As a visiting artist I enjoy presenting my work to unfamiliar audiences. I don’t try to “explain” my pictures, but instead I describe how they come about. I feel especially at home talking with youths; they are a valuable resource for me. I am touched by the bright eyes and light voices of little people with big curiosity.
Recently I paid a visit to a second-grade classroom. We looked at more than a hundred of my examples, and I claim a school-wide attention-span record. There were many enthusiastic questions, and in response I gave some “advice” to photographers. I showed this picture of my battery-dead Leica, explaining that I had continued working, differently, with the properly-charged phone taken from my pocket. Then I recited the time-worn answer to the old question, “What is the best camera? – It’s the one you have with you.”
A few days later, I received a generous packet of fresh and insightful letters of thanks. One girl’s comment stands out today as the truest answer to that question – my answer, for all those years, had been far off the mark.
Charlotte B. wrote to me: “I learned that the best camera is the one you hold.”
2010 | Marin County, California