A Long Journey
MY Story
“You should sell this one,” Roger said. He gazed at the photo print hanging in my hall. “Seriously, you should.”
My face blushed. “It’s just a picture from my back yard. Not even the best I’ve ever taken.”
He cast a stern look. “You should.”
That got me thinking…
Photography grabbed me decades ago. Though I remember it as if it were yesterday. My first camera. Smena 8 made in the former Soviet Union. Those hundreds of hours I held it in my hands. Those miles I walked and looked at the world through the tiny viewfinder. I went through everything one can when they find a purpose in their life. Completely soaked when the forecast missed. Burnt fingers from developer chemicals. Sore eyes as I stared at the photo paper in the dim red light. The beginning of the digital era. Saving money for the latest gadget that changed nothing in the end. Each step taught me something new. Each step moved me forward.
Years brushed the shell off my soul. I found what I was looking for. Striving to capture authentic moments. Those unscripted scenes where real life reveals its hidden beauty. Stories that unfold naturally.
I shoot both film and digital. All my photos are authentic and taken by me. Mostly near my home. Unlike anyone else, for me, the most valued pictures are not from exotic places. No Brazilian rainforests. Or jungles in Borneo. Or a view from the top of Vesuvius. I discovered that beauty lies just around the corner from my house. From any house.
The most precious things are often the ones we look at every day. We find them obvious. Even boring. Not to me. I bring pictures from places where I dwell. The familiar becomes extraordinary when you really see it. When you change your perspective.
Jack Whitlock