Adventures in 8x10 with Bob the Deardorff
A couple years ago I came into an 8x10 camera that had once belonged to the owner of the photo lab where I had my color film processed when I was in college. His name was Bob Little. He was good friends with my good friend Ray. When Bob died Ray came into possession of all Bob’s cameras, one of which was an 8x10 Deardorff that Ray had refurbished before selling to me. I named the camera, Bob.
I never met Bob, but knew of him and saw him around the lab when I went in to drop off my rolls. The power of photography to connect people, and projects, through history, through death, is an aspect of the medium I am most fond of. Beyond the obvious need I have to record my time and express my experience through images, I have found community in the history of photography and several fellow living photographers equally interested in our connections to other photographers and times through pictures. Even though I had never known Bob I feel connected to him by looking through the same camera he looked through. It’s possible to imagine what kind of guy he was through a combination of my friendship with Ray and the use of his camera. Obviously, this is incomplete, but it is something and some connection is better than none.
Bob pictured left and in situ.
