My Life as a Cheesecake Photographer

My Kodak Brownie photo of Aunt Bertha adjusting her stocking, Sand Dunes Vermont, 1949.
My Kodak Brownie photo of Aunt Bertha adjusting her slip, Sand Dunes Vermont, 1949.

I started with a Kodak Brownie, like every other kid on the block. It was a one-focus lens and a slow, slow shutter speed. The only thing you could do with that camera is what you see here — get about ten feet away from subject for full-body, three feet for closeups, and snap away, hope for the best. You had to send your film to Kodak in Rochester, New York to have your photos processed and printed glossy with gnarly deckled edges, making it hard to insert them into a photo album, but who cared, as long as the pictures came out. Continue reading