Vintage

Say hello to the all new Shur Shot camera from Agfa Ansco. Now you can be sure every photo captures your life perfectly . . . just like the pros. I'm sure something like that was said back in 1935 when this camera made it's debut to the public. Technology was marching on and everything was new and exciting.  This camera was sitting in my basement collecting dust just as it was in the antique store where I found it several years ago. I can't help but see the similarity between this instrument of documentation and today's events. When this camera came out it was the peak of image capture technology. It was also in the midst of the Great Depression. Much like today, we are in a very depressed economy, and yet we're surrounded by the best and the newest in technological advancement. This camera captured an era of uncertainty and although I'll never know what photos it actually captured, the things it actually saw, the evidence of it's many years are scratched and worn throughout it's entire body. 

Personally, I'm glad to see 2010 go. It's been a rough year and I'm heading into what looks like another tough, tough year. But, nothing's for sure, especially when it seems it is. And regardless of the things I've seen and don't share, my face is showing the wear and tear every morning when I look in the mirror. A happy new year only means new lines on my visage, and more white hairs on my balding head. This camera's been forgotten . . . frankly because it's crap! It takes terrible pictures from today's standards and even against the standards of its day. But everyone looked forward to its arrival. Do I look forward to 2011's arrival. Not really. Just another day. No big plans. No big celebration. Regardless of the shortcomings of this camera, it had to be made. If it hadn't, Kodak wouldn't have had the competition necessary to push it's R&D. Nikon and that other brand wouldn't have been started. Everyone who wanted to take a photo would still be lugging around those view camera monstrosities. In short, we wouldn't have the awesome consumer digital cameras we use today. Yesterday's awesome is today's garbage, but that garbage got us to today's awesome . . . which will be tomorrow's garbage. So on and so forth. Time marches on. It seems trite and useless to celebrate one day out of the year as the beginning when time is so endlessly cyclical. I like to look at it like this . . . Every day is a new year. Every day can be said "one year ago, today." This means that every day is a clean slate and a new opportunity to make yesterday's regrets the learning experience we need to gain tomorrows garbage. As long as we see our garbage as a stepping stone and move on, we can always look back on it as vintage.  

Thanks Agfa Ansco for your vintage I was able to shoot with my awesome.