The importance of documenting life

dennybeall · Jan 3, 2016

I don't avoid the camera, it's just usually not convenient to hand off the camera. Most fun is to hand camera to a waitress and have her point it at the group and I sneakily press the wireless trigger. Had one almost drop the camera when it fired........
My Dad was one that avoided the camera. I had a heck of a time getting his picture with his Pulitzer.

tinycomet · Jan 3, 2016

dennybeall said:
I don't avoid the camera, it's just usually not convenient to hand off the camera. Most fun is to hand camera to a waitress and have her point it at the group and I sneakily press the wireless trigger. Had one almost drop the camera when it fired........
My Dad was one that avoided the camera. I had a heck of a time getting his picture with his Pulitzer.

Holy hell... A Pulitzer?!... You'd think someone like that would wanna brag about that (including in pictures) to the ends of the earth!! What does/did he do?

I get what you're saying though. I've been lucky and recently met someone who takes my picture on a regular basis

dennybeall · Jan 4, 2016

Dad was a WWII Marine Photographer and before and after the war was a newspaper photographer in Washington DC. I grew up in the darkroom of the Washington Daily News. That's his work camera in my picture. Like many of the WWII guys he was shy about what he had done over the years. He was in the same outfit with the guy that took the IWO JIMA Flag raising and just by chance went to the other end of the island....He won the Pulitzer for Spot News in 1956 I think it was. Just a hard working blue collar city newspaper man.

HikinMike · Jan 4, 2016

Most of my pictures of me are selfies, like my current avatar. It's tough to be in front of the camera when I'm taking pictures of my family stuff. I do occasionally give my camera to my daughter(s) or wife and say "take a picture of me".

We just bought our oldest (17) a camera for Christmas (Canon T5i) and hopefully I'll get some pictures of me that way.

tinycomet · Jan 4, 2016

dennybeall said:
Dad was a WWII Marine Photographer and before and after the war was a newspaper photographer in Washington DC. I grew up in the darkroom of the Washington Daily News. That's his work camera in my picture. Like many of the WWII guys he was shy about what he had done over the years. He was in the same outfit with the guy that took the IWO JIMA Flag raising and just by chance went to the other end of the island....He won the Pulitzer for Spot News in 1956 I think it was. Just a hard working blue collar city newspaper man.

I mean that's super cool... To have a history and story like that. You wouldn't know that from meeting someone, and you'd never know it without some kind of recorded history for it. I really believe everyone deserves a sort of recorded history of their own. A picture would be worth so much in such a context. Do you have access to his photography? I've always wondered if my kids would learn to "see" me through the work I produced.

tinycomet · Jan 4, 2016

HikinMike said:
I do occasionally give my camera to my daughter(s) or wife and say "take a picture of me".

We just bought our oldest (17) a camera for Christmas (Canon T5i) and hopefully I'll get some pictures of me that way.

Good call. I think that'll become priceless with time. I'm still working on making it more of a habit myself (to hand off the camera I mean).

dennybeall · Jan 5, 2016

One technique that has worked for me over the years is to always carry the remote shutter release. I keep it on the strap along with a spare memory chip. You can take it off and hand the camera to someone or set it on a shelf, rock or table. You can see the remote on one side and the spare chip on the other.

gsgary · Jan 5, 2016

dennybeall said:
Dad was a WWII Marine Photographer and before and after the war was a newspaper photographer in Washington DC. I grew up in the darkroom of the Washington Daily News. That's his work camera in my picture. Like many of the WWII guys he was shy about what he had done over the years. He was in the same outfit with the guy that took the IWO JIMA Flag raising and just by chance went to the other end of the island....He won the Pulitzer for Spot News in 1956 I think it was. Just a hard working blue collar city newspaper man.

Is there anywhere i can see your fathers work ?

dennybeall · Jan 5, 2016

He was a working press photographer so what he shot was published by and owned by the paper. A few that won awards were given over to him. Here's the most famous:

gsgary · Jan 5, 2016

dennybeall said:
He was a working press photographer so what he shot was published by and owned by the paper. A few that won awards were given over to him. Here's the most famous:

View attachment 113940

I have seen that before

dennybeall · Jan 5, 2016

gsgary said:
dennybeall said:

He was a working press photographer so what he shot was published by and owned by the paper. A few that won awards were given over to him. Here's the most famous:

View attachment 113940

Click to expand...

I have seen that before

Yes, it was also a full page in LIFE Magazine and in some of their anthology books and mags since then. It was the logo of "Father Flanagan's Boys Town" for some years and there is a statue honoring police outside the courthouse in Jonesboro, GA.

tinycomet · Jan 5, 2016

what a shot...

jcdeboever · Jan 5, 2016

dennybeall said:
He was a working press photographer so what he shot was published by and owned by the paper. A few that won awards were given over to him. Here's the most famous:

View attachment 113940

That won a Pulitzer if I recall correctly.

I don't think I hide behind the camera, I just like taking pictures. I think at the end of the day, my kids don't want pictures of me, they want my money.

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