William Mortensen (1897-1965) was the formost pictorial portraitist of the century. His wonderful and unusual photographic portaits have captured the imagination and inspired all those familiar with his legendary work. Lucky for us he was also one of the most prolific of the writer / photographers of his time. In 1932 he published a 5 part series of articles in Camera Craft Magazine entitled "Venus and Vulcan". In this series of articles he describes the differences between the purist and the pictorialist ways of doing and looking at photography. This added fuel to an already rip-roaring fire thus stengthening the feud between the two factions.

What we have here is about 2 hours and 20 minutes of my reading the articles to you, along with some commentary along the way. If you have not had the good fortune to read this series, then why not let me read it to you? The magazines are hard to find and it certainly was not easy reading for me. You might even enjoy hearing me stumble over some of the big words I had never heard before. And it would be cheap if it were half the price I am asking. The price for the 3 audiotapes is only $ 17.00 which includes free shipping. Let me tell you friends, if I were in this for the money they would cost you a lot more. By the time I buy the tapes, spend two plus hours duplicating them, buy the plastic box and the shipping envelope and then make the labels and ship it to you at no extra cost - I end up just a couple of steps from Chapter 13. If you have even the least amount of interest in what was going on between the Pictorialists and the F-64 Group then you should buy this. I am not sure how long I will make it available and where else are you going to get it? Sure to be a collectors item, someday. I make this available to you because I have a deep appreciation and respect for the work and talent of William Mortensen and enjoy sharing it with other photographers. Now I know you can afford it, and I need the money but, if you are expecting a professional studio recording and a real announcer - you better pass; because this is as home-spun as they come. My thanks to the William Mortensen estate for their support and help in my many endeavors relating to my research into the photographic world of William Mortensen. All that said, I accept personal checks or money orders but no foreign orders please. Proceeds from the sale of these tapes will go towards future products along the same line. Mail request and all the money you can get together to:

Owen Phairis
P.O. Box 3400
Big Bear Lake
California 92315

Please send e-mail to:ophairis@hotmail.com