“I own a load of old cameras, I used them to photograph weddings and events, a long time ago now. Maybe I should trade them all in and get a digital SLR…?”

Today, I wasn’t in a rush to get a street portrait so I took some time to stroll through the market, looking at various wares on sale. I’m not sure what is supposed to be on sale on a Tuesday but it seemed like a mixture of the usual random items, some tat, clothes and fruit/veg.

I came across a stall displaying various train memorabilia, it was attracting a lot of attention so I went over to have a look. The seller had some great large prints of the old Intercity 125 zooming past various landmarks in Derbyshire.

Vladimir here was next to me, also browsing through the stacks of items on the table. It’s while I was just about to leave that he spotted my camera and struck up a conversation.

Vladimir is of Russian descent (no surprise there), born in Austria and has been resident in the UK since a few months old. He told me about his collection of cameras,

“They sent them to space!”, he told me.

They were mainly Nikon’s (as that was the brand to go for back then he said), but he seemed to have quite a few others, some of which I’d never heard of.

He told me how he used to use light meters to get correct exposure, and the trials and tribulations that is wedding photography. He hadn’t bothered getting a dSLR as he had a camera on his phone, but thought aloud to himself whether he should sell them and go for a dSLR.

I suggested he take them to the analogue camera store in the Corn Exchange to see what he could get for them, assuming they were in working condition, and then decide from there. “Thanks, yes, I’ll do that”, he replied and we went our separate ways.


Humans of Leeds