First Day

I’ve been attracted to photography and strong photographs for as long as I can remember. There’s an element in them that speaks deeply to me. I’m not even sure I can find words to adequately describe it so let’s just say I love photography and it’s a large part of my everyday life. It provides joy, motivation, excitement reward, satisfaction etc…

My serious commitment to fine art photography and making my own strong pictures began quite a few years ago with a workshop I attended in Maine with Cig Harvey. This workshop was titled “The Photographer’s Eye” and was all about seeing. I think I spent about a year arriving at the decision on the workshop and instructor that I felt would provide the most benefit for me. My decision was perfect and what I learned that week serves as a solid foundation for my photography and the work I do.

The photograph shown here is titled “First Day” and is the representative picture from that week and my foundation in photography. The first assignment for the week on the first morning was to shoot a roll of film (36 exposures) in our rooms before going out of the room. That’s right, 35mm film and no screen on the back of the camera. A huge challenge for the novice that I was at the time. I pushed forward and completed the assignment. The photograph you see here came from that roll of film and still holds deep meaning for me.