It all started with corn. Bill loved his fresh picked corn.
He loved the local farmers; he loved the talks with them. But Bill loved to
talk to anyone, he had an inquisitive mind.
He was at the local farm stand and noticed a large
photograph on the wall of an aerial of a corn maze, the corn maze from the previous
year at that very farm. The owner said he was going to get another one printed
at a photo lab in Danbury. Bill had no idea we existed so he got in his car and
followed the guy to our lab. He walked in looking at the photographs on the
wall and with his quiet smile said “You people print black
and white?” That was the start of a
wonderful relationship. He told us who he was, we were star struck.
Bill was at the beginning of his digital transformation.
Nikon would let him play with cameras all the time. He would use them, modify
them and then tell them what was wrong with them. He just knew what they needed
to do; they needed to be an extension of his eye. But his true love was for
film. He grew up on it; it was the most comfortable thing for him. He had many
years of film just waiting to be printed.
We started printing black and white, everything from the
Beatles, Bobby Kennedy, the civil rights era, movie stars; it was like he had
been everywhere at the right time.
Through the years we helped with his book projects, scanning
images that had not been seen for years or never seen. It was like opening a
time capsule. We spent time together visiting the grave of Robert Capa, just
one great photojournalist paying tribute to another. We were invited along to the
Eddie Adams workshops, he introduced us to many photographers we had only known
by their iconic images and the name under the photo. He would praise us for our
services to others that led to many other great projects for photographers. How
do you thank a man for that?
So what was it like to print for Bill Eppridge? Scary,
exciting, frustrating, but all worth it. He knew what a good print should look
like. He taught us that what is at the edge of the image is sometimes even more
important then the middle, he taught us how to make a face stand out, how to
make a print with soul.
You will be missed Bill Eppridge. Keep on shooting.
~Mark Savoia