Those 1970's "Guitar Strap" Neck Straps

The NIKON strap is like brand new. Somebody gave me a bunch of straps and pouches recently. The two "Hippie Straps" below are from the 1970's. I used them on my Pentacon-Six cameras which are much larger and heavier that 35mm SLR's.

The fabric straps hold up much better than leather straps, but the leather parts still dry out and get cracked. I want to get some rivets and use the Rollie clips off of an old dried out leather Rollieflex strap on a fabric strap.

The straps really weren't "photographed". I just put them on the scanner glass and scanned them directly. I did the same with the bones and teeth,as well as with the Edgeworth tin.

From Hollywood, CA ~ Cheap Czech Film

Bill Metcalf, November 1964

It's photos like this, images that lay hidden in my files for 45 years, that have me shooting once more with size 120 black and white film in a Minolta Autocord or Rolleiflex. The handling is different than with an eye level camera, the whole way of looking at the world is different. It's a slower more contemplative way of working. Of course if you print directly from the negative, which is much larger than a 35mm negative, you can get some fantastic prints, nothing like these scans off the contact sheets.

Bill Metcalf was an artist friend of mine in New Bedford, MA. My bride to be, Stephanie, and I were in town to join my grandmother and my dad for Thanksgivng dinner. I was was also attempting to introduce Stephanie to my circle of New Bedford based friends. Bill was going to the Swain School of Design. He lived in a basement apartment on a hill (one end of the place was really a basement while the downhil side was but two steps down) a few blocks from downtown and a few blocks from the school. Bill always seemed to have friends dropping by. It was a good place for Stephanie to meet some of my friends.

I just about never hear from or about any of the people I hung out with in the sixties. We're dying off.