If my father were still alive he would have turned 91 last week, on Wednesday September 10. My father had a very difficult childhood, and I had a very difficult relationship with him. But there were some positives. He taught me how to ride a bike. He built me an indoor trapeze. He taught me how to use a jigsaw and rewire a lamp. He proofread my school essays. And he was the most gentle splinter-remover ever. I have come to believe that he did the best he could with what he knew, at the time.
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| My father (and his cameras) with my brother and I |
But the greatest gift he gave me was to share with me his passion for photography. He gave me my first SLR (Single-Lens Reflex) camera when I was in middle school, the same age as my twins are now. I was Sports Editor for the school yearbook and wanted to take photos of various sports. He taught me what film speed to use, how to use f-stop and shutter speed, and the technique of panning to photograph people in motion.
My father was a professional photographer with his own studio, for a while. He was considered the finest wedding and portrait photographer east of Montreal, back in the day. And he did some of the first motion picture commercials for television. I remember him having a treasure chest that he had used in a commercial for Lifesavers. He later painted it red and made it into a toy box for my brother.
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| Lifesavers ad from the 1940s |
On the first anniversary of my father's death in April 2012, I purchased the camera charm in his memory, and had it engraved with his initials and a heart. I wear this camera charm on an all-silver bracelet with my Pandora timebead.
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| All-silver bracelet with the timebead with a mother-of-pearl face |
I usually stack the timebead bracelet with a colourful bracelet and a matching leather or cord.
The camera charm reminds me to "pursue my passions" - one of which is photography; another, of course, is Pandora.
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