So I was all excited to fire up my new blog in advance of the coming gallery, but now I’m sitting in front of a blank screen. I’d love to start this off with a clever and witty bang, but I’m not particularly clever or witty, and certainly not on demand.
Once upon a time, I got passionately into photography. I bought a 20-year-old, fully manual 35 mm SLR, read every photography book I could find at the library or my local used bookstore, and threw myself into Photo I at my university. I worked at a chain photofinishing store to learn more, then decided retail work sucked and finished my degree in English. Then I started working full-time in an office and somehow interest in my camera all but disappeared. Once I stopped looking through the camera regularly, I lost my eye, so when I DID pick up my camera, I was very frustrated with the results. Which led me into a vicious circle of frustration and discouragement on the rare occasions when I felt inspired.
After several years of not picking up my camera, I figured it was just another one of my passions that fell by the wayside. I tend to be a serial monogamist in my hobbies, having been passionately committed to, at different times, horseback riding, poetry, photography and belly dance. Mostly, I spent several years as a drone who went to work and came home to veg in front of the tv.
But all that changed after my son was born. It’s almost as if, in losing myself to the intense and relentless task of parenting, I found myself. I went for a lot of walks pushing my son in his stroller, and I started to see photos everywhere. After a month of two of being hounded by all these photos, I finally took my husband’s digital point and shoot with me, and I haven’t looked back. I couldn’t stand the restrictions of the point and shoot, but I loved working digitally. Not only does it provide instant gratification, but I don’t have to shut myself up in a dark room or deal with scratched negatives (now it’s corrupted files but still…). So in November 2006, I bought a Nikon D70s, and I’ve been shooting as much as I can.
Something radical shifted in me this past Christmas. My husband gave me a book of Rudy Burckhardt’s photography for my birthday. I’d never heard of him before, but my husband said his photos reminded him of mine. Something about seeing photos in a big coffee table book, all shiny and crisp, sharing some visual elements with my own photos made me want to take my photos more seriously, to aspire. For the past year, I’ve thought about finding a way to make some of my photos available for sale online and donating the proceeds to charity. A couple of months ago, I found Imagekind. Right now I’m donating 50% of the proceeds to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and I’ve already sold several prints.
Hopefully soon I’ll have my gallery up and running here, but in the meantime I will blog, occasionally.