Lei Chen

"I am a Pediatric resident at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. For our wedding last year my wife and I received a Pentax ZX-50. That's our fanciest camera. Since the salary of a resident is rather limited and I have loads of debt from medical school, we can't really afford a fancy MF camera. In the past year I have been experimenting taking pictures with older cameras. I have an Argoflex 40, a Kodak folder (Kodak Jr. Six-20 Series III), and a Six-20 Brownie. One of my professors gave me the latter two cameras to play around with. I wanted to share these pictures to prove that it's fun and easy to use these oldies. Photography doesn't always mean fancy equipment. A $10 camera that's 50 years old can still turn out beautiful and unique shots. If I had enough time I think I would photograph almost anything but the hospital keeps me busy so I take pictures where-ever I find myself. I have some nice pictures of children at our church and some church events taken with the Argoflex. In the coming months I am contemplating a project to document the drama of pediatric intensive care (probably with my Canonet). I use our window-less bathroom as a make-shift bathroom. Before beginning I warn my wife that the bathroom won't be available for several hours. The pictures were scanned from contact-sheets since I don't have an 6X9 enlarger. The Brownie Camera Page has been an inspiration and I am glad to be able to contribute to it." Lei Chen