DARREN, HIPPY GIRL AND BOB GELDOF
DARREN, THE HIPPIE GIRL
AND BOB GELDOF
I bought my first camera at a Value Village in Victoria BC. It was a Kodak Retinette; A beautiful shining object drowning in brown shades of second-hand leather jackets. Darren Webb helped me convert my tiny apartment bathroom into a darkroom and taught me photo basics. I was hooked. Years of soul searching, hitchhiking, hopping from one lame job to another all crystalized then and there; I was to be a photographer.
I moved to Toronto in 1989 and got a job in a black and white photo lab. My life was essentially party, work and take photos. I couldn't afford another camera, but didn’t care: I loved my Retinette. It even had its very own signature dent in the image frame. I took photos of everything and anything but mostly people. Camera at hand I would go out and explore; abandoned warehouses with a friend, under the Bloor street bridge with a roommate and High Park with a hippie girl.
I moved to Montreal a few years later, bought a Nikon FM and hustled my ass off to get photo gigs. The most memorable gig was shooting for a music magazine called l’Écouteur. They had me photograph any musician or band that would come in town. I photographed Alanis before she added Morissette, INXS in concert, Bryan Ferry on a rooftop and Bob Geldof having breakfast.
I’ve owned 12 more cameras since but that doesn't matter does it? You can find a hundred images of the Kodak Retinette online. These photos of Darren, the hippie girl and Bob Geldof are unique and have never been online until now.