Today I was out shooting my 1940’s Leica iii when a fellow walking in the opposite direction, suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Oh wow that’s a really old film camera isn’t it?" he asked. We carried on a conversation for about 15 minutes and I learned his name is Lee. He isn’t a photographer but was utterly fascinated with the camera and we had a wonderful conversation. Lee finally asked if he could take a photo of me and my camera using his phone. I said "Sure, but then how about I take a picture of you?". He responded "Oh that would be cool, a picture of me on a film camera!"

I shoot film for many reasons but a wonderful side effect of shooting old vintage cameras is that they are people magnets. Strangers will come up and initiate conversation with me. I’ve had the most amazing conversations with complete strangers and then I can always turn that into a street portrait. It makes me smile every time this happens.

Lee kept his mask on for the shot but you can still see the wonderful smile in his eyes.

Leica iiiF with Leica Summicron 50mm f2
Fort Langley British Columbia Canada