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I have been turning the pages of an old book that I bought in Cologne, Germany, in 1982. Every once in a while I like to glance through it.
I am talking about a little volume with photographs by André Kertész, called "Americana", edited by Nicolas Ducrot and published in 1979 by Visual Books Inc., New York City.
I must confess that I am not necessarily a great admirer of Kertész, although I find some of his images absolutely outstanding.
It is such a case with this book, and also with the book "Of New York", for example.
Both show some extraordinary work, and both also display some images that look almost commonplace...
My humble opinion...
But doesn't that happens to all of us? Don't we all have our very special days?
Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Bretagne, France, February 1977
Without daring to compare myself with this exceptional photographer, I feel that many of my images are rather average, too much trivial, too much "bread and butter"...
To discard our own not-so-much-interesting images is not an easy task for sure, as they are a good part of our own memory, of our own heritage, our legacy for the future.
Having said that, life has shown me that the patina of time suddenly can turn a common photograph into one deserving better attention.
Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Bretagne, France, February 1977
Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Bretagne, France, February 1977
Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Mont-Saint-Michel, France, February 1977
Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Normandie, France, February 1977
These are images from my "Minolta Years", from my beginnings as a photographer.
Amateur photographer, that is...
Amateur in the true sense of the word: I ate and slept photography. I nourished my body and soul with it.
I was obsessed and passionate about it.
I was in love with it!
Leica M4-2, Strasbourg, France, April 1982
In the meantime, I had traded all my Minolta equipment for the Leica rangefinder system (except for the light-meters. I still use a Minolta Spotmeter).
As far as I can recall, I was by then only using Leica / Leitz cameras and lenses. It simply better suited my street-photography style, that I used to practice almost exclusively in those days.
I still miss my Minolta XM and the very fine Minolta Rokkor f1.8 35mm, though.
I should have kept them...
Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984
Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984
Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984
Leica M3, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984
Leica M3, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984
Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984
As far as I remember, I only went once in my life to Bremen. From these short visit, I don't have much memories left, but some photographs...
Hasselblad 500CM + Carl Zeiss 60mm Distagon C, TMY in D-76 1+1,
Lisboa, Portugal, August 1988
Hasselblad 500CM + Carl Zeiss 60mm Distagon C, TMY in D-76 1+1,
Lisboa, Portugal, August 1988
When I took these photographs in Lisbon, I also was already using medium format on a regular basis.
I found it to be a nice complement to my 35mm rangefinders.
There was still a lot to come, though...
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