All rights to this photograph is reserved the photographer

I was walking along Michigan Avenue, in Chicago, early one morning, in March of 2008, when I saw this man walk out of a delicatessen. He looked like a character out of a film noir. I followed him for a couple of blocks, waiting to see if something would transpire photographically. He walked around the corner and the composition came together rather quickly. I was able to expose three frames before he blended in with all of the other pedestrians heading to work. I like the way all of the disparate element come together in this shot, the large smiling woman, in the poster and the smaller, serious looking man. The man looks like he could have stepped out of the 1930’s, while the woman is definitely contemporary and the text alludes to both history and the future. I used a M4-P with a motor drive, a 50 mm D.R. Summicron, and Tri-X to make this image.

Why I use a Leica:
I have been using various Leica M cameras for a little over thirty years. The rangefinder is the least amount of camera between me and the subject. I think that the type of camera that one uses, subtly influences a person’s vision. When I use an M series my compositions become more graphic than when I use a slr or a view camera. I also think that the bright frame lines, in the M series viewfinder, closely approximates what you will get when the three-dimensional world is rendered as a two-dimensional print. The fact that the rangefinder is so quiet and unobtrusive makes it a perfect camera for working on the streets and the quality of the Leitz lenses are superb.

More of Ceronie’s work can be seen at jceronie.com. He is currently living and photographing in Chicago, Illinois.

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