The Research Behind My Character's Love Affair with Photography
Through Maddie's Lens: Eight Decades of Life Captured on Film and Pixel
In my last blog post, I shared how meticulous research anchors the fantastical elements of the Maddie and Nate series in reality. I mentioned that getting the historical details right eliminates distractions and honors readers' intelligence. Perhaps nowhere is this commitment to accuracy more personal to me than in tracing Maddie Cole's photographic journey across the decades.
As someone who shares Maddie's passion for photography, I've been particularly careful to ensure the technology she uses in each timeline is period-appropriate. The cameras, film, and techniques available in 1966 Japan differ dramatically from those of 1980s Toronto or 2016 Maine. Each technological shift not only reflects the era, but also reveals something essential about Maddie's character and her approach to capturing the world around her.
In the Maddie and Nate series, Maddie's passion for photography isn't just a character detail. It's a narrative thread that weaves through each timeline, reflecting both technological evolution and her personal journey. Like many photographers who've lived through the remarkable transformation from film to digital, Maddie's relationship with her cameras tells a story of its own.
The Gift That Changed Everything: The Leica M3 (1954)
Maddie's journey begins with a Leica M3 gifted by her grandfather in 1954. The M3 had only been released that year, representing the pinnacle of rangefinder technology with its bright viewfinder and precise focusing system. For a young woman in the 1950s, this wasn't a casual gift. It was an extraordinary vote of confidence.
This gift was his statement that she shouldn't be limited by what girls 'should' do but instead pursue what she loved. At a time when few women entered engineering, the camera was his way of encouraging her to follow in his and her father's footsteps as mining engineers.
What would Maddie say? "My grandfather saw something in me that I hadn't yet recognized in myself. That Leica wasn't just a camera. It was permission to see the world differently when most girls my age were being taught to look at the world in very specific ways."
The M3's all-metal construction and mechanical precision became Maddie's first lesson in engineering excellence. The deliberate process of using this camera, carefully metering light, manually focusing, advancing film, taught her patience and precision that transferred directly to her work as a professional engineer. It taught her the patience and attention to detail that would later define her groundbreaking career in a male-dominated field.
The Loyal Companion: Nikon F-Series (1960s-1980s)
As Maddie established herself professionally in the late 1960s and 70s, she transitioned to what would become her most enduring photographic relationship with Nikon cameras. Her preference likely began with the revolutionary Nikon F, the professional workhorse that dominated photojournalism and serious photography throughout the era.
By the mid-70s, Maddie would have appreciated the Nikon FM's compact durability and mechanical reliability. This camera accompanied her for work and pleasure, documenting both professional projects and the landscapes that increasingly captured her artistic eye.
The professional-grade Nikon F3 would have likely become her main camera by the early 1980s, with its aperture-priority automation offering a perfect balance of control and convenience for a woman constantly balancing career demands with creative pursuits.
Her photography similarly evolved from documentation to more deliberate artistic expression, culminating in her Heathrow Airport exhibition that plays a significant role in connecting her to Nate in ‘Out of Time’.
The Practical Magic of Polaroid: Immediate Gratification (1970s)
While Maddie's Nikon remained her primary creative tool, her battered Polaroid camera served dual purposes that reveal much about her practical nature and private self. In job sites, her Polaroid provided immediate documentation of site conditions, equipment installations, and structural concerns.
What would Maddie say? "Engineering is about solving problems in real time. I couldn't wait three weeks to get film developed when I needed to show a structural issue to a team in the field. The Polaroid wasn't pretty or perfect, but it showed exactly what we needed to see when we needed to see it."
But the Polaroid served another, more personal purpose. In an era when film had to be sent to processing labs, the privacy of instant photography allowed Maddie to capture moments she wouldn't want viewed by strangers. The Polaroid created a space for vulnerability that the professional Nikon didn't.
This duality of the professional and the intimate perfectly captures Maddie's character; rigorously practical on the surface, yet harboring depths of sentiment she reveals only to those closest to her. When she hands her Polaroid camera to Nate in a private moment in their hotel room, the gesture carries the weight of both these aspects of herself.
The Reluctant Transition: Embracing Digital (1990s-2000s)
Like many serious photographers, Maddie's transition to digital was gradual and somewhat reluctant. Her initial resistance wasn't mere nostalgia but a photographer's legitimate concern about image quality and the discipline that film photography demanded.
What would Maddie say? "With film, you have to think before you shoot. There's something about knowing you only have 36 exposures that makes each frame matter. Digital makes it too easy to be careless."
Nevertheless, practicality eventually won out. The Nikon D70, released in 2004, would have offered Maddie a familiar interface in a digital body, easing her transition. Its 6-megapixel sensor and compatibility with her existing Nikon lenses would have made it the logical choice for someone with her established preferences. And, this period of transition coincided with Maddie's own professional evolution as she moved from active engineering to consulting and teaching.
The Creative Renaissance: Modern Digital Freedom (2010s)
By the time we meet Maddie in "Out of Time," she's fully embraced the creative possibilities of modern digital photography. Her equipment now includes a sophisticated DSLR system, complete with tripod, remote timers, and lighting equipment for her cookbook photography projects.
While she maintains her loyalty to Nikon, likely using something like the D750, which offers professional features in a lighter body suitable for travel and aging hands, she's also practical enough to carry a compact camera for casual situations or when she wants to capture the moment discreetly.
What would Maddie say? "There's something special about the physical photograph. A digital image lives on a screen, but a printed picture is an object with weight and texture. It exists in the world the way a memory exists in your mind. Immediate, tangible, and slightly imperfect."
The Photographer's Eye: Consistency Across Technologies
What remains consistent throughout Maddie's photographic journey isn't the equipment but her way of seeing. From the teenage girl carefully composing landscapes with her Leica to the accomplished engineer documenting excavations with her Nikon F, to the septuagenarian artist creating still lifes with her digital system, Maddie's photographic eye reflects her essential character: observant, precise, and attuned to both technical detail and emotional resonance.
Her preference for Nikon mirrors her approach to life. She values reliability, precision, and thoughtful innovation over flashy trends. Just as she built her engineering career on solid principles rather than seeking the spotlight, her photographic choices reflect substance over style.
Photography as Timeline Marker
In many ways, Maddie's cameras serve as perfect markers for each timeline in the series. In "Our Time," set in 1966, her Nikon Photomic connects her with the Japanese innovation she witnesses while working abroad. In "Next Time," her Nikon F3 film camera symbolizes the established professional at the height of her powers. And in "Out of Time," her digital system reflects adaptation and reinvention in her later years.
Like the quantum principles that inspired the series, photography itself is about capturing a moment in time. It freezes it for observation while acknowledging that the act of observation changes both subject and observer. Through Maddie's viewfinder, we see not just the evolution of photographic technology but the development of a life fully lived across multiple possible timelines.
What was your first camera? How has your relationship with photography evolved over the years? Share your photographic journey in the comments below.