About Allen Perkins

I've lived in Michigan, Wisconsin, Australia, Japan, and California. At 21 I entered the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire as a music major. At 30, after a two-year side trip to Japan, I graduated from Eau Claire with a BA in Psychology and a Minor in Asian Studies. A short detour into high-end audio before graduate school has now reached its 18th year. I've produced four successful turntable designs, developed my own tonearm and worked on speaker designs. Today I continue to produce turntable products and distribute high-end German and Japanese audio components through my business, www.immediasound.com

I remember chasing birds with a camera at the age of 7, and one of my first purchases after getting a full time job was a professional 35mm SLR system. Later, I had a friend who used a Leica M2 with a 50mm lens. His photos were always more to my liking, both technically and artistically, than my own. I couldn't understand how his old fashioned rangefinder camera could produce better results than my state-of-the-art SLR. He convinced me I could concentrate more on composition with a rangefinder because there were fewer technical distractions. In 1974 I sold my SLR system and bought a Rollie 35s for $173. It had a light meter for exposure but you had to mentally calculate the distance to focus. It was good tool for practicing composition and working with depth of field. After my trusted Rollie was stolen I bought my first Leica, an M6 with 35 and 90mm lenses. I've owned an SLR for macro work, but for the last 14 years the Leica M6 has been the only camera I've used for serious photography.

I like unstaged shots of people in public places - street photography. I don't care for photos of staring faces in the middle of the frame - even if they're of cute kids or "natives" wearing exotic garb. I want my photos to be a window so the viewer can linger as a voyeur. I don't choose themes or do photo essays. I want my photos to stand alone with the common element being my personal point of view.

Visit Allen's audio Web site:
www.immediasound.com

Read Allen's Leica MP review:
Leica MP Review >>