Cameron here, Cameron there. But what, or who, is Cameron? Cameron is a press; also a person. Although, thinking about it… Cameron is really a story turned into a press.
A man on a bicycle with a curious accent showed up at the door of our workshop about ten years ago. He introduced himself and explained that he was looking for someone who could provide him with some rollers, since he wanted to build his own press. Maybe it was luck, or the alignment of the stars, but he found us right in the middle of a creative phase. At that time, we were designing a new model: something more affordable and simple, yet robust and reliable. A little sibling of our TC.
Ten years later, we meet again in his new workshop in Poblenou (Barcelona). We want to look back on that moment and take the opportunity to explain to all the curious people where our well-known Cameron model press comes from and, of course, the unique story behind it.
Cameron Fraser, an Australian printmaker based in Barcelona, begins to tell the story while gathering his materials:
“My grandmother, Bessie, had passed away a few months earlier, leaving me a small inheritance, and I wanted to invest it in a press.
I wanted to make my own. I had one made of MDF that some mechanics in England built for me, but I think they didn’t quite understand the concept of pressure. They told me it would withstand anything, but of course it eventually broke. I was looking for someone who could make me some rollers, and I had heard about Tórculos Ribes. I took a train to Canovelles (Granollers) and did the rest of the trip on my bike, which I still have with me, by the way.
It was pure chance — I arrived at the right moment. Carlos told me: “We’re actually designing a press that can be taken apart, you might be interested.” I told him I was only looking for some good rollers. And then he offered to build the entire press at a very good price. I couldn’t turn it down.
When the press was already in my workshop, your father called me and asked if he could name it Cameron. It sounds a bit odd to me, I won’t lie. I, however, call it Big Bessie, which was what I used to call my grandmother.
“With the wooden press, I could never get enough pressure. I had to run the prints through several times. I got some very strange results” (he laughs). “With this one everything comes out perfect, no matter how small or fine the work is. There’s just no way for it to go wrong. The pressure is perfect, even across the entire roller.
“Also, I love the system Tórculos Ribes uses — I hadn’t seen it before. Placing the reducer on the upper roller… almost everyone puts it on the lower one. This way, it prevents the plate from slipping.”
He starts turning the wheel, and I can’t help asking him:
Why is your wheel different?
“I keep it as a reminder of my old wooden press. It was a 50×100 that cost me a lot of money. Things are different now — presses have adapted to people’s needs. I like that.”
Nowadays most companies manufacture presses in series, unlike years ago when they were made to order. This allows the final price to be more accessible to the general public.
As Cameron separates the paper from the plate, he warns me with a smile: “I have a printmaking technique you won’t see in any school.”
I confess that printmaking interests me, but I don’t know how to draw. “You don’t need to know how to draw in a traditional way to make a print. If you can handle a pencil with your hands, feet, or mouth, you can draw, and you can make a print!” he says. “It’s about creativity. When kids come to the workshop they go wild drawing, and when they run out of ideas they get bored. I try to explain to them that printmaking is about playing with textures, smudges, lines. Parents, on the other hand, never stop!” (he laughs) “It’s very funny.”
Do you teach printmaking courses for children?
“Yes, from time to time we organize a printmaking workshop. Also for adults, with my colleague Paula. She makes ceramics, and the combination of both techniques is interesting.”
We walk around his workshop while he tells me about the story behind his miniature presses and his street-made furniture. But that would be another story.
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