Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/05/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Minimum wage these days isn't enough to even eat more than once a day on. It used to be closer to something one could live on but not now. Add to that the fact that I don't really want to wait 30 years to get my career going because I'll be 66 then. Minimum wage and persistence and all the optimism in the world can't buy a decent used film M body today because those on minimum wage spend the money before they earn it. It is the state of the economy today. There's also all the trappings of the working photographer. Either film or digital. If it's in any sort of media then it has to be digital so it can't be a Nikon D100 or something like that. It has to be more current for our would-be shooter to even get an interview and not get laughed out of the HR office. That is the way things are unfortunately. It's not as simple as just grabbing a NOS Leicaflex but 20 years ago that could have worked because film was still king. Even 15 years ago. I want to do journalism though. I want to do documentary stories. Sell my camera and that dream (and the education that goes with it) is probably gone. I wish there was some way that this could work out in my favor but as my options grow fewer the M9 is going to be converted into a few months' rent, some food and a plane ticket to New Mexico. I think the M9 Monochrom is a symptom. It is the itching black and white hair growing out of a painful pimple that will one day pop. Phil Forrest On Thu, 10 May 2012 20:09:33 -0700 (GMT-07:00) Doug Herr <wildlightphoto at earthlink.net> wrote: > Phil Forrest wrote: > > >I don't see how many folks in my generation will be able to > >invest in a Leica kit down the road. > > Phil, I purchased my first Leica (a new old stock Leicaflex SL with > one lens) when I was making minimum wage as a waiter in Alaska and > paying off college loans. It was certainly not my dream job of a > field biologist but it paid enough for that first Leica and to keep > my rusty VW running. 30-something years later I still can't buy > whatever I want but one way or another I get what I need to keep > making photos. Patience and persistence work better than anger. > > Doug Herr > Birdman of Sacramento > http://www.wildlightphoto.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information -- http://philipforrestphoto.wordpress.com/ http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/philforrest