The passing of Bob from Camera Stop.
I went to a Photoshop seminar in Washington, D.C. today with my friend, Bill. On the car ride home, we started talking about all the old photographers from my hometown area in New Jersey. I asked him if he had seen Bob from Camera Stop and was saddened to hear that he had died two weeks ago from cancer.
When I first started to get into photography in 1991, the full-service local camera store was on its way out. Many sold all their inventory and became one-hour photo-lab-type businesses. Some closed altogether. Camera Stop was still going in the local mall. It had all the paper and chemicals you needed for the darkroom, many different models of cameras and a bald, ball-busting older man with a white goatee named Bob. Now Bob's ball-busting was the good, kind-hearted kind of kidding, like calling Bill a dinosaur in his nasally, rough voice because he was a little slow to embrace a newer film or camera or making fun of me for asking newbie questions. It was all in good fun and he had no cruel intentions.
Bob was also a good friend to struggling photographers, giving both others and me what would be considered great discounts on supplies like film, paper and chemicals. You think the sponsors of Sportsshooter give good discounts? They could not even come close to the "Friend of Bob" discount. Sure, he only worked there, but he knew that we brought in a lot of business in both our sales and the word of mouth we would spread.
The times were changing in the late '90s. Digital was coming of age. The need for film and darkroom supplies was going the way of the dodo. Camera Stop eventually moved from the local mall to a strip mall down the road. It was making the transition to selling high-end audio/video gear and eventually transitioning itself out of business.
Bill occasionally would give a talk or judge a contest for the local camera club to which Bob belonged. The last time I actually saw Bob was when his camera club came to Bill's studio for a demo on shooting models. At the time, I was renting a studio from Bill, and we split the group in two with two models. It was a funny feeling I had, going from the newbie shooter to the person co-hosting Bob's camera club for a studio lighting demo, but it also gave me a sense of pride.
You will be missed, Bob. May you rest in peace.
When I first started to get into photography in 1991, the full-service local camera store was on its way out. Many sold all their inventory and became one-hour photo-lab-type businesses. Some closed altogether. Camera Stop was still going in the local mall. It had all the paper and chemicals you needed for the darkroom, many different models of cameras and a bald, ball-busting older man with a white goatee named Bob. Now Bob's ball-busting was the good, kind-hearted kind of kidding, like calling Bill a dinosaur in his nasally, rough voice because he was a little slow to embrace a newer film or camera or making fun of me for asking newbie questions. It was all in good fun and he had no cruel intentions.
Bob was also a good friend to struggling photographers, giving both others and me what would be considered great discounts on supplies like film, paper and chemicals. You think the sponsors of Sportsshooter give good discounts? They could not even come close to the "Friend of Bob" discount. Sure, he only worked there, but he knew that we brought in a lot of business in both our sales and the word of mouth we would spread.
The times were changing in the late '90s. Digital was coming of age. The need for film and darkroom supplies was going the way of the dodo. Camera Stop eventually moved from the local mall to a strip mall down the road. It was making the transition to selling high-end audio/video gear and eventually transitioning itself out of business.
Bill occasionally would give a talk or judge a contest for the local camera club to which Bob belonged. The last time I actually saw Bob was when his camera club came to Bill's studio for a demo on shooting models. At the time, I was renting a studio from Bill, and we split the group in two with two models. It was a funny feeling I had, going from the newbie shooter to the person co-hosting Bob's camera club for a studio lighting demo, but it also gave me a sense of pride.
You will be missed, Bob. May you rest in peace.
Comments
One of the most amazing things I noticed in the late 90's, was that all of the Bobs of the world congregated on this thing called the internet, and dumped their collective knowledge for the benefit of all, especially on film, large format and darkroom stuff, the things they knew and loved. We are so much the richer for it.
Thanks for the comment. Keep them coming. It is nice to get some feed back that people are actually reading this. Spread the word if you like the blog and I will continue to post what I think is useful info. I have some big plans for the site. Keep looking.
Paul