My Contax was poetically described by my son, as my “Alethiometer,” from the Greek words aletheia (truth) and ometer (measuring device). An alethiometer is the compass-like device made famous in Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials.” This fictional device helps some holders find truthful answers to their questions.

These words from the French poet Paul Verlaine have been like a mantra for me: “Cache et montre au cœur qui s’étonne La vérité comme une étoile.” In English, it would read something like this: “Unto the astounded heart shows, Truth’s star now hidden, now revealed.”
That’s poetry. That’s photography.