Video Premiere: Conversation with Val Gelo: Mason Studios and the Library's Ansco Camera

In 1958 Val Gelo bought Mason Studios at 159 Main Street from retiring photographer Stanley Gerard Mason. Val maintained the name of the studio, as it had been on Port's Main Street since 1920. In 1972, Val retired and sold Mason Studios to his cousin Paul Iudica, who kep the name and the business at 159 Main Street until it closed in 1985.

The antique Ansco camera in this short film was purchased by Stanley Gerard Mason from a company in Binghamton, New York in the 1920s. It used glass plate negatives to produce the early photographs that are a part of the Port Washington Public Library Local History Department's Mason Studios Collection.

The camera and over 20,000 negatives and photos were transferred to library ownership by Paul Iudica in 1985 when Mason was closed forever. The camera has been on display in the Local History Center for many years - a piece of antique technology from a time before the advancement of film.

Click [HERE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50tI6TleZTc&feature=youtu.be) to view the video after 6:00 pm on Saturday, May 2, 2020.