Once Upon a Time....

Once upon a time there was a young career photographer. He was talented, but he didn't have much money. 

Nevertheless, because it was the mid-'60's and he was reacting to his depression/war era parents, he thought that money wasn't important — art always came first.

Consequently while as his peers, who were developing their careers alongside his, boughtNikon Fs,M series LeicasandHasselblads, our hero had to satisfy himself usingPentaxandMinoltasalong with inexpensive third-party lenses fromTamron,Tokinaand the like. He reveled in the simplicity of his ways.

And, our hero succeeded. His photographs, made with cheap cameras on even cheaper lenses were widely published in major magazines, his better work was collected by major galleries and national institutions, and he was able to make a decent living as a freelance photojournalist.

Meanwhile his colleagues and competitors continued to tease and distress him about his not using "the b...