[Leica] RETROSPECT 1

[Bill Clough]

USA
TEXAS
VICTORIA
26 February 2020

Hi there –

In 1960, I started a 60-year career in journalism. I joining the staff of
the Amarillo Citizen, earning $25 a week and thought I was rich. I started
with a Polaroid camera but soon realized the advantage of 35mm. So, I
brought a Nicca camera at Sears.

No one was prouder than me when I walked into the office with that camera
around my neck. The publisher, who stood four-foot-seven in riser wheels,
made up for it by wearing eyeglasses with thick, Italian frames. They must
have bothered him because every time he had something important to say, he
would. remove the glasses and rub his nose with his fingers.

"Now Clough," he said, "everyone knows you can;'rt take a good newspaper
photo except with a 2-1/4 camera>"

I was crushed. At the local camera store I met the chief photographer of
the daily newspaper. (Later, I would work for him).

"I don't know why he told you that,:" he said. "LIFE Magazine has been
using them for 30 years."

For the next year, I still used the camera., I just cropped all the photos
square.

This is the first assignment. A lady had just brought what seemed to her a
new breed to Amarillo, a Basenji dog. She took her dog outside. I told her
I would be there is just a second, but first, I had to figure out how to
load the camera.

This is the start ion a 60-year retrospective. I hope to post one picture a
day – my favorite from 100,000 negatives. Don't despair, they number a
little more than 100 negatives.

Iy always is the tragedy of photographing;phy: his prints sometimes survive
but the negatives are dumped in a landfill. The ensuing collection is my
meagre attempt to establish some kind of memory of six decades behind a
keyboard, a microphone and a viewfinder.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Bill1941/RETROSPECT/basenjidog-00000-1.jpg.html

Gallery:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Bill1941/

Bill