My mother gave me her Zeiss Ikon Nettar (515/16 model released 1937, Novar Anastigmat f1:4.5 75mm bellows lens, using 120 film) when I was about six years old. I think she acquired it in 1939 before an extended visit to Melanesia and Asia, and it was certainly with her in Norway from 1950 to 1957. With it I took photos of our school holiday adventures in the Southern Highlands and Blue Mountains near Sydney. The magical result of each roll of film was a small pink envelope of 6 cm square black and white prints, plus negatives, from Cooney's Pharmacy in Manly. I was hooked.
Ten years on, my father gave me his Asahi Pentax Spotmatic (SP model released 1964, his produced in 1969, Takumar 50mm f1:1.4 lens). This went bushwalking and skiing with me for the next 26 years, producing a huge number of (so far unscanned) 35mm transparencies, mostly on Kodachrome 64 film.
These days it's digital photography, usually with a mirrorless camera, and words. Landscape and travel photography are my main interest although occasionally I dabble in other genres.
Good photographs make both the photographer and the viewer see the beauty of the world better. Photographs are more than just the sum of some photons, electrons and boot rubber- they show us what's important. Moreover photography and travel seem inseparable, and travel is like malaria- once in your blood it's hard to shake off.
Thank you for visiting my web site. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to hearing from you. (If you would prefer a more conventional artist's statement, please visit this site.)
John Ulrichsen, May 2014.