“You’re stuck with me forever, Michie, get used to it. It’s the ties that bind, darlin’, the ties that bind.”

— Jim Marshall

Has it ever happened to you. You’re staring at one of your images and you absolutely fall in love with it. You feel you’ve captured that idyllic moment in just one click. Well, this is one of those frames for me.

Confession, I’m a fan of the Leica M camera system despite the fact that I don’t yet own one. I recently gave away and sold all my cameras because I just wanted to get to know one intimately — I chose the GF1 for its many attributes and its versatility. I know it may sound kind of bizarre, gave & sold, but I believe its important to establish a deep connection to your photographic gear. All cameras are able to take pictures but no camera makes pictures — only togs do.

Relatedly, I recently became aware of the late famous Leica photographer, Jim Marshall, the rock n roll photographer to such stars as Hendrix, Joplin, and the Beatles. It came to learn he always carried around a Leica everywhere and everywhere and of his known “romantic love affair” with this system. You see, the common thread here is, the commitment to a system that you wholeheartedly trust to get the image you want. Marshall’s Leica portraits of Coltrane, Cash, et al. are truly special and worthy of admiration. In the end, all systems are great but one needs to have that special relationship with one, to truly create great imagery. Hence, its why I chose this qoute by Marshall himself:

“You’re stuck with me forever, Michie, get used to it. It’s the ties that bind, darlin’, the ties that bind.”

And its the last phrase which resonnates in my mind the most, “the ties that bind”. So create those ties and be bound by them and prepare to take your photography to new heights.