On my thirteenth birthday I received an Argus C3 35 mm camera as a bar mitzvah present along with 30 fountain pens. The camera turned out to be a life changing gift some 50 years or so later.
I had never taken a picture in my first thirteen years but the Argus changed that. I taught myself how to take pictures (mostly portraits) and how to develop black and white negatives into lovely 8x10 enlargements in the bathroom/darkroom I shared with my younger brother.
When I was sixteen I took photos of the counselors at summer camp and sold them for 25 cents apiece. I made enough money to buy a Speed Graphic camera which I used to take pictures for my high school and college newspapers.
Then there was a hiatus of several decades until someone had a slideshow of pictures he had taken. The camera bug struck again. Judy bought a Leica outfit for me and I spent years taking travel photos on our annual vacation trips. I used slide film and printed the best shots in a Cibachrome color darkroom I set up, first in a studio in NYC, then in an upstairs closet in out first home when we moved to Boca Raton, and then in the studio space I took in a nearby warehouse facility.
I also used a panoramic camera on our trips and I sold the oversized slide film through a stock agency; with one picture of the Taj Mahal receiving world-wide attention (and copying) on the Internet.
Now as my 87th birthday approaches in a few days I’m back to square one; taking portraits of friends. The only difference is that 71 years ago I charged 25 cents for an 8x10 and now I give them away.
THE REST OF THIS BLOG IS DIRECTED AT MY FRIENDS ON THE ST. ANDREWS TENNIS TEAM WHO I HAVE ENJOYED PHOTOGRAPHING THESE PAST FEW WEEKS.
IF THEY GO TO THE LINK BELOW (ON SHUTTERFLY) THEY CAN VIEW MANY OF THESE PHOTOGRAPHS:
JUST CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO IN THE SLIDESHOW TO ENLARGE IT.
HERE'S ONE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
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