Maurice (Bud) Hirsch is a good combination of left-brain and right-brain with a PhD in Accounting and a published series of poetry, both sides contributing to his journey as a photographer. He started in about 1950 with a Brownie Hawkeye, next an Argus C3, and an Aires rangefinder camera. His first darkroom was in a converted half-bath in his parents’ basement. In the mid-1950s, his parents built him a “real” darkroom. In high school he specialized in sports photography and became photo editor of the weekly student newspaper and the yearbook. In collage, Bud became photo editor of the University of Pennsylvania’s Record yearbook. Starting then, and for over 30 years, he used a series of Leica rangefinder and SLR cameras. When his wife, Marian, and he came back to St. Louis, he built a full b&w darkroom where his children, especially Jeff, accompanied him as he processed and enlarged images.

Bud moved into digital in 2000 going though a whole series of Canon G cameras. In 2010, he bought his first DSLR, and in 2011 began travelling on a series of photo workshops in Europe. While his main emphases have been street photography, details, hands/feet/heads, and food, he has taken over 10,000 shots of gymnastics following his granddaughter through well over a decade and now into college. His workhorse camera through much of this was the Canon 7D Mk II. In 2021, he moved into mirrorless with the Canon R6 and RF lenses.