
How did you come to be a professional photographer? It's a question often asked of those of us who do this for a living. Some photographers chose this path, they went to school, looked at courses and said, "Hum...this looks easy or fun." And they become photographers; usually ending up in an ivory tower teaching others to follow a path that they've never pursued themselves.
Some had photography forced upon them in the service of their country. They go into the military and someone says, "Hey, you - forget being in artillery you're going into photography." And when they retire they go from "grip and grin" to shooting kiddy portraits.
Some have a "passion" - oh, such an overused expression - for taking pictures and after having their co-workers tell them "this stuff is really good" they get a web site for $6 a month and become professional photographers, usually specializing in weddings, families, kids, senior portraits, pets, babies, pregnant moms, corporate head shots, bar mitzvahs...basically they "specialize" in everything. But...they're passionate.
And then there's the guys and gals like me. We were cruising through life without any hint of the adventure that was before us hidden by the next curve. I was looking for a hobby to balance out a stressful job and was going to go back into writing. Figured I'd use a camera to see if I could record a scene and then go back later and become Ernest Hemingway by studying it. So I borrowed a camera from a friend I'd been in theater with. And I was just playing around with the thing, you know, figuring out what an f/stop was, how to change the shutter speed. Innocent stuff.
That's always how it starts out...innocently.
My nephew had a habit of wandering into my room and putting on my head phones that I used to listen to music and pick out my parts on guitar. He'd come in, put them on and turn on the music. Innocence. One day while I had this Pentax 35mm camera in my hands I saw him sneak into my room. I knew what he was going to do so I thought I'd catch him in the act. And I did. Probably at 400 ASA, 1/60 of a second at f/4.
Turned the film into Fotomat. That was a booth out in a shopping center parking lot where you dropped off film and came back a week later and picked up your prints. You could also buy flash cubes there too. They were little plastic cubes with 4 flash bulbs in them that would rotate to the next bulb when you used it. The flash you see would destroy the bulb and burn your finger if you touched it too soon so having a 4 flash bulb was, well, like having a 4GB RAM for your laptop. Now these booths are usually run by old guys who make copies of your keys for you for a dollar.
Anyway a week later I drive by in my 73 Plymouth Fury leaving a trail of smoke and oil on the pavement and pick up my film. Parked in the lot and opened the package up. Picture of my lizard, girlfriend, something in the park, you know - the usual garbage that you show to your friends and have to explain "that's a shot of my dad's boat out on the lake - if you use this magnifying glass you can see it".
And there it was. Like opening a can of beer in front of a recovering alcoholic or taking Tiger Woods out to Hooters. I was defeated before I even started. Hooked, taken captive, seduced, hypnotized by a siren's call that I never knew had existed. The image...it was haunting, serene, beautiful in only the way a child's face can reflect a truth that's so pure even a skeptic holds his tongue because to speak would be wrong.
Serendipity or an epiphany? I don't know. But this image gradually lead me down a path that has dominated and defined my adult life. It has taken me on a journey that at times I've tried to walk away from only to be brought back by the joy of it. An adventure that has often demanded my money, my tears, my sweat, my time...
I have been so blessed by God to have been allowed to walk a path that most people would envy but shy away from only because they don't have the courage to follow it themselves. Even if I have to put my gear away one day I've had the ride of my life. And I'll never regret that.
And all because of that one image. Just think, if I hadn't borrowed that camera and taken that image...I might have ended up with a real job and an ordinary life.
Boggles the mind, don't it?









