Campion not dead

Michel Campion, St Boniface, Brussels, Oct. 2014.

Campion not dead

What a fright I got. When I saw the windows emptied of their Leica, Rollei, Hasselblad, Plaubel, Mamiya, Nikon and their myriad of other film cameras, I thought that was the end of the line for old Campion’s shop. All the little boutiques of the Saint Boniface neighbourhood have been disappearing, one by one, in favour of restaurants that rake in heftier rents. The photographers’ cave of Ali Baba almost got shut out too, but last week, oh miracle ! – the ground floor space next door opened up. And so, The Second Hand Shop isn’t vanishing, just scooching over. Michel Campion’s got his smile back. Phew!