Pictured above is a Minolta fixed lens camera from the sixties. It was a very hopeful time in Japan and it was reflected in the solid manufacture of this camera which was meant to compete and undercut traditional German cameras like Rollei and Leica. This particular camera had an interesting provenance. When I was living in Washington Heights, I lived next door to an elderly lady, a Holocaust survivor, one of many who settled in Washington Heights after the war, including Henry Kissinger and many other German Jews. She was moving to Florida and was throwing out everything and this was her gift to me. She stopped using it after she first got it because she could never figure out how to use it and her husband used it only sparingly. It has its original box and manual and a handsome leather cover.

Jennifer had a box of old film which I’m sure has gone bad but may still take pictures -I am going to shoot it all and see what I get!