Argus C3 Standard, 1958, Rangefinder Camera, PhotoMuse Collection, 2015, Donation of Mr. Herbert Ascherman Jr.

The Argus C3 was a low-priced rangefinder camera mass-produced from 1939 to 1966. The Standard C3 came out in 1958 with an improved lens and more comfortable controls. Film type: 135 (35 mm). Picture size: 24 x 36 mm. Lens: Argus Coated Cintar –50 mm 1:3.5 (3 elements). Shutter speeds: B, 1/10-1/300. Viewfinder coupled rangefinder.

St. John wolf cubs, c.1940, Silver Halide Print, 205×150 mm, Unknown Photographer, PhotoMuse Collection, 2018, Donation of Dr. Unni Krishnan Pulikkal, Source – Herbert Ascherman Collection.

The Wolf Cub program was originated by ‘The Boy Scouts Association’ in the United Kingdom in 1916 to provide a program for boys who were too young to be Boy Scouts. It is a program designed for boys in grades 1-5 depending on the national organization to which they belong. It emphasizes the core Boy…

Seth (Banya), 1890, Gelatin Silver Print, 195×130 mm, Unknown Photographer, PhotoMuse Collection, 2018, Gift of Dr. Unni Krishnan Pulikkal, Source – Herbert Ascherman Collection.

Banya is an occupational community of merchants, bankers, money-lenders, dealers in grains or in spices, and in modern times numerous commercial enterprises. The term is used in a wider sense in Bengal than it is elsewhere in India. The gelatin silver process is the photographic process used with currently available black-and-white films and printing papers.…

Portrait of Sri. K. Karunakaran, 2005, Archival Pigment Print, 170 x 170 mm, Photographer – Mr. Herbert Ascherman Jr., PhotoMuse Collection, 2019, Gift of Dr. Unni Krishnan Pulikkal

K. Karunakaran (1936-2016) was born in Alappuzha, Kerala, southern India. He was a technician and began assisting his father Kunju Kunju Bhagavatar in the making and repairing of musical instruments at the age of 16. His tryst with cameras began when he was asked to repair the bellows of a torn field camera in 1942.…