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June 02, 2008
Talent, purpose and priority
Sitting in the café, having a spot of lunch, with my friend Mr Jones, we discussed the nature of the world and its curious ways. Which led us to muse over talent, purpose and priority – working out what you’re good at and doing it. This in turn led to the fact that people are generally best at doing what they’ve been doing for a long time.
He asked me when I first started taking photographs and I realised I’ve been taking photographs pretty well continuously since I was 16. Hmmm…
I got back from town, dug out some boxes, looked through lots of old manila envelopes and found a stash of negatives and contact prints from those early years.
I took my first photographs using Ilford or Kodak 120 roll film in an old Voigtlander plate camera. I had no dark room as such, but I had a developing tank and once I had processed the negatives, with the aid of various noxious chemicals, I made prints at night in the attic using a contact frame and a light bulb. These pictures are only 90mm x 64mm.
my first photograph [I put the negative in the contact frame the wrong way up]
a rare photograph of me taking my second photograph
It wasn’t long before my interest in still life waned, it has to be said, and I began taking pictures of people. Well, okay, girls. Which, if you’ve been paying attention, is what I’m still doing.
thanks to, Jane Batty, my first model
Posted by john at June 2, 2008 10:47 PM