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IS TREASURE By Melissa Walsh Photos Yanni
H
e’s been a schoolteacher, photographer, author and journalist, and now runs one of the last stores that specialise in used film photographic equipment and the like. When you meet Andrew Fildes, owner of Andrews’ Antipodean Photographic Emporium, you soon realize you have met one of the true treasures in the Tyabb Packing House. The well-spoken and mild mannered camera and history enthusiast is larger than life as we sit talking about his collections amidst a mix of old cameras and photo antiques, with the distinctive feel of the used camera section that old camera stores used to have. “This is a project that I have wanted to do for some time so when the opportunity came up to take over two and a half years ago, I jumped at it,” said Andrew, a well known feature and review writer for the Australian Photography website and for the associated magazines 'Digital Photography and Design' and ‘Australian Photography’. He has also taught philosophy, photography, environmental science, politics, history and English over the last thirty years. “In essence, the emporium is a major resource for the retro photographer, camera collector, photographic decor enthusiast and so on,” said Andrew, describing this as his fifth career, since giving away continued next page...
E ssence
44 | PENINSULA
August 2017