Doreen 015

Around 1960, the vast majority of photos was made in black and white. Cameras were not held in front of the eye. One had to hold the camera in front of the stomach and look into a tiny display. I got my first camera in 1960 and documented my first serious mountain climbs with it in 1965. Looking back, considering the difficulty of those mountains, I sometimes wonder if it was wise to focus on photography in situations where the first climber on our rope was in trouble. Anyway, we survived and I was proud that we made it. Never told my parents that we escaped from half a dozen life threatening situations until they were far too old to give the blame to anyone involved :). Another thing I kept to myself was my desire to attempt portrait photography of beautiful ladies in the streets - preferably girls and ladies in glasses. Four years later, I passed my final exams at high school and it was time for the father and son talk about my future. He asked me what was my first option and he was shocked by the answer - a sabbatical year, to make contacts in the world of the music industry. My gigs were lucrative because I wrote my own singer-songwriter stuff in English and there were just a few troubadours accompanying themselves on a 12 string guitar. My father simply rejected the idea, arguing that I would lose my chance to do the army later, after university. Then he asked me if I had another idea and he was shocked again by the answer: "I want to become an optician. Not tied to a shop, but doing something associated with glasses". Again, a serious no from his side - far below my level, I should go to university. I then told him, alright but from now on I will start collecting prescription glasses. He thought I was a bit off the head but left it at that. Three decades later, I had a long discussion with the filial boss of a well-known chain in the optical industry. My then partner saw double with her glasses and this gave her serious trouble with her progressive lenses. I told him that I had done a couple of tests with her, using trial lenses and that she saw much better when a mild vertical prism was added. In my opinion, anyone with good eyesight could see that her eyes were not at the same height, and he agreed. Then he asked me where did I get the trial set and I told him the story up and down, crooked and straight as it was. He then asked me what I did for a living and upon hearing the answer, he remarked, "You would have been a wealthier man if your father had given you your way back in the late 1960's!". This was nice praise but my partner never got the prism in her glasses. The optician explained that my idea would not work out 100% at all distances in her progressives and an order for the lenses I meant would be rejected higher up. My partner then jumped in, saying that she was prepared to take the risk and pay for the lenses, regardless the success or failure of the experiment. Alas for my partner, the answer remained no. Looking back, perhaps the Da was right - no way I could have lived in such a strictly hierarchic environment :). Anyway, there is always a second chance for good ideas or a really strong motivation. This lovely black and white portrait of Doreen comes close to what I had in mind in the 1960's. It will not change the world at this late stage but that does not matter.