Timeline…
Where it all began!
Ok, so, even though I blame Nicéphore Niépce for my IKPS and my total interest
in photography, I suppose some of the blame should rest squarely on the
shoulders of my grand-father Ron Doo. Sometime back in the mists of time (mid
60’s), he gave me, around my 8th birthday, his Kodak Box Brownie
Six-Twenty, and a roll of black and white film. Then, once he’d shown me how to
load the film, off we went for a walk round our local park. A short explanation
of what did what on the camera and I was ready. This would be my first
introduction to the world of photography.
The walk
round the park didn’t last long, as I snapped away quite happily at anything in
front of me. A tree, a man walking a dog, a woman with a pram, the bandstand, and
basically anything else which just happened to catch my eye at the time. The 20
exposure roll was quickly used up and we made our way back home.
Once
home, and a quick snack for lunch rapidly demolished, it was time to nip down
into the cellar and into my grand-fathers home-made dark room to see what I had
achieved. They were probably rubbish, and would mean nothing to anyone now, but
back then, I probably thought they were fantastic. This, then, led to my
grand-father turning to bribery, with him offering me extra pocket money in
exchange for me doing certain jobs, such as fetching the evening newspaper,
taking the empty pop bottles back to the corner shop for the 2d return, and
quite possibly other jobs, too numerous to mention. Thinking back, it probably
never occurred to me, that the 9 or 10d I managed to collect from these chores
was nowhere near enough to buy the film that appeared every Sunday morning for
me to use in my trusty Box Brownie, but it was something which I eagerly
awaited each week.
Every
Sunday, the new film was quickly unpacked and loaded into the camera, and off I
would go. Sometimes to the park, sometimes just round our block, sometimes just
into the back garden. The 20 pictures would be snapped, and then, once lunch
was finished, off we would venture into the dark room. It all started off as a
big adventure, but techniques were learned, albeit very basic to start with,
and hints were passed on from my grand-father, who had learned from his dad at,
probably, a young age similar to me at the time. From these hints, came a
couple of rules that I would remember, always. He always told me, give it a
purpose, give it direction and always see the background. He also said, see the
picture in your mind before you hit the shutter, that way, it’ll be what you
want and not what the camera wants. This still works today, regardless of what
camera you use.
I
enjoyed the Box Brownie. It was extremely basic, and made you think about what
the end result would be, but it was a great little machine to learn from
scratch with. I still have it. It still works, although getting film isn’t as
easy as it used to be. It’ll never get sold, even though its worth in money is
small, its worth to me is priceless.
Mart.
