When I studied abroad in Japan my American friends nicknamed me "paparazzi hentai." The name quickly passed on to our Japanese friends as well as people began to notice a camera was permanently glued to my hand. It was a dream just to be in Japan and I wanted to capture every minute of it that I could. I was predominantly using a simple Canon Powershot, but occasionally brought out my father's old Pentax. No one was really safe from my lens; I loved snapping candid portraits of friends and strangers. While there I found a camera charm necklace at one store; it seemed like the perfect souvenir for my trip. Of course I was on a rather tight student budget then and the price seemed a bit out of my range, so I visited the store several times, pawing at it before I finally bought it. I wore it quite a bit for several years before it broke one day, so now the pieces sit in the bottom of an old jewelry box--unwearable but I'm not ready to dispose it of yet. So, I was rather pleased when I spied this very similar necklace. It brought back a lot of pleasant memories and stirred up my wanderlust.
CONVERSATION