The Invisible Camera

Lili

Hall of Famer
Location
Dallas, TX
Name
Lili
Pictor's recent post on the Joy of Photography, an excellent insight mind you, got me thinking on the whys and wherefores of my own work and gear choices.
The very first photographer whose work impressed me came from an unknown history book that showed the movers and shakers of pre-WW2 Europe relaxed and candid.
Shot by an Erich Salomon using an Ermanox camera with a stunningly fast F2 lens.
Erich Salomon - fotografie z lat 1928-1938
Erich Salomon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ermanox - Antique and Vintage Cameras
He did this with relatively huge and heavy camera, tedious to focus, sloooow plates and had to sneak in to shoot.
But his work resonates
This spurred a deep interest in me in photography as a record of our world.
Esp a candid record. I started with a Minox 35 and then graduated to an OM-1 with the 50mm F1.8.
Joining some camera clubs and competing I moved away from this candid, street, documentary style and more towards fine art B&W.
Eventually I shot with a Rollei 2.8 exclusively and printed on Oriental Seagull.
But my heart ached at technically perfect but otherwise empty imagery and I left the clubs and got my Konica Hexar AF and started with imaging people and places most never see or want to see.
My heart stopped hurting so much and I was content.
Fast forward 10 years and I got my first digital; a Coolpix S5.
Convenient and fun.
I moved through a wide range of gear loving them all but keenly aware of intruding on others, most of my gear is not that low key.
Then I got my Ricoh GR Digital.
Fast
Quiet
Tiny
Superb controls
Incredible in-camera B&W
I shot more with than camera than ANY other till it died
I missed it so much I could not bring myself to replace it with the later versions.
Then I got the XZ-1.
Fast
Small
Silent
Incredible lens
The jpegs have issues but in RAW it sings.
I find myself using it wide-open and at low ISO's
Like Salomon was forced to, but I choose to.
I do not shoot mover-and-shakers.
I seldom shoot people these days, though that is changing.
And once again I move closer to my heart.
The Pendulum Swings
5822667343_57e60acc1b_b.jpg
 
wonderfully revealing, insightful, interesting and helpful. I loved my Minox 35 until I foolishly traded it for what seemed to be an immediately necessary snowblower. Not in the market for a new one right now. but you make me interested in trying the YZ-1.

for the record, though, if you're thinking about Salomon's remarkable banquet pictures, my understanding is that he didn't have to sneak in but was actually a member of that social circle.

may our hearts be enabled, not confused or distressed, by our vision and our tools...
 
wonderfully revealing, insightful, interesting and helpful. I loved my Minox 35 until I foolishly traded it for what seemed to be an immediately necessary snowblower. Not in the market for a new one right now. but you make me interested in trying the YZ-1.

for the record, though, if you're thinking about Salomon's remarkable banquet pictures, my understanding is that he didn't have to sneak in but was actually a member of that social circle.

may our hearts be enabled, not confused or distressed, by our vision and our tools...

Thanks :)
I still have a Minox, shutter died though :(
As to Dr. Salomon see this
Comesaa - news agency/stock photo library
by a member of his family
He was mild mannered, socially adept and very astute
 
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