On Friday, August 29, 2003, at 08:44 am, David Preutz wrote:
So, if any of you Strobe users out there have any anecdotes / stories - amusing or otherwise - relating to their kit, send them in.
If they do go to the wall, all our Strobe kit will be worthless once & for
all. It's out with the cheque books & hello Switzerland or Sweden!
-- Regards
David Preutz
Dear David
I can't find the link you gave. Can you please forward this?
I have two stories, among many, about David Cecil and Strobe. OK three.
When I was sharing a studio with several other photographers in Baker Street sometime in the sixties we had a problem with one of the packs. We tried to hire a spare from Strobe while ours was fixed. "Sorry," said David, "All the hire packs are booked out." As he couldn't hire us a pack he came over to fix ours. Normally David wore the scruffiest and most unfashionable clothes you could imagine. He had a penchant for Mickey Mouse hawaiian shirts. This time he turned up in an immaculate suit, shirt and tie and proceeded to work on our pack kneeling down with his tools spread over the floor. When he had finished he refused a coffee and told us he was due at Buckingham Palace in 15 minutes to make sure his packs behaved during a royal portrait with Norman Parkinson.
Story two. I was working out of a studio with one 1,000 joule pack and two standard heads. Determined to get some better quality lighting I constructed a square reflector using aluminium sheet and pop rivets. I stuck a standard tube in the back and it worked very well. The studio owner decided that I should approach David Cecil to ask him to make up something similar but less like a Heath Robinson construction. I drew up some ideas on a piece of paper and went round to Strobe's factory above Farrindon Road tube station. As I arrived Len Fulford's assistant was just in front of me. He produced a piece of paper almost identical to mine. We discussed our idea of square and oblong window lights which David then made as specials. Len Fulford used his first on a shot of Fish Fingers and it was then named the "Fish Fryer". I first used mine on a cosmetic still life. If I had been 30 seconds earlier that day the light might have been called the "Lipstick Cooker" or something. Within a few years art directors in New York were referring to it as "that wonderful London Light."
Story Three. In the early days of AFAEP, now AoP, money was always a big problem. David Cecil generously supported the Association by taking the back page of the AFAEP newsletter to advertise Strobe. This was a generous gesture because the entire readership new Strobe anyway. I think the amount we charged him was �30. That was in the days when assistant's wages were about �15 a week. Without going into lengthy details Kodak made a big mistake over a film fault and ended up needing to make a big apology to AFAEP members. George Nicholls cheekily arranged for Kodak to take a year's advertising at �100 a time for the back page. David kindly gave up his back page slot but continued with the �30 payments.
Yours
Bob Croxford
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