36 years and counting

 The image below was from my first photography class, the first roll of film I shot, and the first print I brought out of the darkroom. George Strimbu, my dearly loved professor, looked at the image still wet in the tray and asked, "Have you ever thought of a photography career?" Thus began a winding journey.

Thirty-six years ago, I took that photography class my Junior year at Valparaiso University.  Little did I know how it would change the course of my life.  I always had a passing interest in photography since one of my brothers, in the early '70s, built a darkroom in our basement. Watching him develop and print was fascinating. But, at that time, photography was one of many hobbies I had. This past October marked my 30th year in business as a full-time photographer. Time sure flies.

Above is an image of George at the Indiana Dunes on one of many photo trips.  I loved these trips and looked forward to when he would take us to Chicago to wander The Loop.  Unfortunately, George passed a few years before I decided to go full-time.  Thirty-six years and George is still with me...  He graduated from the photography program at Chicago's Institute of Design and learned from some of the greats of the age like Harry Callihan and Aaron Siskind. It is fascinating when I see his professor's images and I then think about the images Goerge made, I feel that there is a connection through the ages with our work.  It reminds me of how lucky I was to have this chance encounter with such a wonderful open teacher and to be at a school that made it possible to pursue this life-changing course.  The journey, like all good journeys, was not easy and was rough at times (Covid excluded).  I wouldn't trade the journey for anything.

"I stand still or move slowly, feeling things like the impulse of shapes, the direction of lines, the quality of surfaces. I frame with my eye (sometimes with my hands) as the ground glass would frame. Nothing that one could reasonably call thinking is taking place at this stage. The condition is total absorption; the decision (a picture) is spontaneous..."
Aaron Siskind - Creative Camera, May 1970, page 136