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Jubilee

On the Anniversary of 25 Years Behind a Nikon

Practically everyone, of a certain age at least, and photographer or not, knows that singer-songwriter Paul Simon belted out the praises of Kodachrome film and a Nikon camera way back in 1973. The combination of the two could make for some powerful photography, in the hands of a capable photographer.

While I’d used Kodachrome 64 film almost exclusively since early 1991, I didn’t have a Nikon camera. I’d first used my dad’s Pentax K1000 surreptitiously and without his permission, and then a similarly handling Vivitar V2000 of my own. The Vivitar used K-mount (Pentax) lenses, so in addition to my own gear, I was still able to use dad’s glass, which he was much more willing to “loan out” than his beloved camera. 

Finally, in the late winter of 1995, in anticipation of my forthcoming graduation from college, my parents gifted me a Nikon FM2 SLR camera, along with an MD-12 motor drive and two Nikkor lenses. The motor drive was powered by a bank of 8 “AA” batteries; once connected to the camera with a lens, the combined assembly was heavy as a brick. But I didn’t care. At last, I had a Nikon camera. 

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Editor’s Notebook

On the Rewards of Losing One’s Way

An unplanned venture down a dirt road in the rain and fog.

In this era of smartphones and GPS, it is not as easy to get lost as it used to be. Gone are the days of stopping to ask directions, and puzzling over a tattered gas station road map. With a full tank of gas and no place pressing to be, getting lost can be an exciting pleasure, a gateway to discovery. In a sense, being lost is the essence of adventure.

When I set out with the camera, I usually have a plan, but my best intentions are easily de-railed by an interesting side road, or an arrow on a weed-overgrown roadside sign pointing to the unknown. Following my nose, I am soon happily lost.

We discover new things not on a well-worn path leading to a known destination, but by being lost. Being lost in the landscape is a way to be lost in time, and who knows what there is to discover around the next bend.

Of course, the smartphone in your pocket relieves the anxiety of not being able to find the way back at the end of the day, but sometimes I think maybe I would be happy just to stay lost.

Edd Fuller – Photograph and text Copyright 2021

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Going Through Changes

Meridian, Mississippi, 1965
Like most roads, Southern Railway ran GP-series locomotives on local trains. Here no. 2178 races southward toward Meridian, Mississippi, on an afternoon in July 1965.
©J. Parker Lamb, Collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art
Used with permission

I was recently looking at some of J. Parker Lamb’s images and started to see locations I’ve shot at myself around Meridian, Mississippi, over the last couple of years. It’s truly amazing to see stuff that has changed over the decades. You see things in a totally different perspective and it kind of gives you the desire to go out and explore and try new techniques. At least that is what happened with me.

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Editor’s Notebook

On Books

Over the next several months, I want to talk about books. I have some thoughts about photo books in general, and also wish to share with you some favorite books that have inspired my own photography. Books are the perfect showcase for photography.

David Plowden has spend decades photographing the vanishing remnants of America’s rich past with a poet’s eye. Although Plowden is perhaps best know for his railroad photography, he has published over twenty books on everything from bridges, to barns, to tugboats; things that were once a familiar part of the American landscape. Published in 2007, Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography is a perfect summation of his life’s work and is a highly recommended introduction to Plowden’s vision.

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Legacies

Edward Hopper and the Railroad

Great photographs help us see things in new ways, and reveal things that might otherwise remain hidden, or escape our notice. This is, of course true of all art.

Edward Hopper was an American painter who lived from 1882 until 1967. and his work has had a profound influence on the visual arts over the years. Photographers often cite him as an inspiration for their own work.

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Shoot it while you can

As an adult, I often look back at some of the things I have been told throughout my life. We often overlook the things we are told as youngsters, but as we age, we look back at some of these statements and realize what they mean. More often than not, it is too late to take action and we end up having some form of regret. This applies to us in the railfan community just like it does to anything else.

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