Message from Christian Fritschi
Photography has been a part of my life since my father back in Switzerland bought a Robot IIa. His “older” Kodak 35 was passed on to my mother who would share it with me when I was just a kid. Later on my father bought one of the first Alpa SLR’s. The old Robot IIa became my mom’s and at the age of 15, I finally had my very own Kodak 35.I will spare you the number of cameras I have owned in the last 40 plus years, but they include Rolleis, Leicas, Pentax and Nikons. My first teacher, Mr. H. P. Sidel at the School of Modern Photography in Montreal, left an indelible impression when it comes to portrait and commercial photography. He was also the one who introduced the class to Yousuf Karsh and that was a moment by my history book.
In the late ‘60’s, as a part of a group of four young photographers, we opened a studio/gallery on Place Royale in Montreal. Life has a way of leading you apart and I have no idea what became of my three companions at arms. Followed many years of different career changes in different cities in Western Europe and Canada.
The digital photographic age caused a rekindling of the old flame. Having kept my old Nikon gear (unfortunately not the Leica gear), I naturally migrated to the Nikon DSLR’s. My favorite lens for traveling being the 28-300mm FX. For birding, I am very confortable with the 70-200mm VRII coupled to the TC20E tele-converter which makes for a nice reach while remaining manageable with a monopod or even handheld in the best of conditions. I wrote about the reason which led me to acquire this great piece of glass in my Blog page called: "Birds". Some photographers "specialize" or focus on a theme throughout their lives. Others, seem to have a more eclectic vision. The important thing to remember is that the object is not nearly as important as the way it is seen and rendered by the photographer. There in lies the power of the image. Just think of Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Andre Kertesz, Edward Steichen, Robert Capa, Richard Avedon etc...How different can these visions be.
But, also think of the way images can be manipulated - for good or bad. Propaganda/advertizing or simply to share one's vision.
Your comments are most appreciated. Thank you.
Christian.
www.christianfritschi.com
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