What was your first camera? What does it mean to you to take pictures?​

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I was in high school when I picked up my first film camera. It was a 1981 Canon Sure Shot, 35mm point and shoot. I was given a pile of rolls by the dean of my summer boarding school. My first rolls of film are blurry, adventurous, and showed me a new way to see my life. I could create an imprint of moments I thought were art themselves. 

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I started shooting photos all the time, and spent all of my allowance on film development, film, and transit tickets. I would take a bus to catch a train to get into San Francisco, where I would walk all over taking pictures of anything that sparked an impulse. 

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After 5 years of that, I met my friend, Sarah Brunkhorst, who taught me how to develop and print photographs in a darkroom. Through this learning process, getting into pinhole photography, and building my own cameras I began to understand a lot more about the possibilities I have to work with when taking a photo. I enjoy learning new mediums by feeling first, seeing what I can do, and then taking the time to learn more about it once I've found motivation and interest to seriously study it. I am grateful that photography is one of those things for me- that I chose to really dive into it and I'm excited to keep exploring. It means I have pictures of people whose beautiful smiles I may have never seen again if not for my hobby turned 12 year career.