January 26th, 2010
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KColombu
Recently, I was leant a set of pocket wizards (3x receivers and a transmitter) from a friend who no longer had a use for them since having lost his trigger finger in a terrible sniper accident. Ok, the sniper part is bull; but he hadn’t been using them and thought I could really benefit from them. The other day I decided that I would start practicing with them; coupled with a SB800, 2x SB26 and enough batteries to send Marty back to the Future I started snapping off some self portraits. Overall the experience was enlightening (pardon the pun) in regarding light placement, intensity and diffusion but more than anything else I learned that I had alot to learn.
December 19th, 2009
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KColombu
During my trip back home my aunt Joelle gave me a fantastic gift, my late uncle Peter’s TLR; a Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 851/16 that dates back to 1936 – 1939. This medium format camera is an amazing piece of photographic hardware. This hearty antiquity is equipped with a Tessar 1-3.5 75mm lens, runs on 120mm film, equipped with a top view finder and sports a lever focus indicative of a pre ‘37 fabrication. This was my first experience with a TLR (twins lens reflex). I scanned over the body and all its knobs and buttons I couldn’t help but be surprised at how complex this 70 year old camera seemed. I started to imagine the lives it had had, and all the different hands it must have passed through to make it to mine. As a movie caliber flashback montage scrolled through my mind I was left with a memory of Peter teaching me to develop film in the darkroom in his home in Montreal. As I look back I realise that my time with him was my initiation into serious photography. Now I have the honour of restoring his old camera.
December 2nd, 2009
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KColombu
As we cut through manhattan into Tribeca in search of a lunchtime tapas retreat, I turned the corner on to Church st. to find an on going photo shoot. I impatiently waited for the little illuminated man to tell me I could cross when Jess insisted we stay and snap some shots. I studied the beautiful girl in stripes not understanding why Jess was making a fuss when it dawned on me the star was behind the camera. Scott Schuman, The Sartorialist, though small in stature was directing his famed impromptu street shoot with decisiveness and authority to get the perfect shot. Jess and I waited patiently for his Canon 5D’s shutter to come to a stop, so we could exchange a couple words. He warmly greeted us on a cold sidewalk and we dove right into a conversation about travel, photo and blogging. The hunter graciously accepted to be the prey as I fixed him in my sights. We bode each other farewell and he strolled off up Church street heading to a book signing in Sydney, Australia.
November 26th, 2009
Three days ago, after 27 hours and 10 time zones, I landed at JFK with two goals for my stay. Firstly to reconnect with family and friends which has so far has fantastic and secondly to rediscover NYC. While pioneering through the city I’ve discovered all walks of life but one individual has stood out among the rest. As I strolled up Broadway just south of Union Square on a brisk Sunday evening I ran into a true New York Legend. This month marks the 50 anniversary for Mr. Luis Mendes and his Roloflex.
He started off photographing patrons in a nightclub with the camera and running into the makeshift dark room to quickly develop the photos for the price of 2 dollars a shot. On his first night he was able to earn back the cost of the camera $150 at the time 3 weeks wages. This day set forth a career in street photography here in New York but also through out the continental U.S.A. wherever Roloflex took him.
As I stood in the biting cold, warmed by Luis’ invigorating tales of photography through out the last 5 decades. I learned of his annual moves down to New Orleans for a particular college football game, and world renowned jazz festival and shooting every December night at Rockerfeller earning $1500 at $20 a shot. I couldn’t resist having Luis fix me in his Roloflex’s sites as a token of our encounter and in turn asked if I could reciprocate to which he happily agreed, even giving me a couple pointers along the way. My chance encounter was the perfect New York home coming.
