Hair, Hair, Hair, Beautiful Hair...

[travis1]

great set! 9:47 is my fav

[terry_rory]

Yes jim I used.. 'the guy' in trying to explain how I thought it is a good photo whether or not I knew who the subject is.

 

In fact knowing it is Al makes it a 'snap'.

 

Without the camera (and without knowing it is Al) it is some guy walking aimlessly along some anonymous American highway sometime in the 1960s. Could have walked 50 miles or 50 yards, could be walking into town or out of town, who knows? And why is this mysterious dude there in the first place? It becomes whatever story you want.

 

However, we know the subject and he is toting a camera so it becomes a snap taken by Als buddy after Al has walked up the road to get a shot. The story is closed for us.

[al_kaplan1]

That metal box hanging from my shoulder is a camera "bag" that I'd made of aluminum. It contains aluminum slide-in topless boxes all lined with sheet cork sized to fit an M body with meter and 35 Summicron, an M body, a 135/3.5 Canon, and a 90/2.8 "long" Elmarit back to back with a 19/3.5 Canon. An accessory clip in the lid holds the 19mm finder and loops of elastic held film cannisters. Leitz used to make little clip-together holders for 39mm filters. There was room for 9 filters. The bottom of the bag, inside under the compartments, as well as the compartments themselves was padded with foam. Dropping it a few feet wasn't going to delaminate any main rangefinder prism!

 

A few years later I covered the exterior with leather and added a leather exterior pocket with a velcro latched flap. That was about the time I changed my image from rocker to suit and tie. When my daughter Elena was a toddler working as my assistant she'd often use the box as a seat while guarding the contents.

 

I had a gas mask bag too back then. My wife carried one as a purse. I used mine for the times I wasn't carrying the complete Leica kit. They were really very similar to the original of the Leica Classic bag. The gas mask bags were $2.95, the Leica bag was $17.50. Nikon marketed a canvas bag too for $12.95.

[35mmdelux]

Hi Al,

 

Love the nehru pullover.

 

Best, Paul

[cdnguyen]

Al,

I used to use gas mask bag as camera bag back in Viet Nam as well. It was a "hip" thing to do at the time. Used to think war photography was cool Eddie Adams, Nick Ut, David hume Kennerly, etc...Loved to fondle worn out Nikon F with prism finder and f36 motor. I enjoy your pics . thanks

[jsc1]

The photo "On the Road Again" is incredibly nostalgic!

 

"Hey!!!! Mr. Cotter!!!"

 

That is an AMAZING head of hair.

 

JSC

[al_kaplan1]

A couple of wild and crazy guys just talking about the good old days.

 

http://www.photo.net/shared/portrait.tcl?user_id=498939

[david_doyle]

Al,

 

I hope you are wearing some shorts in 09:51, cuz if not I gotta have some Johnny Walker right about now! Great stuff love the hair, Zappa fo sho or Mars Bonfire/John Kay (Steppenwolf).

[vivek iyer]

My impression of President Clinton is that he is not crazy and I also think that he has always been a very able communicator.

 

Seriously Al, how many milliseconds did the handshake last?

[randy_santos]

Hey- Al if you can post one like that then I hope you don't mind that I do too. I did a lot of work at the White House in my younger days and have a bunch of photos like this but this is the only one I can think of with a Leica around my neck. That's in the Oval Office, always had at least 2 M bodies on my body.<div></div>

[icuneko]

Who was Ronald Reagan?

[janet cull]

Ha! Those are fun. My husband had "big hair", too. He wishes he still had enough hair to be

big.

[pensacolaphoto]

me ... no hair ...

[al_kaplan1]

Vivek, the handshake lasted long enough to thank him for being cooperative and easy to work with at the Congressman Alcee Hastings fundraiser, and the secret service guy was able to crank off several frames on my Leica.

 

Raid, the hair in the old days was natural. The profuse growth now is due to being on Proscar, also marketed in a smaller dose as Propecia for reversing male pattern baldness. One of Stephanie's former med school classmates was conducting a study at the U of Miami Med School of Proscar as a treatment for enlarged prostate, and I got in on the study nearly 15 years ago. Soon my hairline was lower in front and the hair was thicker on top. I've been taking the stuff about as long as anybody, starting several years before it was marketed.

[vivek iyer]

Thanks for the answer,Al.