Leonard McCombe – Aftermath of War “The Kid with the Camera”

“So, the war was on. The Battle of Britain was being fought. Churchill was making big speeches. And I needed a 35 mm camera, which were really off the market during the war. Leica was made in Germany and the Contax. And I advertised in a sort of Ebay situation, got an answer that this man had a Contax ... and he lived in North London. And so, I ... set off for London. I was about 17, 18 maybe. ... And I arrived at his house in the middle of a bombing attack. ... Went back ... and practiced. I used the 35 mm film. I studied LIFE Magazine. The doctor had copies of LIFE there, and he let me take one caopy home each week. And I studied the work of Eisenstaedt and so on. And I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be wonderful to work for a magazine like that, and travel around, and meet famous people, and Hollywood movie stars.”

LEONARD MCCOMBE