Welcome to our sixth Bergen County Camera Customer Spotlight. This monthly posting features a customer who’s made an impression on us. They might have grown in their understanding of photography, gained a mastery of the craft and / or have become a strong advocate of our way of doing business in the world of photography. During the next month you will see this customer’s images displayed on our digital signs in store, in our emails, blog posts and social media. We hope you both enjoy and are inspired by this new addition to In Focus and look forward to your comments and suggestions.
John Gonzalez is this month’s customer profile. Please enjoy a few of John Gonzalez’s images in the gallery below.
Here is a word from John:
I have been fascinated with photography since I was in high school and began bugging my parents for a camera. After finally caving in they bought me my first camera, a Canon EOS RT, and the rest is as they say history. Throughout the years I have had many hobbies but the one that I have always stuck with has been Photography.
Some of my fondest memories were taking photography in college. I would get to school early to get to the darkroom first. To this day, every time I smell vinegar it takes me back to those mornings. For those of you that have developed and printed you would understand.
Today, even though I primarily shoot digital, I still love shooting and developing film as well. In fact, I love to collect film cameras that were used in photo journalism. My two passions are wildlife photography and street although I mostly do street photography. To me there is just something special about documenting life as it happens on the streets of New York were characters abound. When I first started doing this I was shy and would shoot with long lenses but soon discovered that the images were just not personal. To quote Robert Capa, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough”. I have literally taken that to heart and get real close and personal. I switched my strategy and started shooting close, really close! Most of my images today are shot at 28mm with a Leica and none are posed. Most of the time it works out just fine, yet other times you get beer bottles thrown at you. I try to capture everyone in their moment and especially love to play with shadows and contrast.
To me Bergen County Camera is truly more than a store, it is a family and a gathering place for friends that share a common interest. In a world of mega box stores and on-line retailers, it is refreshing to find a place such as this that embodies the sense of community.
Keep shooting and above all else always have a camera with you.
You can find John on instagram, @johngonzalez_photography
