A Look Back - Al Kaplan

[Tony Rowlett]

Anyone here remember Leica Forum activity from the early 2000s? This article from the Miami Herald is from 2004 and features Al and member James Mitchell, who ordered sweat shirts that feature Al, and a photo of Sheldon Hambrick, also a member of photo.net (still, I think). I still have mine.  My how times fly by. 

[Karim Ghantous]

This forum was fantastic back then. Jay, Roger Michel, Huw Finney, etc, etc, etc. Al was always fun. He was doing selfies (with the CV 15mm IIRC) long before it became trendy.

PN admins gradually made this site less interesting, but it's not completely their fault. Social media no doubt played a role.

[Niels - NHSN]

Yeah Tony, I miss Al and his stories and his selfies taken with the 15mm Voigtlander. He was a wonderful character. 

Edited December 1, 2022 by NHSN

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

Those were the days when there was some great photography and some characters, though it could get pretty rough at times. But the photo threads were maybe the best I've ever seen on the web.

Edited December 1, 2022 by httpwww.photo.netbarry

[SCL]

Al was a hoot. After his death a family member preserved some of his commentaries for 1-2 years online. Maybe it's a function of my advanced age, but I too think things were much more interesting then.

[JDMvW]

I'm over 80 years old now, and there are a lot of things back when that were more interesting then.

The millennials I know still seem to have lots of fun, however.

 

I think of Ansel Adams lugging his massive cameras up the mountains, and I think there was a time when cameras were made of wood, and photographers made of steel.

Edited December 2, 2022 by JDMvW