I am continually surprised by the number of interesting people I meet by chance while hanging around specialist camera shops. Earlier this week, at Leica Mayfair, I bumped into a reader of MacFilos, Geoff, who recognised me from pictures here on the site. He was down from Derbyshire and was doing the rounds while his wife visited an exhibition. He had recently bought a Leica X Vario, partly as a result of reading my review. It’s always nice to meet a reader and I have made some good friends over the years as a result of running the blog.
Then, yesterday, I was in Red Dot to meet my friend George James for lunch when Ivor Cooper introduced me to the illustrious Brian Bower, down from Cheshire to do a bit of business. Brian is a noted photographer and Leica enthusiast but he is particularly known for his books on Leica.
All his Duckicrons in a row
Brian takes pains to point out that he is not a collector, he just says that certain items refuse to leave home. Among them is a magnificent array of 50mm Summicrons from the original collapsible to the latest and greatest Apo, which he has tested and written about in respected publications such as the Leica Society of America’s Viewfinder and The Leica Society Magazine here in Britain. I hope to be able to publish a version of this review in the near future.
A Fellow and former President of The Royal Photographic Society (where I am mere cannon fodder), Brian has been a Leica enthusiast for over thirty years. As well as being the author of Leica M Digital Photography, he has a number of best-selling books in his repertoire. They include Leica Reflex Photography, Leica M Photography, The Leica Lens Book, and Lens, Light and Landscape. All his books are noted for the quality of the images and the precise, concise and highly informative prose. I have ordered a couple of these tomes from Amazon (see below).
Exhibitions
Brian’s main photographic interests are landscape, travel and aviation but he enjoys many other subjects to test his Leica skills. Exhibitions of his work have been shown at the Leica Gallery in Germany, at the RPS Octagon Gallery in Bath as well as nearer to his home in Cheshire, including one at Manchester Airport.
Many of his pictures have appeared in travel brochures, books and calendars. Indeed, in 1995 he was commissioned to shoot the Kodak UK Calendar, a celebration of the 60th anniversary of Kodachrome film. The same images were used in the Kodak Japan calendar.
Brian has led many specialist Leica M and Leica R courses at the Leica School in England as well as at Leica dealer and other seminars in the UK and USA. Now who can I meet next week?
Hello again Mike, pleasant surprise to read about our chance encounter in Leica Mayfair on Wednesday, and thanks again for the tip for securing the EVF. I couldn’t find the tape, but some thin black card did the trick. By the way, I don’t think a Duckicron will be featuring in the Leica line-up, except perhaps as a very fast lens for shooting mallards……?
Best wishes,
Geoff