The Best Of Times...

Mike Johnston writes:
"I have a secret belief that everybody's best stereo is the first good one they buy, and everybody's favorite camera is the one they used the most when they were the youngest."

I agree. I have noticed that film makers tend to make films about the things they loved when they were teenagers. The things they experienced and the TV shows they loved...

I think what we really hanker for is mental and spiritual expansion, and the times when these happened to us the most. What I really loved was the freedom and the rampant creativity of the summer of 1977 when I'd gotten my first serious camera, more than the camera itself (a Konica TC).

We love what things represent, also. We love the feel and smell of a book because of the stories we have read in books in the past, not because paper smells lovely. We love our hot sports car because it represents our virility and superiority over lesser men. Me, I love a "beautiful" camera, because it represents the thrill of making a good picture and the praise and prizes I've gotten in the past, and also the pictures I imagine and hope to make in the future.