Toy Horses by Mr. Holga

My darling spouse and I had a rare day together leading into a four-day weekend. We made a date of the afternoon by antique shopping and having lunch at the Klyde Warren Park in Dallas. Antique shopping is way more interesting when I get to bring along a camera, in this case my Nikon D7000 with a 35mm 1.8 lens.

Click any of the thumbnail images below for a larger version. Cheers.

Cheryl Butcher, June 8, 2007 (photo by her son)

Just in time for Mother’s Day, I am thinking about mom with a photo that I took of her in 2007. Mom is holding a sign that reserved her parking space on the US Air Force base. Alas, mom did not have any car to drive that day. Just her luck. Love you, mom.

Mary Ann Moorman Krahmer in Dealey Plaza (Nikon D7100)

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, after a Slow Art Day, I got a few minutes with Kennedy assassination witness Mary Ann Moorman Krahmer. Mrs. Krahmer was gracious enough to be photographed and interviewed for my JFK book, Death By Holga: 11.22.63.

I met Mrs. Krahmer at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. She was accompanied by her husband.

I was prepared with a chair, diffuser / reflector, one Nikon camera, two Holga cameras, and a very able assistant. The day started off as overcast with a naturally diffused light. But as afternoon came around, so did the harsh sunlight. My assistant kept Mrs. Krahmer nicely diffused (and shaded) for the entire shoot.

Mrs. Krahmer, at the time Moorman, was standing with Jean Hill along Elm Street in the center of Dealey Plaza. I took her photo in the exact spot she and Mrs. Hill were standing. I was surprised that it was so close to the street. Mrs. Krahmer was the closest witness to the assassination.

Mrs. Krahmer took a Polaroid photo the moment after Kennedy was shot. This very famous photo is on view in The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

I shot two rolls of film, one 160 ISO and one 400 ISO. I like to hedge my bets when it comes to mild days and the use of a diffuser.

The film will be developed later this week. You’ll have to read the book to get the interview. Cheers.

602-604 Elsbeth and Neely Houses

I don’t normally experiment with my photographs. I like them exactly as they are shot. My usual enhancements are in line with what a darkroom technician can do. I adjust the color, improve the contrast and remove some of the dust. I don’t like cropping my images because Holga photographs display best when showing the entire image.

I decided to combine a cemetery monument of Jesus and a lifeguard stand. Both photographs are from Galveston, Texas. I used the fullness of each image, which seems to enhance the vignetting. The ghost image of Jesus over the lifeguard stand give the photograph an interesting meaning. Are they both looking out for us?

Jesus and the Lifeguard

My next combination wasn’t so deep. I combined the word art from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth sign with Vortex by Richard Serra (2002), the large sculpture outside the museum. Vortex is a collection of steel plates all standing together like a giant red wood tree. The sculpture nearly 68 feet high with room for a large crowd to stand inside. There are two slit at the base that allow visitors to pass through the work. I prefer My Curves Are Not Mad (1987) at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Still the stone word and the steel go together nicely. I could actually take this shot a a double exposure on a Holga, which I will try next time I’m in cow town.

Art and Vortex from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

The combination of Lee Harvey Oswald’s grave marker and the Oneal ambulance that took Oswald to Parkland Hospital did not turn out very well. I like the ambulance. I just don’t like how plane looking Oswald’s marker appears. His original marker had much more detail.

Oneal Ambulance and Lee Harvey Oswald

The first combination at the top of the page is 602-604 Elsbeth and 214 W. Neely. These were residence of Lee and Marina Oswald in Dallas. The Oswalds lived at the Elsbeth apartments in late 1962 to early 1963. They moved to the Neely house in March 1963. Overlaying the photos gives the Neely house a more sinister look than its usual happy yellow facade. I only used the window and surrounding bricks from the Elsbeth apartment, which give the Neely house the appearance of having a porch and a brick wall near the street.

The last photos I combined are the signs for Dallas Love Field and Parkland Emergency Room. These photos mark the beginning and end of President Kennedy’s journey through Dallas. It if wasn’t for the presidential motorcade through Dallas, Kennedy could have driven straight to the Dallas Trade Mart in about five to ten minutes.

The Dallas Love Field and Parkland Emergency Room photo is not an exact match of square frame to square frame. I took liberty in adjusting the ER sign and I really like how the security camera appears in the blue sky.

Dallas Love Field and Parkland Emergency Room

Let me know what you think of my digital enhancements. I am always looking for ways to make my photographs more interesting and unique. Cheers.

602-604 Elsbeth, Dallas Texas by Mr. Holga, 2012

Before the wrecking crew tore it down, I got a chance to see 602-604 Elsbeth, Dallas, Texas. This run down apartment north of the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff was the former residence to Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife, Marina. The couple lived here for six months between November 1962 to March 1963.

News reports state that Lee beat Marina and that she tried to commit suicide in the bathroom of this very apartment. Marina conceived her second daughter while living at Elsbeth.

602-604 Elsbeth, Apt. No. 2 by Mr. Holga, 2012

Honestly, I did not think much about the apartment. There are a number of other significant Oswald places around the Dallas metro area.

There is Oswald’s last official residence (a boarding house) at 1026 N. Beckley Ave., Dallas.

There is the last place Oswald slept (Paine House) on November 21, 1963, at 2515 Fifth Street, Irving.

And also there is the Neely house where Oswald was photographed with the rifle and revolver at 214 W. Neely, Dallas.

But after listening to the news reports over and over again, I just had to visit the Elsbeth apartment. So, my show daughter (win, place, show) and I ventured out on another photo safari.

The Elsbeth apartment is a large horseshoe shaped complex. There are about ten to twelve units. The Oswalds lived in apartment No. 2, which was on the ground floor near the road.

We parked across the street in an empty lot. No sooner than I started taking photographs, we met the owner, Jane Bryant. Ms. Bryant purchased the complex in 2011 with the idea of fixing it up. Unfortunately, The City of Dallas said it had to come down.

Bryant immediately invited us into the fenced-off grounds. Some of the demolition had begun. There were piles of bricks and some boards covering the windows had been removed.

I expected a mess, but what I got was Gordon Keith. Mr. Keith is a television and radio host, columnist, and avid Kennedy assassination enthusiast.

Det. James Leavelle and Gordon Keith by Mr. Holga, 2012

I had recently met Keith at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. I was there for the “Oswald Has Been Shot!” panel discussion with some of the media who were in the Dallas Police Headquarters basement on Sunday, November 24, 1963. The highlight of the panel was Dallas Police Det. James Leavelle, who was handcuffed to Oswald when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby. Keith asked me to take a photograph of Det. Leavelle and himself.

From what I could tell, Keith was in Oswald’s apartment removing either the toilet or the tub. After reading his column, I see it was the tub. This would make for an interesting collectible.

After a little visiting with Bryant and Keith, I got down to business. I took my photographs and recorded the GPS coordinates.

I was about to leave when Bryant told me the bricks were being auctioned on eBay. She said the current price is $11 each. I looked in my wallet and then offered $10. Bryant said no, the going price was $11 each. So, I paid $11 for a brick. I got one from the pile of bricks nearest apartment No. 2.

Bryant walked us out of the fenced area and watched us leave. I couldn’t help thinking she didn’t want us taking any more bricks.

Update – May 24, 2013

I got a call from Jane Bryant yesterday. Apparently she was none to pleased with this post. Ms. Bryant demanded that I removed her from my website. She stated her graciousness in allowing me onto the property, which I agreed. She denies selling me a brick for $11 instead of the $10 I offered, which is untrue. And she did watch me leave the property, also true. Ms. Bryant even criticized my site for having the comments section turned off, which is standard after a few weeks on all WordPress site. After not being able to get a word in the conversation, I simply thanked her for calling and hung up.

A word to the wise: you will catch more flies with honey than vinegar. If Ms. Bryant asked kindly, I would have been happy to comply. Food for thought. Cheers.

Related Posts

Gordon Keith: Crazy, haunting memories of 604 Elsbeth, where Lee Harvey Oswald lived in Dallas

Wikipedia states Van Cliburn won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958. Wiki says this feat of piano greatness was at the height of the cold war. I think the people of Cuba would greatly disagree (Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962). I’m not denying the man his due, Cliburn was one fine pianist, but impending nuclear war trumps piano concert.

I wonder whether Harvey Cliburn would have been nearly as famous as Van Cliburn. I know Harvey the rabbit was a big hit with Jimmy Stewart (Harvey, 1950). Harvey Keitel (a.k.a. The Wolf in Pulp Fiction, 1994) is one of my favorite character actors. And what would Lee Oswald have been without Harvey in the middle? Harvey may have helped the previously mentioned, but there something about Van. I definitely think the Van pushed Cliburn to stratosphere of success. Or maybe it was his piano playing.

If you think I am being disrespectful to a talented musician, then you are missing my point. Our local media (and yours too) is star struck. If your name is Kennedy, Oswald, Dallas, Cowboys, Cliburn or thunderstorm warning (I knew a guy named Stormy Weatherford), then you’ll be the lead story on all five news outlets. It is truly sad.

Somewhere at the top of the food chain for every news media outlet sits an editor who remembers where he was when Kennedy was shot. Or he knows the media owner likes talking about famous people. And it is up to this old person (I know, ageism) to fill air time or news pages with easy pickings, like Van Cliburn.

I never met Mr. Cliburn, but I have driven on Van Cliburn Way (renamed from Arch Adams Street in 2009). It is one of my favorite streets in all of Fort Worth. The street runs between the Kimbell Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (two of my three favorite Fort Worth museum). Van Cliburn Way is a really nice road unless cars are parked on both sides of the street. This only means parking is full and so are the museums. sigh

So here’s the good news (at least for me). Now that Mr. Cliburn has passed, I’ll finally get to meet him, or at least visit his grave (unless he is cremated). I’m sure he’ll be interred somewhere in the great state of Texas, probably in Fort Worth. My guess is that Van Cliburn will be a few plots away from philanthropist Amon G. Carter, golfer Ben Hogan¹ and television announcer Rod Roddy (The Price is Right) in Greenwood Memorial Park, the ritziest cemetery in Cow Town.

Rest in peace, Mr. Cliburn.

For the Offended Few

Yes, what I wrote above can be considered disrespectful and rude. Making fun of someone, anyone, so soon after their passing is cheap and spiteful. This is often the price a person must pay in the attempt to make others laugh, or in this case, open their eyes a little.

My grandfather passed away in the early 1990s. I was there with my grandmother waiting for the funeral to start. Do you know what we were doing before the procession began? We were telling each other jokes; the dirtier the better. I knew it was out of place to tell jokes before my grandfather’s funeral, but my grandmother sure could use the laugh. I love to make people laugh. It’s my way of taking away some of the hurt.

So, unless you are a kin to Harvey Cliburn, then you don’t have a dog in this fight. The few that I upset with my writing attacked me solely on the basis that Van Cliburn was a great pianist and that I was nothing. True. I can take criticism about me, my photography and my opinion. At the end of the day I will be remembered for creating something and my critics will have faded away. I can live with that.

I would wager that most of my detractors have never hear Cliburn play. They don’t own any of his albums. None of Cliburn’s performances are on their media player.

“I hate our national anthem. Do any of you have it on your iPod?” – Danial Tosh

I, on the other hand, did purchase one if his albums this week. In my quest to find out what was so great about Van Cliburn, I have been listening to his performance. And with nearly 100 percent certainty, I can say Cliburn is definitely better than me … on the piano. Cheers.

¹ Notice that I did not use the word legendary, which is akin to mythical. Mr. Hogan’s golfing record is well documented. It is not a tall tale.

Ira J. Beers, Jr. monument at Kildare Cemetery

I ventured to East Texas to find the final resting place of Ira J. Beers, Jr. Mr. Beers was a staff photographer for The Dallas Morning News, one of the two major news papers for Dallas metro area, the other paper being the Dallas Times Herald¹. I believe Beers was in President Kennedy’s motorcade in Dallas on Friday, November 22, 1963. I know Beers was in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters on Sunday, November 24, 1963, for the transfer of Lee Harvey Oswald from the city jail to the county jail.

Kildare Cemetery Girl Statuette

It was during this transfer that Jack Ruby, owner of the Carousel Club, shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged² assassin of President Kennedy and alleged murderer of Officer J.D. Tippit.

Mr. Ruby was apprehended and Mr. Oswald was rushed to Parkland Hospital. Ruby found himself in the same jail cell previously occupied by Oswald, and Oswald was taken to the same emergency room as Kennedy³. Oswald did not survive.

Beers was not the only photographer waiting for the transfer of Oswald to the county jail. There were numerous television cameras, photographers and reporters for the local and national media. This included Dallas Times Herald staff photographer Robert Jackson.

Beers and Mr. Jackson were positioned differently in the crowded basement. Beers had a good view of the doorway where Oswald would be entering and Jackson was closer to the car that would be used for the prisoner transfer. And somewhere in the middle was Ruby.

Kildare Cemetery General Custer

When Oswald was brought out, the television lights went on and out stepped Jack Ruby from the shadows with a gun. Beers photographed Ruby about to shoot Oswald, who was oblivious to the gunman. Less than a second later, Jackson photographed Oswald in pain with a bullet in him and an alert Det. James Leavelle trying to move Oswald out of the way.

A lot can happen in less than a second, which can be seen in the photographs taken by Beers and Jackson. Beers’ shot, while very good, lacks the drama that was captured by Jackson. In Jackson’s shot can be seen the suffering on Oswald’s face and the grit of the Dallas Police on Det. Leavelle’s face. The emotions speak volumes.

Robert Jackson won the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph. Ira Beers did not.

I have read that not winning the Pulitzer Prize haunted Beers for the rest of his days.

Beers had a great angle. He was high with a good sight of Oswald. His photo is well lit and shows all the action. The only thing missing is the look on Oswald’s face.

Kildare Cemetery

Ira J. Beers, Jr. was not an easy man to find. Just imagine the number of search results you can get for beers.

I went old school to find Beers. I narrowed down his date of death and then visited the Dallas Public Library to view obituaries from The Dallas Morning News on microfilm. Services for his funeral were handled locally, but his final resting place was at Kildare Cemetery, about 165 miles east of Dallas. I confirmed his interment with a Kildare Cemetery historian.

Kildare Cemetery Sign

I trekked out to Kildare Cemetery on Presidents Day, February 18, 2013. It was a two and a half hour drive from my home. Once at the cemetery, it took me nearly forty minutes to locate Beers. I was told he was in section B, but there are no section markings anywhere in the cemetery.

Kildare Cemetery is a nice, country meadow with 200-300 internments. A paved road divides the cemetery up the middle and an American flag stands post near the entrance.  Most of the memorials are gray marble. There are only a handful of statuettes. Within the cemetery is another fenced in private cemetery. Even in death the rich are still trying to keep out the poor.

I had nearly given up my search to find Beers when I happened upon his monument. Beers has a metal military monument. It is nearly the color of the ground and leaves. I almost missed it. Had I visited it at the height of fall, it may have been covered in leaves and I would have missed it.

Beers is located on the east side by the chain-link fence between two upright Rosser monuments.

Photography

Kildare Cemetery Historical Marker

I try to get some basic shots with every cemetery visit. I take photos with both my film Holga cameras and my digital Nikon D7000. I use my Nikon to determine what film speed would be best. It was cloudy in the Kildare Cemetery, but not enough to use higher than 100 and 160 ISO film. In case I am wrong, I do take digital back-up photos.

My first order of business is to make sure the N-B switch on the bottom is set to N. N stands for Normal and B stands for Bulb, or as I like to remember, Blurry. Checking the N-B switch keeps me from wasting a roll of film and a very long car ride.

My Holga shots start out simple with direct overhead or square on shots. I change the focus from 3 ft. to 6 ft. After having the basic shots in the can, I start creating angles and double-exposure shots.

Cloudy days are more freeing than others. I can create multiple double-exposure shots without blowing out the film. For this monument I did some over lapping exposures. I triggered the shutter and advanced the film a few clicks (not all the way to a new photo). This may turn out to be either the worst of best photo in the bunch.

All photographs currently showing on this page are from my Nikon D7000. The film has not been developed. Cheers.

Footnotes

¹ The Dallas Morning News acquired the Dallas Times Herald on December 8, 1991. The Morning News closed the Herald the next day.

² Lee Harvey Oswald did not live to be convicted of either crime and thus remains an innocent man.

³ Lee Harvey Oswald was not in exactly the same emergency room, but a different room in the same emergency room facility. My wife, a nurse, keeps telling me it is an emergency department, which better clarifies the room confusion. But I tell her that nobody would watch a show called ed.

I now have a list from Ancestry.com that gives me all the names of babies born in Dallas County on the same day as Kennedy’s assassination.

If you are on the list below or know someone who is on the list below, please have them contact me. I would very much like to meet them and possibly photograph them for the JFK book I am preparing for the 50th anniversary.

My ultimate goal is to get a Parkland baby, but I may just get a group of Dallas babies together for a special photograph.

Please contact me via the contact form at Dallas Art News or find me on Facebook at facebook.com/DeathByHolga or on Twitter at twitter.com/MrHolga. I can’t wait to meet you.

The following people were born in Dallas County on Friday, November 11, 1963, which means they will be 49 years old this Fall.

1. Clara Aceves
2. Sandra Sue Baldwin
3. Roy Belcher
4. Lynn Frances Belvin – Randi Romick might have Lynn’s information.
5. Lisa Cheryle Bingham
6. John Mack Brown
7. Michael Eugene Brown
8. Darla Kae Cannaday
9. Johnny Ray Chapman
10. Darleen Ann Church
11. John Kennedy Clifton
12. Jacqueline Linnett Cobb
13. Octavia Thomas Crawford – Born at Parkland. Have email. Not made contact yet.
14. Charles Gregory Daugherty
15. Paul Doyle Denman
16. Dana Lynn Douglas
17. Michael Paul Dozier
18. Leticia Alaman Duarte
19. Retha Charlene Duncan
20. Michael Fitzgerald Dunn
21. Wayne Bennett Dyess
22. Silvia Ivette Ekman
23. Heedi Marie Evans
24. Terrence (Terry) Wayne Falls
25. Valerie Jo Foster
26. Tina Gail Fuller – Contacted. Born at Methodist Hospital.
27. Kimberly Kaye Giles
28. Sharon Jill Gouge
29. Heather Hackett – Contacted. Born at Baylor Hospital.
30. Jeffrey Lee Hardin
31. Jackie Ken Harris
32. Pamela Renee Hendershott
33. John David Hopkins
34. Christopher Carroll Hunter
35. Katrina Marie Jemerson
36. Dean Thomas Jones
37. Christopher David King
38. George Hamilton Leach
39. James Alvin Lee
40. Kerry Ann Lewis
41. Shenion Dence Lewis
42. Tina Yvonna Madden
43. David Wayne Majkszak
44. Donald Duane Margraves
45. Jackie Denise Martin
46. Karen Rae McGinnis
47. Terrie Eileen McKay Lamarche – Contacted. Born at Baylor.
    
48. Megan McMurtrie
49. Billy Troy Morgan
50. Bruce Steven Morgan
51. John Thomas Nabors
52. Anthony Dwayne Nash
53. William Patrick Nesmith
54. Christene Denise Palmer
55. Edna Michelle Peoples
56. Angelita Perez
57. Anthony Adam Perez
58. Gwendolyn Paige Peterson – I am already in contact with Paige. She was born at a Dallas hospital just south of Parkland.
59. Sherry Yvonne Phelps
60. Christopher Lee Pierce
61. John Fitzgerald Rodriguez
62. David Anthony Rogers
63. Randi Sue Romick – Contacted. Born at Baylor Hospital. Randi knows a couple more Kennedy babies.
    1. Debbi Levy – Randi knows her and she is game for a photo too.
64. Jeffrey Michael Sanders
65. Sandra Dee Satterwhite
66. Charlotte Denise Smith
67. Melissa Faye Smith
68. Traci Lee Smith
69. Daniel Brent Stovall
70. Maureen Sweeney
71. Paul Martin Zingler Trautwein
72. Walter Zane Vaden
73. Leroy Allen Venn
74. Kendall Trace Wagner
75. Christopher West
76. Cathy Annette White
77. Tony Vincent Williams
78. Lisa Ann Yates
79. Karen Denise Young

Contact me via the contact form at Dallas Art News or on Facebook at facebook.com/DeathByHolga or on Twitter at twitter.com/MrHolga. Cheers.

Pleasure Pier at Galveston, Texas

The family and I spent the Labor Day weekend in Galveston, Texas. It was a delightful four day weekend starting on Friday, August 31, 2012. We drove down U.S. Interstate Highway 45 from Dallas to through Houston.

We stopped for a little lunch and art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Click here to see some of my goddess butt images from MFAH on Tumblr.

We stayed at the Galveston Hilton. I splurged on my darling wife and got us the presidential suite. It was a very nice room with king-size bed and living area. Too bad it did not have a microwave.

I spent most of my time with the family at the beach and out to eat. I did sneak away for jogging and a little cemetery photography. I knew better than to go shooting at noon, but that was the only time I could get away. Maybe next time I’ll get some early morning or evening shots.

Galveston Gallery

Click any of the thumbnail images to see a larger version. My film is being developed. These are shots from my Nikon D7000. I did shoot with a variety of Holga cameras including a pinhole model.

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong (Photoshopped by Mr. Holga)

I am saddened today to hear about the passing of Neil Armstrong. I never met Mr. Armstrong in person, but I feel I owe him a little gratitude for his actions.

Allow me to explain.

I’ve been working on my Kennedy assassination book, Death by Holga: 11.22.63, for over a year now. And during the first part of the book’s planning I tried to make connections to people both famous (President John F. Kennedy) and not so famous (myself).

It’s like the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (never met Mr. Bacon either), where a connection is made from one person to another in six steps or less. The best I can get to Mr. Bacon is a three with either actors from Star Wars (Fisher, Prowse, Williams, Mayhew, Baker, Danials, etc) or Star Trek (Shatner, Nemoy, Nicholes, Takei).

First Lady and President Kennedy at Madame Tussaud’s (photo by Mr. Holga)

My first list of people, places and things to photograph for my Kennedy book was very long. Of course I had President and Mrs. Kennedy, but I also had Joseph and Rose, Robert, Edward, Caroline, John Jr., Lee Harvey Oswald, Oswald’s mother, Marina Oswald, Oswald’s father and his half-brother. The list went on and on because they were all a part of the Kennedy assassination story.

I even connected Kennedy to Marilyn Monroe and then to Hugh Hefner and thought, “Hey, Hef is still alive. I’ll just swing by the Playboy Mansion and ask for a photo op.” Yeah, right.

My list was getting out of control rather quickly.

The great part about a list like this is dreaming of all the possibilities. It’s like winning the lottery without spending a dollar. I just could not resist.

I know. I know. What’s the connection between Neil Armstrong and myself?

I realize how silly this sounds, and both my parents deny this theory, but I believe I was conceived when Mr. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon. That’s right, I was born in March of 1970, which is 39-40 weeks of pregnancy.

My mother, who had a reserved parking space, but did not have a car (photo by Mr. Holga)

Also adding to my theory, I was born just south of Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida. My father was a technician at the time. I’m not sure if he worked for NASA, but then anyone who could wield a soldering iron back then worked for the space agency.

Here is the order of events:

1. President Kennedy announces in a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961 (Star Wars released May 25, 1977) that we must send a man to the Moon and return him safely to Earth within the decade.

2. My parents get married in 1965-ish. My older brothers were born in 1966 and 1967.

3. Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Aldrin land safely on the Moon on June 20, 1969. This was a Friday and possibly a very amours three-day weekend.

4. I was born in March of 1970, which is 39-40 weeks of pregnancy. I was my mother’s third child, so an early delivery would be probable.

5. Forty plus years later I finally make Kennedy-Armstrong connection while brainstorming book project in 2010.

Yes, I know it’s a long shot, but this isn’t my only connection to greatness in my quest for a Kennedy connection. I’ve met Apollo 7 astronaut Col. Walt Cunningham. I’ve also been in the same room as Mr. Aldrin. But for that matter, I’ve been in the same room (not the same as meeting someone) as former President George Bush elder, the Dalai Lama and Paul McCartney (no Sir for me, I’m American). Surely there’s a Kennedy-Armstrong connection there somewhere.

Secret Service Agent Clint Hill (photo by Mr. Holga)

Actually, my closest connection to President Kennedy is Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, who I’ve actually met twice. Agent Hill was Mrs. Kennedy’s lead agent. That gives me a Kennedy connection of one.

Alas, I am mostly saddened, not because of missing my chance of meeting the first man on the Moon, but because I will never get Mr. Armstrong in my Holga view finder. Just one small click from my Holga would mean the world to me.

Godspeed, Neil Armstrong. Cheers.

About the Photo

The photo at the top of this post is my attempt a simulating the Holga effect on an existing image of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong (original photo by Buzz Aldrin). I have added vignetting in the corners, desaturated the colors and added film grain as this shot would be too dark to take anyway. The only effects missing are a slight double image in the bottom right corner and a little dust from the scanner.