A love affair never to be forgotten

          that started here.......

My name is John. The year is 1952. One day I am with my father at his auto mechanic business. In walks one of my father's friends, who has a leather case hanging from his shoulder. I am just 12 years old and inquisitive. I asked him, "what's in your case?"

Without saying a word, he opened the case, which revealed a camera. That camera, or one like it, is on the right. The picture to the left is me at age 15.

I was a clerk at The Birmingham Mail, in Birmingham, England.  Why? I saw a job at a newspaper as a way to get into photography.  Now I'm getting ahead of myself.  When I set eyes on the old camera, my eyes lit up. I wanted it-on the spot!  Of course, I never did own that camera. But the experience lit a fire within me that has burned for 50 years. And the flame is still alight today. I knew instantly that I wanted to be a photographer when I left school.  I remember sitting in front of the school counselor, who came to interview each student who would be leaving school that year.  "John, what do you want to do when  you leave school," she said.  "I want to be a photographer," I replied.  "John, I don't think your education is good enough to be a photographer."  The rest of her words were a blur. I knew that I wanted to be a photographer, and nothing was going to stop me. I left school. I enrolled in night courses, and I began to learn about photography.  I applied for a transfer to the photo department at the newspaper, but I was turned down. Undaunted I enrolled in full time photography courses. About two years later I looked for a job in photography.  It didn't take me long to find one, and that's when photography REALLY got my interest.  I was a young assistant to a commercial photographer. I watched him. I listened to him bellowing at me when I didn't do things as he had requested. But the learning process had begun.  I moved on and found a job in an advertising agency. I was THE photographer. I learned more!

I then saw an advertisement for a photographer at the Dunlop Rubber Company in Erdington, Birmingham.  I applied and was hired.  I remember that the boss gave me a huge wooden box. Inside was a 4X5 MPP technical camera, 12 dark slides,  multiple flashguns with slave adapter, and a dark cloth. It weighed a ton! And the boss sent me out on assignments. Boy did I learn in a hurry. I remember burned fingers when a pf60 flashbulb would fire while I was inserting it into the flash gun. Oh that hurt! But over the next 5 years or so I learned a lot about industrial photography. It was wonderful grounding.  I even earned myself an A.I.B.P. (Associate of the Institute of British Photographers. )

I was a photographer!  I have always remembered the school counselor who told me my education wasn't good enough.  During these years my father helped me to set up a darkroom in the attic of our home, and I began doing wedding photography with a twin lens reflex from Japan: a Yashicamat. I burned the midnight oil producing black and white wedding photographs, but I earned some extra money.  I bought a Mamiya, but could only dream of owning a Rollei.  Then one day I decided I wanted to open my own studio. Again my Dad was there with elbow grease and money. I did portraits, weddings, some industrial photography at a local motor works, and PR photographs.  But still the Rollei remained out of reach.  To make a long story shorter, I moved to Canada and was a photographer for Life Magazine. I again opened my own business, and for the first time I was able to own a high quality SLR, the mighty Hasselblad 500c.  And here I am, 50 years after the love affair began, with a Rollei collection. At last I got to own not one, but 62 Rollei's!  I sometimes wonder if that was the achievement of a dream or madness. But, to be honest, my love for photography is still alive. And my love for cameras is almost as fresh as it was when the love affair began.  I've loved every minute of it!

March 15, 2009. John the senior citizen complete with a Rolleiflex T. At last I made it!

  1952, The camera that ignited the Love Affair, a Zeiss Ikon folding camera.