| The Joy of Photography |
Tony Cifani, 2009. Digital photograph by Sam Cifani.
The greatest joy in photography is the process itself, to explore the natural and physical world and the beauty of light. Some of the most interesting subject matter in photography may be found just beyond the front door, a well tread path in woods or maybe the city streets near a frequented train stop.
I enjoy wandering. Getting lost. Tinkering with lenses and film. Waiting for that very brief moment of low light between day and night that seems to make almost anything look amazing. Photography allows me to act almost spontaneously, free to explore.
The bug hit me when I was about six years old. My Dad had an old Kodak Hawkeye folding camera (circa 1940) that took 620 format roll film. He inherited it from his Dad. Somehow we were able to find a few rolls of this ancient film at the local drug store (back when drug stores were the place to go for all things photographic). The controls on the camera were simple, it was a camera for hobbyists. We got the film processed and printed. The prints were dark and faint, but had a strange and eerie quality to them.
If I still had that old Hawkeye camera, I would probably be using it today. Unfortunately, It fell apart from age and misuse by a young kid who thought the best place to store something like that was at the bottom of the toy chest.
Enjoy!
Tony Cifani
tonycifani@yahoo.com
Photographing to Remember, a personal essay about photography.
One of my favorite places to visit is New Orleans, where my grandfather lived most of his life. My family used to travel every year from Chicago by train on the old Illinois Central Line, "City of New Orleans"....
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