Throwback Fed 4 (Icons Behind the Lens Series)

 Andreas Feininger's The Photojournalist Behind a Fed 4 (reworked)

A few years ago, I thought I knew what I wanted to do.  I wanted to be a Street Photographer.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I sucked at it at times.  Sometimes I would get fortunate in getting killer shots.  But oftentimes my best shots are miserable lots.  But this is the essence.  Perhaps, that is why I fall back into portraits.  And nowadays when I'm sober I just take pictures of non-moving objects.  They usually don't complain a lot.

Like any other skills, I need to practice taking pictures.  I've always wanted to take photos of vintage cameras.  I do own a few but I felt that I didn't have the right elements to make it work.  Until today.  I just remembered Andreas Feininger's photo of Dennis Stock, the face behind the camera.  Stock went on to become a leading photojournalist with Magnum Photos, which is famous for their street photography.

Which brings me to vintage cameras.  The Fed is a neat rangefinder that kind of works like a Leica, the most coveted camera by every street photographer.  Not really comparable as far as quality.  But it's a poor man's Leica.  I could count with my one hand how many fine photos I've shot with the Fed.    Actually, I'm lying.  I don't have any decent shots I made with it.  But the camera looks cool.  For that, it scores some points.  It has to.

This is my tribute to  Andreas Feininger's iconic photo: A picture of my Fed 4 in front of the picture.

Originally posted December 15, 2014