The Cameras

I have hundreds of cameras. I shoot with several 35mm and 120mm cameras. A 2.8d Rollieflex is a favorite, but I also use a Graflex Graphic35, Pentax K1000, the Lomography super sampler, a Lubitel 166b, a Canon IIs2, a few LandCameras and several others from my shelves.

I think what surprises many, particularly those not into photography, is that it is not an expensive hobby. Many cost me twenty bucks or less. Anyhow, perhaps collecting cameras was born out of that early analog introduction through Dad. Each camera is a different machine. So, it is exciting when a camera arrives or I find one at a yard sale or estate auction. Then the experience of learning that camera and seeing what it may do or can do differently is the real fun. The character, quality, inflection and feel of a photo can be different contingent on the camera.

Obviously, one cannot stroll the streets with seven suitcases full of cameras. I sometimes scout a location with digital then return with my analog selection. Choices may also be made to embark on an adventure with one or two of my old cameras. But with some of the finished work, you see that you wish that you brought another camera instead. Subsequent to lomography, you can stack on the rending, materials and processes in the darkroom. You twist the Rubik’s cube and learn old cameras in ways they were not known before. I can be really careful and clean in my process, but I also enjoy absolutely destroying traditional approaches to producing a photo. The combination of all these things is the fun. So is taking old cameras apart and fixing them so they work again.

Acclimating to each old camera may be akin to learning a different instrument or repairing and rebuilding a life. For me it begins with an unwanted or discarded apparatus. I see a little bit of myself in these broken instruments.