On Photography, February 23, 2007
By Robert de Gast



What’s in a name? “Nothing, and everything”

Sometime during the latter part of the 20th century, a curious thing happened: people started wearing clothes with the names of other people on them.

At first these labels were relatively small, but eventually they were to become quite large, readable from a great distance. These were not names of popular figures or great artists. These were names of people who made the clothes. In other words, otherwise sane people would display another person’s name somewhere on their own body! I am not making this up! And the names were not particularly beautiful, or interesting. Tommy Hilfiger read one, P. Diddy another. Yugh!

During that same period, camera manufacturers started putting their names on the camera’s strap. Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus: everybody got into the act. The names became larger and the straps became wider. Sometimes the brand name was repeated several times on the strap. All over the world, at least the world of tourism, photographers were instantly identified by their brand loyalty. I hated that crass kind of commercialism. It was enough to have the word “Nikon” displayed in small letters on the camera itself. And who cared? Would you feel instant kinship with another person if you saw that someone just outside the Taj Mahal also used an Olympus camera?

For a while I contemplated a guerilla campaign whereby photographers would gleefully put Nikon straps on, say, Sony cameras, or Canon straps on Leicas. But brand loyalty being what it is, the enterprise came to naught.

Enter Al Stegmeyer, a Florida-based photojournalist, who created a camera strap he called “Upstrap.” Although the name appears somewhere on the strap it is so obscure that it takes a while just to find it. Since it’s just a strap, it will work with any camera. But here’s the thing: this nearly nameless strap will not slide off your shoulder! In my nearly five decades as a working photographer I have ruined or destroyed many lenses (and cameras) because they slid off my shoulder. No longer!

Upstraps have conquered the professional photography world. I’d be hard put to name the pro who does not use them. And nonprofessionals should consider buying one.

Go to www.upstrap.com  and glean the testimonials of some of the most famous photographers in the world. And from doctors and surgeons. And all this for a strap that doesn’t advertise its own name! Back to anonymity for about 30 bucks.

So this becomes an unabashed commercial for a truly great product. I’m not alone. Here are testimonials from some of the most famous photographers in the US:

Jay Maisel: “Upstrap is the single best photo accessory I’ve ever had.”

Bob Sacha: “I am thrilled to find the Upstrap.”

Howard Schatz: “ The Upstrap is perfect.” 

Sean Reid: “It’s the best damn camera strap in the world. Period. End of story.”

The lightweight strap is easily mailed to Mexico, hopefully bypassing Aduana.

Consider buying one. It’ll change your photographic experience, your shoulder muscles can relax, you won’t destroy cameras or lenses and you won’t be walking around advertising anything but your superior insight, intelligence and creativity!


Robert de Gast is the author of nine books, including, most recently, Behind the Doors of San Miguel. He leads workshops and offers short photography tutorials. He can be reached at 152-7396 or via email at robertdegast@hotmail.com.