[Leica] Bikes and Leicas

[Alex Brattell <alex@zetetic.co.uk>]

>From: Walter S Delesandri wrote;
>
>Now I have a Giant touring bike (don't ask, it just came my way) and an old 
>Cinelli road racer (fun)...and have carried cameras on both.
>
>Any other fools out there?
>Walt

Bikes and Leicas go together like egg and chips!
I've got a fairly theft proof cheap old Raleigh for city use - i.e I hope
no-one would want to steal it (looks like shit, good tyres, brakes and
gears, a big D lock). My Leicas will probably one day have the same quality
about them. 

As everyday transport, carrying a minimum of M6, one lens, puncture kit,
small pump, lights and notebook I am highly mobile, part of what's going on
around me and free to stop and take pictures at any time or follow my nose
in the back streets and parks looking always for the weird, the
idiosyncratic, the beautiful, the unexpected. I nose around, talk to people,
feel at home. I love the potential of any journey to turn into an adventure
of image hunting (it often does - I'm often late!).  A major element of my
non-commissioned photography is to work hard at maintaining a view of the
world as a miraculous and stimulating place, keep that jaded feeling of the
Normal at bay. It makes me feel more involved with my surroundings, rather
than on the outside looking in as can happen with cars and long lenses in a
world seen distantly, through glass. How this would change if I lived in a
car-dependant city such as L.A would be interesting. Maybe I'd have to walk,
like our ancestors did!

Camera, notebook and bicycle are essential equipment in the search for the
Miraculous!



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                         alex@zetetic.co.uk
    http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~abrattell/

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