My mom kick-started my photographic journey
I started photographing at 17 when I bought my first camera. It was a used Olympus OM2 bought in a local camera shop.
My mom especially always photographed when we travelled around the world. My father was a Captain and we crossed the world together several times those years from when I was 1 year old and into school age too.
They had an Olympus PEN-F which is a 35mm half-frame camera. This meant that it gave you 72 pictures on a normal 36-frame film roll, cutting the pictures in half and allowing a more economical shooting experience. Of course, the trade-off was smaller pictures for the diapositive film used at that time costing a bit on the quality when blown up on the screen. Pictures were part of life without being a big deal. It was just there and a camera was always present loaded with film.
This experience I had when travelling with my parents on the ocean and from one continent to another, always taking photos, stayed with me.
The inspiration surely came from these experiences when capturing memories from exotic places or everyday life. The diapositives are stored and I have to scan them in some days to preserve them better.
My dedication to owning a camera and using it started when I was paid my first salary. The first thing I did was buy the Olympus OM2 and I started taking ordinary photos. This later expanded and became my profession. I have now made my living filming for and photographing for nearly 35 years.
The M9 is used for street photography and portraits.
The cameras and lenses I use today vary depending on the job. I vary between Sony Alpha on my day job (company equipment also used for video), and Leica M9 or Fuji X100V for the street in my spare time. I also blend the Sony camera with the Leica lens and get something from both worlds.
The most important part of taking photos is taking photos. As simple as that. Grab your camera and get used to it so you effortlessly can carry it around and do your thing.
In the next newsletter, I will dig into the imperfect images and why an expensive camera isn’t necessarily the best for the job. Depending on the job.
Using the Sony Alpha ArIV and V for video and still photos.
