My first camera was a gift from my family, a Kodak Baby Brownie Special.
I think that by the time I received that gift I was already enamored by the idea of becoming a photographer. My next camera, also a gift, was a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash. The first I bought for myself near the end of high school was an Argus C3.
All of those cameras were perfectly adequate as image makers, though you wouldn't guess that from the pictures I made at the time. What was lacking in my early efforts was not proper equipment, but rather some guidance from someone with expertise and some teaching skills -- in other words, a mentor. I'm sure I was in proximity to such a resource many times over the years, but I never really developed the skill of establishing the necessary relationships.
What got me thinking along these lines was an article I came across in the Santa Fe New Mexican about Santa Fe Preparatory School photography teacher Sarah Meghan Lee. Before she became a darkroom instructor at the school she was a photojournalist and photo workshop leader. Those credentials are impressive, as also are her comments on photography's history as reported the the article, which by the way was written by one of the school's students.
What an extraordinary opportunity is available to those prep school students!
2 comments:
I was fortunate. One of my good childhood friend's father was an accomplished amateur photographer. He shot with a Nikon F and taught me some of the fundamentals of photography and basic darkroom techniques. He also sold me my first darkroom set up; a Federal enlarger, a Kodak Brownie safelight, some trays, a developing tank and other accessories. I borrowed my father's Kodak Retina IIc rangefinder and consumed every photography book at the local library.
Fortunate indeed to have such friends willing to share their knowledge, as well as a father willing to share a precious Retina camera. All the men in. my family had. capable cameras and at least some familiarity with the fundamentals of photography. I don't, however, recall anyone sharing any of that with me.
What I do recall is being very intimidated almost to adulthood by the perceived complexity of photographic techniques. That seems quite silly now, but it looked at the time like an insuperable barrier.
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