Max Yavno’s work beckoned to me first from a book of his photos. Max worked for more than 50 years, mostly with an 8×10 view camera. I first met him when he was mounting a show at the G. Ray Hawkins gallery, then in West Hollywood. I begged boss Jim Roark (another mentor) to let me shoot Max for the critic’s review of the show, and he acquiesced.

My plan was to shoot Max with my ‘big’ camera, a Hasselblad (whose 2.25-inch square negs were tiny compared to the 8×10-inch negs of Max’s mahogany-and-leather Deardorf view camera), placed on a tripod at a high angle, using available light – all in imitation of the master.

Max and I got to talking, and I came back to see him a couple of times to listen and learn. Max, who’d been upbeat despite a serious health problem, died not long afterwards. “Don’t be afraid of people,” advice that still rings in my ears…

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