ID this bag - Trent Parke / Dreamlives

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stillshunter

unlearning digital habits
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Draw inspiration from this little documentary every time I watch it. What a brilliant couple Narelle Autio and Trent Parke make!

https://youtu.be/5A5NSHHefgQ

But I’m also always struck by a certain bag from a certain scene, and just cannot nail what model it is. Mind you it’s made more difficult by being contemporary in 2002, but I think there’s a member or two here, like me, that fit the vintage quite comfortably.

So any ideas what bag Trent is toting through the Sydney streets at around the 20 minute mark?

At first I thought Domke but it seems to have side pockets, which is what looks so cool about it. But I assume the Next Generation line wasn’t available back in early 2000. Then it some times looks like a Crumpler logo on the flap .... Anyway, some stills if it helps....

jqF1IUC.jpg



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Love the over-text: "...are photographers working in Australia at the moment." They're bloody Australians. Trent Parke is one of the few or likely the only Australian in Magnum.
 
Richard G said:
Love the over-text: "...are photographers working in Australia at the moment." They're bloody Australians. Trent Parke is one of the few or likely the only Australian in Magnum.
Click to expand...

Yeah I cringed as well. But the film makers were Australians after all. I suppose it’s down to our tall poppy syndrome.

...and about your “last Australian in Magnum” comment. Just hold your horses mate, I’m expecting an invite any day now.
(...and have for the last 10 years but I know...Any. Day. Now. )
 
I’ve got my fingers crossed for you.

Looked at the interview with him in 2014 straight after this. Such commitment. Amazing guy. Thanks for this thread.

Pity about the bag. I saw a very neat low profile Tenba like it at Van Bar which I successfully managed not to buy.
 
Can't watch the video right now but from the screenshots I would guess it's one of the earlier Domke bags that indeed did have side pockets.
 
B-9 said:
Can't watch the video right now but from the screenshots I would guess it's one of the earlier Domke bags that indeed did have side pockets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

That is absolutely fascinating! I’d really appreciate any further information you can provide on these older Domke bags. Were they a standard line or similar to the current Next Generation limited/premium line? Armed with model references I can set up some auction site keyword searches as something like this would be perfect. Always thought an F5xB (a firm and constant favourite) would be even better with a couple of side pockets as appear on the F3x series....
 
Richard G said:
I’ve got my fingers crossed for you.

Looked at the interview with him in 2014 straight after this. Such commitment. Amazing guy. Thanks for this thread.

Pity about the bag. I saw a very neat low profile Tenba like it at Van Bar which I successfully managed not to buy.
Click to expand...

Congratulations. You are made of steelier stuff than I.

Wasn’t per chance one of Tenba’s Cooper line of shoulder bags? Drooled over them from day one. But pricey like a Ona.
 
It looks like an F2 to me, which is just like the F6 but a bit taller and with side pockets. There are a few other Domke bags that have side pockets too.

(I think it looks like a Domke too)
 
michaelwj said:
It looks like an F2 to me, which is just like the F6 but a bit taller and with side pockets. There are a few other Domke bags that have side pockets too.

(I think it looks like a Domke too)
Click to expand...

Yeah mate, agree it looks like a Domke. But F2? It looks far too small to my eye. I realise Trent is tall but not 8’...The size looks more F5...so noting the side pockets I’d have said F3, except it doesn’t look as wide. It seriously looks like an F5xB with pockets on either side. Like the latest Domke Crosstown

TcqpEj
 
michaelwj said:
It looks like an F2 to me, which is just like the F6 but a bit taller and with side pockets. There are a few other Domke bags that have side pockets too.

(I think it looks like a Domke too)
Click to expand...

Yeah mate, agree it looks like a Domke. But F2? It looks far too small to my eye. I realise Trent is tall but not 8’...The size looks more F5...so noting the side pockets I’d have said F3, except it doesn’t look as wide. It seriously looks like an F5xB with pockets on either side. Like the latest Domke Crosstown

MiTief9UWji_4bN8WhHXTaYOvFBGKBrVkrUz8yCut19N9c4t--HV8NVcHgC5wlayQzNdSPQiso8wM2AzlMmnNvb3dOlRzm8KEO8Ebe6XgAzd=w384-h384-nc
 
It could be a Domke F2 bag, but after looking at the video the bag appears to be Cordura material and the strap configuration does not look like a Domke. I think it is an older Tenba bag, which was essentially a copy of the F2 Domke bag, a bit more shallow, and it was made out of the ballistic Cordura material.

There is a vintage Tenba bag on eBay right now if you search for “vintage Tenba bag” although the one shown is gray rather than black. if I remember correctly the bags were sold in two or three different sizes and in a couple of colors.
 
I'm not positive but it does look quite a bit like an older Domke. I don't recall the model designations but I think there were 3 models early on from Domke--the original (the F2?), one called the "Little Bit Larger" and one called the "Little Bit Smaller". The bags were popular when I was working for a daily newspaper in the late 70's through the early 90's. I had the larger Domke while others on both dailies in town had both the original and the smaller models. They were fairly inexpensive at the time which accounted for their popularity with underpaid news photographers. The canvas material did wear through pretty badly with daily use--several photographers made use of duct tape to patch up the holes.
 
Two early Domke bags with side pouches.

Domke did offer the pouches separate or permanently attached. I don't believe they put much thought back then into identifying each bag with a product ID so finding something like these by searching "Old" "Vintage" "Used" "Domke" is your only bet.

I find that often these bags are wrongly listed as woman's handbags. Be sure not to limit your search to only the camera and photo sections of eBay.

Brown with piping (not all had piping)

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/282755395365

Blue with piping

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/142353622966


At the prices these two are going for I would skip them and start hunting the woman's clothing category on eBay. That's how I found my Kakadu bag for 10$.
 
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