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Al Kaplan, the Miami (Fl.)-photographer has passed away


k_g_wolf ✝

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Hello,

 

 

did - by any chance - anybody round here know Alan Kaplan?

 

He was a long time contributor to >>Photo net<< and a passionate

photographer, located in Miami, Florida. For years he published almost

daily on his blog >>The Price of Silver<<. Al passed away on Dec., 29th

after struggeling in hospital for two weeks after a heartattack.

 

You can read tons of information on his blog on LEICA-photography very often

with his M2 and a 15 mm HELIAR. With this combo he became famous for his

selfportraits. He was a very helpful professional, ALWAYS corresponding in a

friendly and supporting manner to anything which was brought up to him.

Sometimes with quite a tough personal attitude, which some didn´t honour.

 

What I liked: he didn´t like digital and stuck to silver-photography right to the end.

 

>> RIP, Al, hope you could take some of your photography-photons with you <<

 

 

 

 

Best

 

GEORG

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Georg - I was following the thread about his illness over on RFF and it was a big shock to hear the news. I liked Al's posts and his vast knowledge of all things 'silver'. He was die hard 'old school photog', cigarette in the corner of his mouth and gallons of coffee.

 

Such a shame we have lost all those wonderful stories and in-depth knowledge. I contributed to the fund and will be buying a couple of T-Shirts too. I have one from the first production run up but it is beyond salvage now! :(

Edited by MPerson
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Yes, Silver is Better ...

 

Thanks for your responses, Andy and KM-25. Here is link to the thread in

Photo net where you can read some responses from their community:

 

http://photo-net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00VN6Z

 

 

In case it doesn´t work, could somebody who is better at it, post a link ?

Thank you.

 

 

 

GEORG

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Thx Andy, this link is working perfectly.

 

Since Al wasn´t a youngster anymore, he received indeed quite a bit

of controversial interest by those fresh photographers who couldn´t

follow his philosophy.

 

Might be interesting to dive into those old discussions again.

Perhaps one day when there is time.

 

 

 

Best and thank you for providing the link !

 

GEORG

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It's interesting that so many people on Photo.net are now saying what a great guy he was. When he was alive I can remember some very nasty stuff said about him by the "Photo.net bullies". One of the reasons why he stopped posting there, and one of the reasons Photo.net is dying.

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It's interesting that so many people on Photo.net are now saying what a great guy he was. When he was alive I can remember some very nasty stuff said about him by the "Photo.net bullies". One of the reasons why he stopped posting there, and one of the reasons Photo.net is dying.

 

Even though I don't get into it with him anymore, guys like Jeff Spir_r stir up the cr@p quite a bit for a moderator on that site. I hope they are not dying, I met Josh R. at Kodak back in June and he really does believe in the site and is a film proponent.

 

The biggest problem with P.net is that 60-70% of the photos on the front page are photoshop fantasy, not photography.

 

Peace be to Al, my darkroom is my future, not my past..

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As a former Photo.netter, I spent a lot of time in Al's web-presence. I remember most of us worrying when he and Miami "went dark" during and after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

 

I'll have to do a little more B&W 15 c/v shooting with the M9 - just in honor of Al.

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It's interesting that so many people on Photo.net are now saying what a great guy he was. When he was alive I can remember some very nasty stuff said about him by the "Photo.net bullies". One of the reasons why he stopped posting there, and one of the reasons Photo.net is dying.

 

 

Photo.net looks pretty sad these days, interesting the way they ran a real live character like Al out of town.........waaaay too much anti Leica hostility in general.

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I knew I had it somewhere: here is the >>Silver is better<< T- shirt

which I got when I had the chance to visit Al Kaplan in his STARBUCKS-livingroom

in North-Miami in 2006.

 

The grande maestro still going strong with his coffee, his cigarettes

and his two Leicas.

 

 

Best

GEORG

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited by k_g_wolf
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This is very sad news. I maintained an email correspondance with Al for several years. I have one of the original t-shirts and I bought one of his Dylan prints which I gave away last year for a gift. When I heard of his passing, I looked in my files and there was another print Al sent me with a long personal message on the back. I'll treasure it now.

On another note, the way Al got booted from the photo.net forum was shameful. He was trying to offer advice as usual and some troll started in on him. It was disgusting and led to my departure from that forum and I've never returned.

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