01/11/11

About Me

I owned my first 35mm SLR Minolta camera during military service in South Korea in 1962-63. documenting experiences with Amerasian orphans, shooting a moonlit time-exposure of a mountain in winter on the border of the DMZ and many photos while on R&R in Japan and Hong Kong. Upon returning to civilian life, I owned my first Beseler enlarger, developing and printing black and white pictures. Once married, many pictures were taken of our two sons, Mark and Chris, and my wife, Billie Ruth . I have documented her 25 year career as a basket maker, including one on the homepage of her web site. Her teaching basketry at Penland School in 1993 made it possible for me to study documentary photography with Asheville photographer, Ralph Burns. Within a year after moving to Mitchell County in 1994, the generosity of distinguished photographer, Gloria Schulman, made it possible for me to establish my first permanent darkroom. I now own a Canon EOS Elan 35mm SLR and two digital cameras:  Canon EOS 20D AF SLR and Canon EOS 50D. 

While this statement is a brief chronology of my life with cameras and pictures, it conveys the meaning throughout my life of interest in all that is around me, viewed and captured through the lens of a camera, and my enjoyment and pursuit of the infinite possibilities of photography. It is fascinating to hear people describe what they see in images.

This is an interesting image in which the person shooting the photo, Ed Sallin, is reflected in the glass along with reflected trees at the top. Actually, I am standing in the display window of Castle Rock Realty on Lower Street, Spruce Pine, NC, in October, 2008, portraying Paul Buchanan, featured in the book, The Picture Man, Ann Hawthorne, Editor This was my third year doing this at the Spruce Pine Heritage Festival and as a fund raiser for the Mitchell County Relay for Life.