While I sometimes create images with pencils, paint, or pixels, photography is my primary, life-long visual art form. My father took a photo of me, at 2-years old, taking a photo of him during a train journey between Johannesburg & Cape Town. Yes, there was film in my camera. Some of my photos during that time were printed, but I can’t remember whether this particular photo was worthy of printing. My father, an enthusiastic, skilled, amateur photographer, encouraged my interest throughout my child & teen years.
During my youth, I used a great variety of cameras, from an assortment of cheap Kodak Instamatic point-and-shoots, to my father’s twin & single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, and a number of antique cameras I inherited from my grandfather. These included an original Kodak No.1 Pocket Camera (similar to the one pictured), a Kodak Box Brownie, and a couple of miniature “spy-cameras” that used 8mm or 16mm movie film. I even experimented with making my own pin-hole, and primitive, fixed-lens cameras … with limited success.
Eventually, in my teens (mid-1970s), my father bought a new camera, and gave me his old (early 1960s), East German manufactured, Exa IIa SLR (similar to picture). The camera had a cast metal body, weighed a ton, and had no built-in light meter, or other user-aids. None-the-less, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I started out with just a standard 50mm lens, but later manage to acquire a 200mm lens and 2x converter that fitted the lens mount. (Sadly, all this equipment was stolen during a train journey when I was in the military, back in the 1980s.)
In our early teens, a friend & I invested in some darkroom equipment, and taught ourselves – from library books – to develop and print our own black & white photos. Our temporary darkroom was whichever kitchen or bathroom we could persuade our parents to do without for the night. We appointed ourselves as our high school’s completely unofficial, official school photographers. We photographed sports & other events, and of course, invited pretty girls to model for us. We even sold some of our sports & event photos.
We burned through film, chemicals, paper, and our hard-earned money as fast as we could get it. To “support our habit”, we both had part-time jobs. We also bought recently expired, and thus massively discounted film and photographic paper in bulk from a local, professional photography supply store. We became quite expert at loading just the correct length of unexposed film into our recycled 35mm film cannisters – working completely blind in a dark-bag. For some while, our only consistent teachers were enthusiasm, books, and experimentation.
Then, in our mid-teens, we joined the Johannesburg Photographic Society (JPS). Back then, in the 1970s, the JPS membership consisted entirely of professionals, high-level amateurs, and us … 2 keen, but unskilled kids. We were the first ever non-adult members of the JPS. Well, we were so keen to join, that the JPS allowed us to be the first ever “junior members”. We could attend meetings & participate in every way other than voting, or holding office. Participation was strictly enforced, and every member had to present at least one photographic print for critique at every meeting. The expert critique by members, covered all aspects of artistry, and photographic technique from basic to advanced. No punches were pulled. As callow teens, we were honoured with exactly the same levels of critique as any of the hardened pros. “Not too bad.”, was considered to be high praise indeed. It was in that cauldron of no-holds-barred critique by true experts, that the solid foundation for my lifetime of photography was properly laid.
Since those days, I’ve switched over completely to digital photography. While I wouldn’t exchange those chemical-infused darkroom years for any amount of money, I must also admit that I have no desire to repeat or relive them now. I love both the ease and flexibility of digital photography, as well as the different challenges it presents. Over the decades, I’ve continued to study photography, both formally & informally. I’ve worked as a professional photographer, sold images all over the world (not as many as I’d like), and taught photography.
I hope you enjoy browsing my galleries. All the images are available for purchase. I am also available for commissions of all kinds, from one-on-one portraiture sessions, to event & marketing photography. I will also soon be adding details to the site, about photographic training and coaching options.
