Blog
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Andy Shepherd’s Camera
The Shaw-Harrison company manufactured these simple, bakelite cameras from 1959 to 1972 in a variety of colors – along with an identical model called the Valiant 620. I picked this one up on eBay for a few bucks because it was advertised as still containing a roll of film. When it arrived, I discovered that…
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Varanasi: In and Around Town
There is an endless number of interesting faces, places and scenes to photograph in Varanasi. Last week I shared some photos of the ghats along the river – where most of the tourists hang out; but in this city of 3 million and its environs you can go just about anywhere in the city and…
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Found Film: Introducing the Alberts
Raymond Albert was born on March 20, 1926 to Willa/Vila/Ovila (depending on the source) and Annie (Chenard) Albert, who were born in 1892 and 1895, respectively, in Canada and came separately to Maine as teens. According to the 1940 census, at age 14, he and his family lived at 318 Waldo Street, in Rumford, Maine…
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Death along the Ganges
As Americans – like most “Westerners” – we are for the most part, relatively isolated from death.  Not that we don’t have people close to us dying – we just don’t deal with the specifics.  I reflected on this just a few weeks ago, when we lost our longtime family dog in India, and suddenly had…
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Varanasi by Night
We finally had the opportunity to visit Varanasi, India – also known as Benares or Kashi – one of the seven holy cities of Hinduism and Jainism, and also important in the development of Buddhism. Â Varanasi, a city of 3 million on the western bank of the Ganges River, is said to be one of…