“For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant, which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously.”
~Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers
I got my first camera in June 1959, when I turned five years old. It was a Kodak Brownie, small and square-shaped, perfect for little hands. For me it was love at first sight, and I remember carrying that camera everywhere, using its woven strap like the handle of a purse.
That summer my family drove from Minnesota to Yellowstone National Park, my first chance to take pictures beyond the realm of my five-year-old world. Those were the days of film cameras, when every picture mattered. If it was an important people shot, you could take a second “insurance photo” in case someone’s eyes were closed. But developing film was expensive, and great thought went into the decisions of when to click the shutter.
My Kodak Brownie remained a constant companion until sometime in the mid-1960s, when I moved on to Kodak’s shiny new Instamatic 104. Instead of a film roll, the rectangular-shaped Instamatic 104 had a cartridge that you would drop into place after opening the camera’s back door. There was a marvelous four-sided flash cube that attached to the top of the camera and rotated when the shutter was pressed. And like the square-shaped flash cube, pictures were printed in 3 1/2-inch squares.
I must have documented my entire teenage life with that camera. No matter what was happening, my Instamatic 104 was always there, ready to capture the moment in living color. When a cartridge was full, I’d drop it off at the drug store, barely able to contain my anticipation as I waited several days to “get my pictures back,” a popular phrase of the times.
My world of photography took a more serious turn in the fall of 1974. Shortly before I left for a college study abroad semester in London, my father offered to lend me his 35mm film camera. I was thrilled with the idea, and although I didn’t have a clue how to use the camera’s manual settings, I was filled with the unbridled confidence of a 20-year-old and was certain I would somehow figure it out.
When the pictures from my first roll of film came back in all their 35mm splendor, I knew I could never return to my Instamatic days.
After college, I saved enough money to buy a Nikon 35mm Nikkormat film camera from a family friend. It was a glorious camera that felt great to hold and took wonderful photos. I think I was as enchanted as my five-year-old self had been with her Kodak Brownie. The Nikkormat took me well into adulthood, documenting our family’s milestones and travels the way the Instamatic 104 had recorded my earlier years.
And then came the digital age, swooping in and disrupting everything I’d ever known about photography. Photos were now part of a category called images, and you could take as many as you liked without worrying about film and developing costs. How would I store and keep track of all these images? And how would reprints work without having negatives?
It turned out to be a wonderful disruption, of course, but it took a while for me to navigate the new world of taking pictures. I’m now happily ensconced with my DSLR camera – a Nikon D5500 – and Nikkor 18-300 zoom lens, a perfect “walkabout” for travel that offers quick access to most distances except extremely wide angles.
I love my Nikon D5500 as much as I loved the cameras that came before it.
My joy, however, is a little less exuberant than when my digital camera was the only thing that mattered. Now there’s another photo-taking device vying for my attention.
The iPhone’s camera feature has been part of my life since I first upgraded from a flip phone in 2010. It has always taken pretty good pictures, but over the years, the technology has exploded in quality. In fact, it often can be difficult to tell the difference between photos taken with an iPhone and a DSLR camera.
I enjoy using my iPhone to capture quick moments with family and friends. It comes along with me on trips, taking the place of my Nikon for indoor shots when the light is low or flash is not allowed. It’s great for food photos, too, when I can discretely slip it out of my purse without drawing attention to myself in the process. And what a modern miracle of technology it is that I can capture an image and instantly send it to a friend all on the same small device!
But I’m not in love with my my iPhone. It’s a camera, yes, but it’s not really a camera in the true definition of photography. You can’t hold in in your hands in the same way. You can’t focus or decide on framing a shot in the same way. For me, as strange as it may sound, it doesn’t have the soul of a camera.
I now find myself in a rather large minority of people who still travel with their cameras. Travelers I meet seem to be happy using their phones or even iPads for travel photography. “I’m so glad I don’t have to lug that thing around anymore,” a woman once said to me, pointing to my camera. “I used to have one of those,” another person once told me, “but no more!”
When I do run into another camera-toting traveler, we often acknowledge each other, sometimes striking up a conversation about what type of cameras we have, which lenses we prefer. It’s as if we’re part of a once thriving club that is slowly losing members. There’s a silent understanding that what we have with our cameras is special, perhaps even a future lost art.
And so I will carry on loving my camera. Celebrating the memories and moments we’ve documented together. Looking back in awe at the places we’ve traveled together. And through it all, remembering how our story began, with a young girl and her Kodak Brownie.
Amen, the speed that photography has grown is mind boggling
Thanks, Rebecca! Keeping up with change is a continual challenge. My D5500 camera was discontinued a few years ago, and I’m so hoping that mine will be going strong for many years to come!
Thank you for the photography blog. I’m in terminal 1 at Lindbergh Field for the first time waiting for my flight to AZ. I’m visiting my sister in Green Valley south of Tucson. I remember driving through the Fox photo to drop off my 110 cartridge.📷
Nancy, those cartridges were quite revolutionary at the time…as were photo drive-throughs. I think the 110 may have come out after the 104, but they were essentially the same camera. Have a great trip to Tucson! We were at the new terminal 1 a few months ago picking up our daughter’s family. What a gorgeous and much-needed remodel!
Your piece made me think of my father who never had an iPhone but would buy 20 rolls of 36 shots for his 35mn camera in preparation for his vacations in Europe with my mother. I’m sure that cost plus the developing on their return rivaled the cost of the plane ticket.
David, I remember those rolls of 36! Bright yellow labels, little plastic cases to store them in, and the most economical choice if you were planning to take a lot of photos. I loved your comparison to the cost of your parents’ plane tickets!😂 It really was a time when every picture you took counted, and you didn’t want to waste a shot.
At home/work I take the majority of my photos on my iPhone. When I travel I take the majority of my photos on my Canon(s).
In Tasmania a few years back I took a photo of a couple near Cradle Mountain with their camera and was stunned to realise it was film! I hope the shot I took worked!
Using the iPhone at home and your camera when traveling is a great balance, I think. Really, the best of both worlds! My husband and I often swap photo-taking opportunities with people at various travel spots, but I’ve never encountered anyone with a film camera. We’re so accustomed to checking how the picture looks on a phone or DSLR window that I would worry, too, whether the shot turned out!
A wonderful post, Mary, capturing so many memories for me too. My father was a keen photographer, developing his own photos in a home made “darkroom”, there in our pantry. After my Brownie experience, I too went Instamatic, but then inherited his 35mm camera when I went to college. As you say, these film cameras were special and the huge number of negatives and wallets of hastily taken pictures of family holidays we have at home (not to mention the boxes of slides!) really deserve a bit of a sort out and some organisation. I have already sorted my father’s photos, mostly taken in India in his Army days and thankfully, carefully annotated on the reverse. Not only that, but he “tagged” them too (before tagging was really invented!) so they match the markings on a map of his travels.
I now travel with my small, superzoom Sony, the third of which is currently by my side, two having bitten the dust because of the failure of a small plastic component. Like you, I find my phone useful but it will never replace my camera.
One question, how do you organise/keep track of all your photos?
Thanks so much, Gill! I love that we share similar photography paths, from Brownie to Instamatic to our fathers’ 35mm cameras. And the slides – we had boxes of those at our house as well. I wonder if either of our fathers knew how much their love of photography would impact their daughters?
Keeping track of digital photos is a challenge, to be sure. In the earlier years, I transferred my photos to CDs, storing them in photo boxes like I did with negatives. Later, I began creating folders on the sidebar of my Photos app on my laptop. I label them with specific topics and dates, and they appear on the sidebar in chronological order, making finding older photos relatively easy. The trick is keeping up with it, deleting photos that are repeats or ones I don’t want or need, and not getting behind…easier said than done!.
Hi Mary,
A mutual friend (I’ve actually forgotten who) introduced me to your blog, which I have been following for a couple years. As it turns out, we have much in common. I am also an intrepid world traveler and a photographer. Coincidentally, we both began to love photography as young children, and I also had the Brownie, Instamatic, a few other small cameras, a Nikon 5500 – now I am using a Sony. I agree that an iPhone does not replace a fine camera. I also have childhood photos from Yellowstone and the World’s Fair in NYC. I recall loving the various pavilions where I learned about the clothing, music, food, and ambience of so many countries, which I have now visited. I have been an enrichment speaker and guest chef on luxury cruise ships for about 30 years, which has taken me to about 130 countries.
Paulette, what a delight to “meet” another travel and photography lover! Many thanks for sharing your story here. I love how the Brownie and Instamatic cameras served as the first stepping stones in your photography journey as well. Your experiences as a guest chef and enrichment speaker sound fascinating… and I imagine they’re filled with some incredible stories and maybe a few I can’t begin to imagine! Perhaps our paths will cross on a ship one day. Thanks so much for reading The Modern Postcard, and wishing you continued happy travels!