From Hollywood, CA ~ Cheap Czech Film

June in September, 1969

I remember taking these photos, but not why. Was it my idea or hers? I also don't remember where I met her, although the back of my mind keeps coming up with a blurred vision of the section of the 79th St. Causeway near where Fun Fair used to be. Perhaps she lived near there or maybe that's where we first met.

All I really know is the month and year, that her name was June Hardie, and that I was using a Burleigh Brooks Bee-Bee camera that came with a Schneider Radionar 3 element lens which I had replaced with a 4 element Voightlander Skopar. Just about every camera maker before WW-II made a similar camera. They came with 3 plate holders for glass plates which in turn usually contained film sheaths to hold a sheet of film. They were interchangeable with a ground glass back for more accurate focusing than using the distance scale. Some had after-market rangefinders installed. The cameras came in two sizes: 6.5x9cm and 9x12cm. A company by the name of RADA made roll film holders that fit these cameras, and they came with masks to make 8, 12, or 16 exposures on a roll of 120 film. You had to wind and see the frame number through a little red window. I always used the eight exposure option. All very primitive but I got some very good pictures with it.

I still have the velvet wing chair in my living room. I haven't seen June in forty years. At some point I sold the Bee-Bee.