Although I had a vague interest in the ‘art’ of photography during my younger years it wasn’t until digital cameras became mainstream, and thus more affordable to experiment with, minus the cost of film and processing, that I began to take things a bit more seriously. In 2004 I became the proud owner of a Canon Powershot A75 which packed a mean 3.2 megapixels under the hood and featured a whopping 2 inch screen. Could life get any better? Apparently, yes. These days I mostly use my Canon 500D with any one of the five lenses I own.
“It Started With a Camera” makes reference to my vintage camera collection which began in the small historic Victorian town of Rutherglen with the purchase of a $10 Kodak Six-20 Model E Box Brownie (1947-1953) back in 2008. From there, vintage cameras seemed to find their way home with me until the display began to groan under the weight of them all and I put the brakes on my collecting addiction. That is unless I see one that I really, really, really have-to-have. This is the curse of the collector.
In 2018 my love affair with Kodachrome slides began and quickly became an obsession. After all, they were much smaller than cameras and didn’t take up shelf space. The pivotal moment was when I stumbled upon a Kodaslide Projector Model 1A (1947-1951) on eBay and bought it on a whim. Surprisingly it still worked…the acrid smell of burnt dust filling the air as I powered it up. From there things snowballed…read my Addicted to Rescuing Kodachrome Slides post for more on this.