Subject: Ben. Our in-house teenager. Camera: Hasselblad 501 C/M. Lens: 80mm Zeiss Planar. Film: Kodak Tri-X, ISO 400. Light: Indirect daylight coming in through a set of double glass doors. Tripod? Yes.
I'm one of those people whose parents had very little interest in photography. They started, with due diligence, on a baby book but you could see that the late 1950's was a bit overwhelming and production quickly fell off. My collection of my own visual history contains a flurry of blurry baby shots, a mix of yearly professional portraits of me with my siblings, some "cute kid in cowboy hat with six shooters" photos as little, grainy 3 by 3 inch, deckled edged prints, a few shots from high school and random other stuff.
By contrast, Ben has been photographed at nearly every step of the way. Swim meets, track meets, band concerts, Halloween costumes, first day of school, last day of school, linear yards of prints albums, lots and lots of workboxes full of all manner of negatives and chromes. Disk after disk of digital images and so much more. He's used to it. Blase' about the process and probably, as a result of his total immersion in photography (as a subject) he has absolutely no interest in taking up a camera and learning the craft.
I promise not to show future girlfriends embarrassing shots from an earlier age. I know being followed around by a parent with a camera can be..........annoying but.....It's more fun for me to try new techniques on Ben than on the dog. And he doesn't move as fast as the dog.
I can identify with you on this, there is a huge gap in my life with no pictures. IN 2002 when i got my first Canon digital 4mpix P&S for a whopping $800+taxes I started making up for it. Still have that camera, still works, still some of my favorites taken with it. A day has not passed since that I am not with camera. Will say reading here has also given e 'food for thought' - thnx
ReplyDeleteI love the last few images you have posted, and all of them for that matter! You always have the eyes as sharp as a tack!
ReplyDeleteMy dog literally hides in the closet when the camera comes out of the bag :-)
ReplyDeleteThough it seems it has more to do with noise and light flashes than just a camera. But he's learned and there are no pictures of him even for the family archive since he's impossible to catch on camera.
wait till he sends the bill!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteam just loving your 'simple' photographs. may your V500 affair be a long one. :-)
My father took a fair amount of photos, and when we were teenagers he gathered all the extras up (including some from their childhood) and had my brother and me divide them as best we could, no fighting. He bought albums, we arranged them how we wanted, and today it's still just a real joy to look at. Later all of his vast collection was lost, slides, negatives, but we still have ours.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter sounds a bit like Ben, around the same age too, except that she really doesn't like photos of herself at this 14 year old stage of life. Still, I take them here and there since I know time will change things.
My father, long retired, is still working his way through something like 5000 slides he is scanning. He is up to 1977 at this point, I think.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with him always taking pictures (Exakta, Miranda, Topcon, Olympus and now - gads - Canon) and it has also become part of my life. I have over 5000 rolls of film (35mm and MF) that I want to scan in as well, dating back to the 1960s.
My daughters hate having their pictures taken and have actively rebelled against it, as has my wife. It's their only character faults, so I can live with that. But I do miss a willing victim...
Love the 3D effect in this shot around the face and the way that cable virtually jumps off the table. Can't get that with small sensors!
ReplyDeleteBen should get more credit for teaching you portraiture and lighting techniques :o)
ReplyDeleteMy son and daughter thought the camera was part of my face. My wife preferred the Leica because i was quicker and seldom carried a photo-bag. It meant I had hands annd arms to help carry..The bot never minded the camera. My daughter did once she reached 15..The news now she pursues her kid with the phone-camera,the Canon point and shoot and the frame per second DSLR.Strange she hated using my Nikons. She loves hers.The dog loved posing! jason gold
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