Philip Haebler on Fstoppers

philiphaebler.smugmug.com

I am a forever-enthusiastic amateur photographer. I have not always been, but it seems that that there was never a time in my life when I did not have at least one camera—and boxes of snapshots hidden around the house. I was lucky to get exposed early to photography. In high school, I learned from a fellow student how to develop my own film, and to dodge and burn in the school’s darkroom. My brother, (who eventually earned a master’s degree in photography) and I patched up a closet in our attic and converted it into a darkroom. It was gruesomely hot in the summer! Most of the work we did was just for the fun of it all—the freezing of time—the magic of the light revealed on paper! Not long ago, after looking at my disappointing travel photos, taken on holiday in New Zealand, I replaced my 1985 Yashica 200 AF SLR film camera with a current digital version from Nikon. In addition, I travel light with a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, the Fujifilm EX-2.

I enjoy to go back to my photos taken in years past. I find it fascinating to look back and to be reminded of what interested me then versus now. There are consistent themes for sure--but there are also many surprises. That is one of the things that I love about photography--it requires you to stop running and to take in purposefully, what is in front of you.