chapter 376
3/8/2015
Reflections
self portrait 29 to 69
My photo club had a theme of "reflections" for us to create images. Most creations will be of reflected light from trees and birds on water, as are most of mine, but I liked best this reflection of time in the mirror.
At 29 I was proud to have purchased the world's first automatic exposure 35mm camera, the Konica T. With the purchase of the world's first consumer zoom lens, the Vivitar Series-1 70-210mm, there was an itching desire to photograph something but a lack of model subjects available. So wanting to capture the image of this great new technology, the bathroom mirror was the convenient photo shoot location. A shallow depth of field compared with my wide angle 4.5mm focal length (20mm equivalency) lens on my point and shoot.
You can call it narcissism but, hey, I even shot the toilet seat cover (pop-up). My wife picked it out to my pleasant surprise. She had more taste in decoration than I, being a mere boob when it came to decor.
Through the looking glass. What do we see in the mirror? Nowadays, I look but I don't see. I don't focus. I don't want to face it. In my mind, I'm still the young twenty something, yet, I know the ugly reality. Tried to mentally relax my face muscles, but the age lines just wouldn't melt.
Comes to mind that bumper sticker, "Inside this broken down old man resides a young man wondering what the Hell happened." Oh sure, I'm still vibrant (in my mind) but that's the point. Are we what we think we are or are we more likely to be what is captured on film. You can look at the photo and say oh, that doesn't look like me. But that's exactly who you are.
The modern Canon point and shoot camera, by the way, is a thousand times better than the bulky SLR of the old days. That's blasphemy to my photo club brothers but true for me. If you compare the initial cost of equipment and film processing, inflation adjusted, along with the huge disparity between the number and overall quality of photos shot then versus now you will reach the same conclusion. Not to mention the sheer convenience of having a camera readily available for a variety of circumstances.
So, I went back to that same July 1974 box of slides to see what other time capsules were there that would reflect the moment and the times.
Turns out I had gone to the Watkins Glen Can Am and Formula 5000 races on the 14th with bro Bill and buddy Pete. Our government leaders still had us fighting for American freedom in the foreign Vietnam war where we didn't belong and a sense of rebellion and anti-establishment was still in the air. Our President was to resign in shame the next month. Thank God our leaders today have learned to not meddle so much in domestic or foreign affairs. The crowds on the back stretch "Bog" were rowdy. You had to be a little careful where you parked your car.
It was an awfully hot day and the crowd was doing whatever they could to stay cool. Nakedness was kind of the in thing. Kathy and I had recently seen the musical play "Hair" with it's au naturale cast members. Woodstock was just a few years back. Streaking was also popular. So, finding this asspect of spectator involvement was not completely shocking. Perhaps the beer had something to do with it as well.
It was a time of technical innovation. Rear engine cars were coming on line. Japanese motorcycles were just beginning to really sweep across the nation. Tricking out your van for multiple uses was the in thing. These guys (there's one under the green tent and the black tent zonked out) were part bohemian, part American Indian, part civil engineers. Guy above appears to be fiddling with his iPhone concept. Must say it was ingenious, if not burned out from the six hour races the day before.
Did I mention we went to see the races. Got in the garages before the races and snapped this guy who googling from the photo clues turns out to be driver Brett Lunger and his Formula 5000 Eagle racing for Dan Gurney. I know, nobody cares. But two years later, he was the Formula One driver who pulled Niki Lauda out of his burning Ferrari in Germany as seen in Ron Howard's terrific movie "Rush". Brett was a Vietnam Marine veteran and was a recent Delaware Angel Flight pilot of the year.
David Hobbs in the #10 Formula 5000 open wheel Lola Chevy is the race announcer for Formula One these days. Mario Andretti won the race in a similar car. Have pics of the closed wheel Can Am cars and the Formula V racers (not to bore).
Believe we skipped the July 13th Watkins Glen 6 Hour Sports Car Race
.