when i got the x-t3, i had a notion to get a camera bag that matched it’s aesthetic. or it’s perceived aesthetic. i have a canon camera bag, but it holds the t2i and two kit lenses. and, well, it just looks too . . . modern. not at all fitting with the ethos of the fuji.
i found this old bag on ebay for $25.00. it was, and still is, in a not so great state. dry rot. cracking. zipper falling off. possibly near the end of it’s life.
right up my alley.
i put several months of work into getting it to a usable state. the original strap busted one day, so i’ve got the canon bag strap on it.
i was on a photo shoot a few days ago. i had just finished getting a couple of required shots when this gentleman, some years my senior, walked right up to me.
“is that a perrin bag?” he asked.
“why, yes it is,” i replied.
“i thought so. does it have the serial number on the bottom?”
“it does,” i say as i lift and flip the bag horizontal to show him.
“i have one very similar to that one.”
he proceeds to tell me about his bag to ask me a few more questions about mine. where did you get it? who did you use to fix it? does it have the divider inside? then we move onto the topic of photography. what are you shooting? what type of camera is that you are using? looks like a film camera. do you shoot film? he has multiple film cameras. he quit shooting some years ago due to work and not having time. he has the time now and is looking to start shooting again. then on to just general world and photography related topics. how photography has changed. how people have changed. how the world has changed.
he really enjoyed photography, he tells me.
then, “i can’t believe i saw someone with an old perrin bag. what a small world. i’ll let you get back to work. thanks for talking with me.” i told him it was a sincere pleasure. because it was.
and as abruptly as he arrived, he was gone.
i should have asked to take a portrait.