That First Camera

Perhaps not now we all have amazing cameras built into our phones that can take perfect shots and create perfect complexions, and bung a pair of bunny ears on just because why not, but for a generation older than say 25 a rite of passage was to get your first camera, complete with wasted films, missed shots and innumerable thumbs over the lens. And now its back as a whole new generation discovers this pleasure/pain experience, and the rest of us dust off the old gear after years of digital convenience, despite increasing shortages of film and never-ending price hikes to accompany them. 

For me that day came one summer morning in 1970 when, aged 8, my dad suggested the two of us go for a walk one Sunday morning with his camera and, being an excitable kid at the best of times, I went into overdrive when he said, oh, and you can have my camera. I've got a new one. I was always asking if I could take a picture but dad being a passionate photographer wasn't letting me anywhere near his camera. It might have been a humble box camera but it was a top of the range one, and for a working family like ours with very little spare cash it had been a considerable investment for him. So, duly instructed off we went, me clutching my new treasure with strict instructions to look after it, and dad with his own new treasure, keen to find some subjects to shoot in the Sussex countryside. 

Dad was a carpenter and had quite a creative eye. As well as being able to make furniture he had quite an eye for colour and form as well, so I started learning from a master. There's only 8 pictures on a roll, he said, so you have to slow down and think about what you're doing. In a time when an SD card can hold hundreds of pictures, its good advice. Perhaps we've forgotten to ask the question, why are you taking the picture? Are you going to look at it again? Are you going to have to spend ages on the damn thing in Lightroom or Photoshop to get it half way decent? Does it provoke anything emotional, or is it just a reference shot? They have a purpose but you probably won't look at it more than five times if that's all it is. So perhaps having just 8 shots on a roll is A Good Thing. 

I still have the camera. It still works nearly 70 years after it rolled off the production line. 620 film is long out of production but as 120 film is the same size its possible to get it rolled onto 620 spools which have either been recycled or 3D printed. Dad couldn't travel abroad because of a longstanding health condition, so over the decades I've taken that box camera all over the world along side my pro-level gear. Apart from having my  late dad with me, who actually passed away a few years after giving me the camera, having passed on his passion for visual arts, it also reminds me to slow down and think, why am I doing this. And in the next post I'll take a deeper look at this everyday gem, how it works and how you can pick one of these up for next to nothing to bring a new element to your photography.