Cemal Ekin, Short Bio!
I retired as a professor of marketing emeritus from Providence College in 2012 after 36 years of service. Teaching has been a wonderful experience for me. And it affected my photography and how I share what little I know. Additionally, I do Web design for a small group of clients, including some photographers.
I began with a Leica, Way Back …
I started my photographic journey by playing with my father’s Leica without fully appreciating what I was holding in my hands when I was around eight years old. It felt different from the box camera my mother occasionally allowed me to handle. It was one of the early Leica models, and the bottom-loading of the film was a challenge. We took photographs off again, on again with that camera with very mixed results mainly, I now believe, due to the available film quality and poor development. (A few years ago, my friends Dennis and Chris gave me a Leica remarkably similar to the one I used to have. See a related article if you like.)
A Trip to Doğanca Got Noticed
I continued taking photographs with these cameras and tried to borrow, at least to look at them closely, different cameras from family and friends. I once borrowed a Voigtlander from my uncle when I took a trip to Doğanca, a village in the Thrace region of Turkey, to visit a friend. That trip was an epiphany, the year, 1962. The photographs I took received many favorable comments starting with the photographer who developed and printed them for me. This was followed by more favorable comments and encouragement from family and friends.
A New Camera
Encouraged by this, I wanted to buy a larger format camera, like a Rolleiflex. Of course, it was far out of my reach, and I had to settle for an imitation, a Flexaret I still own. It was 1963. I visited the same village and took many more photographs, some of which you will see among the others on this site. Search for film days!
The Flexaret remained my primary camera for some time, until I ordered, through some family friends in Germany, a “state-of-the-art” Exakta Vx 1000. That carried me through 1972 when I switched to a Canon FTb and remained a Canon user after many models of Canon cameras, lenses, and so on. The only exception to my Canon affinity was my Nikon Coolpix 995. When I made the purchase, it was the best one for me.
Current Gear
In the last fifteen years or so, I have used a Canon 5D model since its introduction. The last one, a 5D Mark IV with EF lenses, got too heavy and bulky for me to handle. Recently I sold the 5D Mark IV and got a Canon EOS R7 with a kit lens. The weight and bulk reduction have been very noticeable. Although I prefer looking through the prism of a DSLR, the lightweight R7 with its electronic viewfinder works very well. And it also adds in-body image stabilization that helps with my shaky hands.
I also have a Canon EOS M5 converted for infrared. I no longer own a practical film camera since I switched to the digital environment. But I own a small collection of film cameras because I like their design and the ties they provide to the golden past of photography.
My Site, Kept Light
The articles section is the dumping ground of my thoughts on photography. I do extensive photography and think about it a lot, not only from a technical side but also from its artistic and critical side. I want to talk about photography as much as I want to photograph. This helps me understand what I do and benefits my photographic work. You will find many posts, from critical thoughts on photography to many shades of technique and tools.
What is a Photograph
I encourage you to think about what it means to photograph, its aesthetic dimensions, ethical dimensions, and technical dimensions. Don’t forget its contextual dimensions. This process will help you understand your photography. Also, try to look at photographs critically. And try to go beyond simply “liking” or “disliking” photographs. Force yourself to explain why you do so. I am interested in photography as a form of art, a form of personal expression, and I enjoy reading about photography as much as doing photography. This helps me understand myself and what photographic art means to me.
Photography needs more than a camera and a dozen lenses. It needs, most of all, a seeing mind, not a pair of looking eyes. At times, I remember a saying that came my way via e-mail one day many years ago:
“When a finger points at the Moon, the imbecile looks at the finger.“
