The Camera

Europe. 1955.

A  world that

to me

was new.

It assailed my senses.

I responded.

In sketches,

in photographs,

in words.

Now, in 2022,

they are all still

there

immortalized

on my computer.

---

1949 was a box camera.

Amazing what it could do!

1956 was a 35 mm. Leica.

With a light meter

and rangefinder.

Color now also played a part.

The iPhone of today,

of 2022,

needs no such

aids or crutches.

One simply aims

and clicks.

Little is required

in the way of decisions.

---

A drawing?

Well that’s another matter.

Words too

are there to be rewritten

as one sees fit.

---

A photograph perhaps

is an entity by itself.

Depends much less

on us.

Although it does reflect

our inner nature.

---

It has a past

that leads up to the moment.

It intimates a future.

A photograph is that moment

when you stop to catch your breath

and capture an action

or a scene

in the continuity

of daily life.

---

Once with a photograph

time had you in its grasp.

 Both before

and after.

Sent to be developed,

days and weeks went by

before the prints returned

and you could see

if you had guessed right

in light and timing.

---

Only then did you know

if you had captured

that decisive moment,

that split second in a day

which said all

you wanted it to say.