So long, Homer

Just heard the sad news that Homer Knapp has passed away. I met him a couple of times, visiting his incredible workshop in North Hollywood, after being taken there by his good friend, Andrew Gray. I even got the opportunity to ride his 1928 Harley JD (above) at Perris, a bike we'd worshipped from afar for years.

Andrew wrote a great story about Homer for Sideburn 7. I've just read it again. If you have it, dig out your copy, give it a read and thank the world for folk like Mr Knapp.

'A down to earth, smart interesting gentleman in the best sense of the word, who while proud of his achievements isn't one to brag.'

So long, Homer. G

The Film is Over

Ask any photographer over the age of 20 about film and they are liable to get misty eyed. Like with vinyl revivalists there has been a fighting rekindling of the magic that is white noise and all the other touchy feely properties of something that isn't scientifically perfect. Sure the digitisation of photography has cut off lots of inconvenient and expensive corners, but with its obsolescence something wholly has been lost.

Having found my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic, in a field recently camped in by Girl Guides, I worked my way up to the mighty Linhof 6x12", a Brough Superior of a camera. I've worked both as a commercial and editorial photographer, and as a darkroom mole.

Although big jobs were shot on a Hasselblad 6x6" or a Mamiya 6x7", my personal favourite was the more humble Zenza Bronica 6x4.5". It's quality defied its modest size and pedigree. But with the digital tsunami it was relegated to a dusty crate in my office along with a Super 8 film projector and a once state-of-the-art Kodak Carousel slide projector. Both saw action in Amsterdam clubland before the video killed the fumbling celluloid star.

My beloved Bronnie has been kept like some holly relic, as I thought one day I'd like my son to use it. Family heirloom and all that. I'm so romantic. But I haven't touched it for what, 15 years. So I've broken it down into its constituent parts and chucked it on eBay for 99p.
What made me saddest was, while I was cleaning it at my desk, ike came in and said "Dada what does this do?" as he tried to reassemble the wonderful mechanism. BP

Gary Nixon RIP

Two-time AMA Grand National Champion Gary Nixon died today at a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The man simply known as 'Nixon' was 70 years old.
Nixon took ill while spectating at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca and was admitted to hospital after returning to his home in Maryland. He suffered a heart attack on July 29 and died from complications from that heart attack. He had been in ICU at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Baltimore after undergoing surgery to place two stents in his arteries.
Cycle News All time classic photo by Dan Mahony