Topic: The Leica M1 and Butlin's holiday camps

[hookstrapped]

An enjoyable read

https://emulsive.org/reviews/camera-reviews/leica-camera-reviews/shooting-the-leica-m1-from-1960s-british-holiday-camps-to-the-streets-of-21st-century-england

[Blaxton]

This is a great story, thanks!  I can just about feel the desperate energy required to make hundreds of pictures, every day, to make a living on the commissions from the sales of those pictures.  He must of enjoyed it.  His photos are terrific.

My devious mind wonders if he supplemented his income by providing goods and services, beyond those advertised, to the holiday makers.  He probably had plenty of opportunities.

[johnha]

I presume that's the same John Tarrant that used to write for Amateur Photographer in the '90s?

Very interesting article describing whst sounds like an awful lot of effort - must have been lucrative enough. Not sure I'd enjoy being approached constantly while on holiday though!

[AJShepherd]

The seaside street photographer was very much a thing when I was a lad. We often went to Skegness (but not Butlins) and there'd be guys wandering round in snazzy blazers asking people if they wanted a photo. They gave you a ticket and you went to pick it up the next day from a hut on the sea front, either prints or little half-frame slide viewers as mentioned in the article.

[Francois]

There was something similar when I was a kid, but it was for houses. Some guy would go around the streets photographing the houses on slide film and mounting the film in little plastic viewers. He then would go door to door selling the viewers.

[Pete_R]

The seaside street photographer was very much a thing when I was a lad.

For me too. Often involving a dodgy background and and a monkey.

I'm the short ass kid and the monkey is stood on my right holding an animal of some sort... She grew up into a gorilla.

[Bryan]

There was something similar when I was a kid, but it was for houses. Some guy would go around the streets photographing the houses on slide film and mounting the film in little plastic viewers. He then would go door to door selling the viewers.

Someone did that in my neighborhood, probably late 70's or early 80's.  They went around in a helicopter to get the shots, made prints, then went door to door to see if you wanted to buy one.  My father bought one, it was a nice color print.