Margriet 168

Some days are lucky days indeed, especially when nothing special is

expected. A few weeks back I decided to go cycling, just for a bit of

fresh air and recreation. The cycling went so well that the trip took me

a bit further than expected. When arriving in the friendly town center

of Nordhorn (Germany) I paid a visit to an optician's shop and showed

the opticians some of my recent work. They obligingly took a short dive

downstairs and produced two small boxes with old glasses. Our talk

drifted a bit futher and they were interested in an exhibition of my photo

work in their shop. Great - I can't think of a better place for the next

exhibition than an optician's shop.... Dear Manfred and Michael, if you

read this: five of my models already agreed to do a catwalk at your

premises!

One of the old glasses from the cellar was this "Femina" pair in which

Margriet poses here.

A brief word of explanation about the glasses in what I refer to as "my

collection" may be in place. The majority of the collection consists of

glasses that come from flea markets, bric à brac shops, street fairs and

(lately) Ebay. In other words, I bought them, usually for coppers and

brass. Many other glasses were given to me by neighbours, friends and

colleagues. There is a third category of glasses which I consider to be

on loan - glasses that were meant for the Third World. I have always

made a point to see to it that what comes in is counterweighted by my

regular donations of glasses to the Third World. This is simply a matter

of integrity. It's also practical because otherwise the collection would

become too large to be handled.