This picture is from “back east” and dates from 40 years ago— 1972. I was working on an assignment. Mr. Cunningham had at this time maintained his forge and blacksmith business for almost 70 years. He worked alone, and always had a line-up of farmers and others waiting for his services. But the city reached out and out and still further out and eventually surrounded his smithy. When he died, not long after this picture was taken, his building was torn down “in the name of progress.” The site is now occupied by a Super 8 motel.

The forge was lit by a single fly-specked bulb, maybe 100W but more likely a 60, whose aura you can see in about the top middle of the frame. In those days I had a steady hand and the hand-held exposure was in the neighborhood of 1/8 at f/4.5 with a Leica M4 and a Summicron f/2 35mm. Tri-X rated @ 200, developed in D76 1:1. Negative recently scanned and digitized. Those were the days!

This picture is from “back east” and dates from 40 years ago— 1972. I was working on an assignment. Mr. Cunningham had at this time maintained his forge and blacksmith business for almost 70 years. He worked alone, and always had a line-up of farmers and others waiting for his services. But the city reached out and out and still further out and eventually surrounded his smithy. When he died, not long after this picture was taken, his building was torn down “in the name of progress.” The site is now occupied by a Super 8 motel.

The forge was lit by a single fly-specked bulb, maybe 100W but more likely a 60, whose aura you can see in about the top middle of the frame. In those days I had a steady hand and the hand-held exposure was in the neighborhood of 1/8 at f/4.5 with a Leica M4 and a Summicron f/2 35mm. Tri-X rated @ 200, developed in D76 1:1. Negative recently scanned and digitized. Those were the days!

This picture is from “back east” and dates from 40 years ago— 1972. I was working on an assignment. Mr. Cunningham had at this time maintained his forge and blacksmith business for almost 70 years. He worked alone, and always had a line-up of farmers and others waiting for his services. But the city reached out and out and still further out and eventually surrounded his smithy. When he died, not long after this picture was taken, his building was torn down “in the name of progress.” The site is now occupied by a Super 8 motel.

The forge was lit by a single fly-specked bulb, maybe 100W but more likely a 60, whose aura you can see in about the top middle of the frame. In those days I had a steady hand and the hand-held exposure was in the neighborhood of 1/8 at f/4.5 with a Leica M4 and a Summicron f/2 35mm. Tri-X rated @ 200, developed in D76 1:1. Negative recently scanned and digitized. Those were the days!