Bruce Davidson On Picking Up Girls With A Leica

newspaperguy said:
Four or five years ago,back when I was in my early 70's, I was wandering around the U.S. arboretum in Washington DC. As I walked up to the columns (See my gallery) I interupted a well groomed young black man taking photos of a beautiful young lady.

He and I had passed some casual comments when the young lovely, from 20 feet away, said "Oh, isn't that a Leica? I just love Leicas."

I acknowledged and departed after complimenting her acuity, but could feel the young dude with the big-ass SLR staring daggers at this old man as I left.
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So, did you get her number?
 
Tales from the other side...

Tales from the other side...

Being female, I am not very interested in picking up girls. So I'll share a story which is, in a way, about picking up guys.

I was at the Japanese Garden here in Portland walking around taking pictures with my Leica and my Mamiya 6. I think I also had my friend's Rolleiflex that day. A male photographer saw me juggling those three cameras and I guess he figured I was a photographer :D He came up to me later and told me he took a picture of me. The reason why, he said, was that photographers generally don't take pictures of themselves using their cameras. He figured, rightly so, that I would want a picture of myself using one of my cameras. I gave him my email address as he requested and the very next day received an image of myself taking pictures at the Japanese Garden! I used that very same image as my avatar until just a couple of weeks ago. So, now you know the truth, I got my very first avatar here on RFF because I picked up a guy as a result of using my camera!!

Ellen
 
Very nice story! I love the Japanese Gardens...you're making me want to get back to Portland soon.

As a Leica-owning English professor, I like that Bruce Davidson story very much.
 
ornate_wrasse said:
He came up to me later and told me he took a picture of me. The reason why, he said, was that photographers generally don't take pictures of themselves using their cameras. He figured, rightly so, that I would want a picture of myself using one of my cameras.
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OMG. This pick up routine is so brilliant I can't believe I never thought of it myself.
 
for what it's worth, I met my wife (now, of 27 years) in film school, in the dark. the short version of the story: we were in grad school at NYU in an editing class. after viewing a series of editing exercises in the screening room, the professor said, "pick a partner." I did. I just didn't realize it would be permanent. The lights hadn't really even come up yet, so it was still kind of dark. It was the second week of school and she'd been out sick the first week, so this was maybe the second time I'd ever seen her. who knew? anyway, the leicas came later (she was with me when I bought the first one at Olden Camera in NYC) and so far, we've lived (mostly) happily ever after.
 
I read this thread title and remember that movie,

"Running Over Boys with Cars".

I've seen a girl pick up a Leica. Want to see her behind the wheel of a car?
 
Mr_Flibble said:
On drawing a Rolleicord from my camera bag an American girl exclaimed "What the *@#% is that!?". I guess both my cameras and I don't score very high with the ladies :D

A masseuse did say she thought my Epson R-D1 looked 'cool'.
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Fascinating -- we may have hit upon a small universal truth!

When I bought my Rolleiflex, my wife gave me a quizzical look. I said "Well, it's not the cheapest way to get into medium format..." and she finished my sentence "... but it's definitely the dorkiest way."

When I bought my R-D1 and hesitantly showed it to her, she said "At least this time you got a really cool-looking camera."

::Ari
 
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Bruce Davidson is coming to Austin on October 27th as the Austin Center for Photography's 8th Icons of Photography speaker. If you're in the area, put this on your calendar.
 
So, is the Austin Center for Photography a good place to pick up girls? I'm now completely without Leicas -- maybe a Retina IIa will do.
 
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Bruce Davidson, the opposite sex and Leicas aside, I find a camera to be the greatest "social lubricant". I can explain my presence in just about anyplace with the camera and some words about a desire to photograph whatever the situation is. Where people would otherwise back up and be concerned, they feel more at ease with my rational explanation of my presence.

"Less than mainstream" seems to be where my interest, personal and photographically, seems to focus. But I am usually accepted. Of course, having a sincere rather than simply curious interest always seems to come through.
 
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