Hidden in my father's closet for a good 30 years was a gold mine. About a
year ago when I went home to Long Beach, California to visit the folks, I started mining and it was like the
California Gold Rush a la 2007 in the form of a twin lens Rolleiflex camera. Who knew my dad was so cool? The
camera hails from Germany where he purchased it while he was studying there in the 1960's. Once unearthed,
it was evident that even though it had roughly 20 years on me (I was born in 1984), it was in pristine condition.
I brought it back to New York and so my love affair with medium format began.
I've never had formal training with medium format or a twin lens camera for that matter, but I guess that's always the fun part about a new relationship… the getting to know each other part. It also didn't help that the manual was in German and I don't sprechen deutsch. But once we started
speaking the same language: photography, the beauty of the world started tumbling onto my 6cm X 6cm film.There is something about four equal sides that is visually appealing to my eye and equally important, the art of using a manual camera is appealing to my soul. It's like a one-stop-therapy-shop.
What's my prescription?
Feel the Earth.
Squeeze the Five Senses into Four Sides.
Document. Document. Document.
While my love of photography goes beyond the square (I shoot both digital and film), I feel most organic and creative when reaching into the mechanics of old art in order to create new art.
Document a Trip
(än), a character used in 'safety' and 'quiet,' is the symbol for woman underneath
the symbol for roof.