I think it's pretty unusual to have photos of photographers at this point in time. Noone was interested in knowing how photos were taken, the subject wasn't the

I think it's pretty unusual to have photos of photographers at this point in time. Noone was interested in knowing how photos were taken, the subject wasn't the photographer. Photographer as personality happened in the 60s. Saying that, the photo in question does look rather fine. The equipment looks right, i'd say that it's a Speed Graphic, and it looks to be the right sort of model, looks like it's got a rangefinder although he's using the wire sights for framing. Holding the front bed with the left hand for stability looks to be about right, so this i'd suggest is definitely a photographer, not a model/actor playing a photographer if you see what I mean.