[Leica] The Next Generation at Work....

["James A. Gatlin" <jagatlin@attbi.com>]

Today I took a little shooting trip to the Fish Markets in the Los Angeles
harbor area. I didn't do much in terms of shooting, but I did stumble over
an interesting little story. A story that gives a little glimpse into the
future a tiny bit.

I spot this kid, about 12 or 13 years old with an old Polaroid fitted with a
strobe, (sorry, I don't know much about Polaroid models, but I could easily
tell it was an old one) and a HUGE Mexican sombrero. He was working the
crowds with a sales pitch, "Color portraits 5 dollars!" So I watch the kid
for awhile, and every now and then, a couple would take him up on his offer.
The kid spotted them, then stepped back, snapped the image, and in a couple
of minutes, he was sticking the finished print in a pre cut folding card he
pulled from his bag. The couple smiled, handed him 5 bucks and walked
away... the whole process took less than 5 minutes. What a deal huh?

I watched him do this a few times, (while shooting some shots myself of him
working), and I walked over and struck up a little conversation with him. I
asked him, "Is this just your job, or are you genuinely interested in
photography?" With a sparkle in his eye, he said he REALLY enjoyed
photography. He liked taking people's photos, and might want to be a
portrait photographer or maybe a photojournalist some day. When asked if the
Polaroid was his only camera, he said no, he had 4 or 5 other regular
cameras, and he liked working with them, but had to use the Polaroid here in
order to give his customers an instant print. I asked what kind of cameras
he had, and he said mostly Nikon, but he was saving his money up for a
Leica!

He said he shoots about a 100 portraits a day, each Saturday and Sunday.
Hmmmm, at 12 years old, this kid is shooting more film and subjects than
most working pros do on a work day. I wondered if I was seeing an Avedon in
the making. And I might add.... his stuff was pretty good... I paid for a
snap of myself! But I forgot to get him to autograph it however, just in
case.....

Jim G.

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