" Zimbabwe coffee to any Asian coffee shop and have them steam brew it for a taste from home.
This design is dedicated to Chris Land, who showed me late in life how to play Bach at the keyboard.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2013 by David Lo.