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| proof that the hobby has spanned decades |
I've been at quite the loss for time lately. Its hard to keep up with blogging amidst a storm of 50+ hour work weeks (in the mental health field, no-less), weddings, portrait shoots, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, babies being born, family and friends (not to mention the infinite combinations of all of the above). My priority list is in a constant state of flux and I hardly ever settle down to 'blog.' But today was kind of a slow day; plans fell through and I stayed at home, making chicken noodle soup, listening to music and fiddling with my old guitar. Slow days are nice. I need some more.
When you tell people you are a photographer the number one response you get hit with is: "Oh, cool I've got a (insert camera model here)," which got me thinking about all the cameras I've used, owned and borrowed over the span of a lifetime. I've decided to do a tribute to my top 5 favorite cameras since I was a wee one. As you can see from the picture, I have been fascinated with the art of stopping time (also known as photography) since about 18 months, if not earlier. So here are a few of my favorite time-stopping devices in no particular order:
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| Thanks, Grandma. Kodak Fisher Price 110. |
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| Kodak Fisher Price 110 w. film cartridge |
1.) It all began with this one. The Kodak Fisher Price 110 Camera. A gift from my paternal Grandmother, I loved this thing. I can still remember the way it felt in my hands--heavy and important; I felt like a grown-up when I used it, I felt some sort of power and magic radiating from its primary colored plastic encasement. The yellow shutter button was square and rubbery and the cube flashes were charred after they went off, smoking and exerting a chemical smell that I grew to love because it meant I had captured something. Mom and I had to search for special cartridge film for this one, I remember, and flash cubes. I don't remember what the pictures looked like, but it didn't really matter. It had a nylon string so you could hang it around your neck, and I'm pretty sure I carried it with me on quite a few family vacations.
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| Minolta X-700 |
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| shot on a friend's student film set |
2.)
My
Minolta X700 was a trooper. I got this as a Christmas gift when I was around 16 or 17 years old from my father. It was a few years after my mother had passed away and Dad was working that Christmas morning. I opened my present and called my friend
Lilly to tell her I'd gotten a 'real' camera. I went over her house and took about 3 rolls of film that night of the whole gang and Lil's mom lent me a flash, which was the singular coolest thing someone could have done for me at that moment in time. I still have the photographs from this Christmas day of icicles hanging off of sculptures in Lilly's dad's garden and of teenagers dancing in snow and sneaking cigarettes on rooftops. I used this camera as a second shooter with
Jen Fariello, thinking it was the coolest thing ever that Jen would give me money to spend the day with her and take pictures of people getting married. This camera survived a car accident when I was 18. This camera went to Mexico, California, Arizona and New York City and back. One of my favorites, for sure. Lots of pictures.
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| the sexiest |
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| this camera makes anything look beautiful |
3.) My
Polaroid SX-70 is the sexiest, most unpredictable, artistic, temperamental and brilliant camera I have ever owned. It opened up a whole new world of photography for me. It has a mind of its own. I bought it off of eBay for like $35 and couldn't put it down once it arrived in its shoebox package at my door, living in Pittsburgh and going through a major heartbreak. I took pictures of cracks in walls, of tiles, of clouds, of anything and this camera brought them a new sense of life and meaning. You could manipulate the film, put in the microwave, set it on fire, draw on it, squeeze it...it was a beautiful medium. I joined a Polaroid website called
Polanoid and met some of the most
inspiring artists I have ever known from all across the globe. The founders of Polanoid would later go on to save Polaroid from its digital demise via the
Impossible Project. Most of my favorite pictures ever taken were taken with my dear SX-70.
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| Encore! Taken with sx-70 |
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| the Square Shooter |
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| taken with Square Shooter |
4.) My
Polaroid Square Shooter is one of the most delightful, surprising cameras that I have ever owned. (Can you tell I have an affinity for Polaroid and instant gratification?) The peel-apart film is like opening a present. And if you're quick enough you can transfer images from the negative to a piece of paper or metal or whatever. Its that cool. Film for this camera is very expensive and hard to find. But I love the perfect little square images that it shoots out. The colors are almost always surreal, leaving very little for the photographer to have to do other than point (sometimes focus) and shoot. The borders are never quite perfect, which makes me love the camera and its film even more.
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| taken with Square Shooter in McMurray, Pennslyvania |
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| image transfer |
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| Fisheye Camera Fun |
5.)
Lomography Fisheye Camera. I bought this in 2005 while visiting my father out west at the
SF Moma. I bought it in the museum gift shop and immediately started taking pictures. In the museum. Which I'm sure might've been frowned upon. I was very much into surrealism,
Magritte and
Dali at the time and it seemed fitting that I bought that camera while strolling through hallways filled with their work. I didn't use this camera a lot but the prints I have from it are so unique.
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| some randoms from back when people still knew what film was |
