A Camera and an Eye, Both One of a Kind

clipped from www.nytimes.com A Camera and an Eye, Both One of a Kind Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times RETRO Louis Mendes with his specially modified camera. More Photos > By DAVID GONZALEZ FORGET what your parents told you: money does grow on trees. Well, at least for the street photographers who work the crowds around the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, it does. With digital cameras and ink-jet printers powered by car batteries, they churn out images at about $10 a pop. Arrivistes, as far as Louis Mendes is concerned. Where is the skill in setting a camera to “automatic” and pushing a button? Where is the permanence in a shot printed with no-name ink on no-name paper? Where is the craft? In his hands. Mr. Mendes works the same crowds — and parades, graduations and concerts — cradling like a piece of sculpture a vintage Speed Graphic camera outfitted with two flash units and a Polaroid back.