coresect's photostream

I started taking photographs at the age of 7, with a plastic camera that came as part of a spy kit for secret agents. The pictures were not so good, but I still have one close to my desk. I consumed film with abandon, photographing my toys and anything I could find, and I pestered my father to print the countless blurred pictures.
He waited a year or two and then bought me a Zorki 4K, my first "real camera". I hated it to be honest, it was too complicated: to take a picture I had to use a handheld exposure meter and by then the exciting things I wanted to photograph had gone. Now I treasure my Zorki (a Russian Leica copy) and I can see it's a thing of beauty.
After struggling with the Zorki I learned how to use a manual camera, and my father showed me the magic of printing black and white photographs. Studying photographs taken by him and his friends my passion for this art grew. Since then I've had a Cosina (semi automatic, finally I could take photographs of things moving before my eyes), a Contax 139Q (beautifully robust camera, sadly sold many moons ago), a Minolta Dynax 8000i (no longer used, but still holds a place in my heart), a Kiev 88 (medium format, a pleasure to use in every way), and finally my Minolta Dynax 5D (lets me do what I need). There were many point and shoot cameras too but they never really came up with the goods.
Photography has been a passion and a job. I've worked for magazines and papers, as well as for record companies.
When I came to Italy I threw myself into studying photography, gaining a diploma here in Rome.
I think photography manages to combine the artistic side of me that needs to create beautiful images, with the scientific side that loves to use my technical instrument together with the light I find to bring my imagination to life, freezing that moment.

paul@coresect.com