Through His Lens
Photographed in late 2022 during Dad’s remission from cancer, using one of his favourite Leica lenses, adapted onto my Canon… He was a photographer by profession. For me, it was more a hobby that became more serious when I grew up. A few days before he passed, he told me he was happy with these portraits and that I might even be doing them better than he would have. It meant more than I knew how to say…
My father’s birthday is approaching. He would have turned 83 on July 26. I’ve been thinking of him more than usual this month, and about this portrait in particular.
This portrait was made toward the end of 2022, during a period of remission in his cancer journey. His diagnosis and surgery had taken place just right before the height of COVID. Chemotherapy and recuperation continued during a period when family gatherings were difficult. Once restrictions eased, I began taking more photos at our reunions, starting with simple celebrations like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and birthdays. Gradually, those casual snapshots turned into something more intentional. I started learning about portrait lighting from YouTube tutorials and began experimenting with headshot setups at home. This image was one of many that came out of that process.
It holds special meaning not just because of who it shows but because of how it was made, using one of his favourite Leica lenses, which he had passed on to me after his diagnosis. I don’t shoot Leica cameras but I adapted the lens to my Canon R5. Photographing him through that glass — his glass — felt like a quiet collaboration.
My father was a far more accomplished photographer than I will ever be. It was his career. Photography for me has instead been a serious hobby, a way of observing and holding on to moments. So when he said he was happy with the portraits I had been making, and that I might even be doing them better than he might have, it meant more than I knew how to say.
This was not the last portrait I made of him but it is one that has quietly come to represent a moment of closeness, a connection through photography, and a memory that will always remain in focus.