_valerian

Keya Paha County, Nebraska, 1995

This is the one of the first photographs I remember making, thinking “I am taking a photograph”. I’m racking my mind here trying to think of another time before this that I might have made a picture. This was probably taken in 1995 (first year of high school) and I remember that it was during summer vacation and I took my parent’s Vivitar point and shoot on a drive through my grandparent’s ranch. Why do I have this here in Japan? It occupies one page in a small self-introduction photo album I show my students.
It illustrates “Nebraska” as an image/concept of Grass Sky and a Tree. It is a small part of something bigger, both how it looks as a picture and also in how it worked into my own understanding of photography.
Some time after this I took a photography class in high school, and I bought a Real Camera and then got all the lenses that I was told I needed (50mm, 28mm, 135mm) and made pretty typical (If I remember right) high school student photographs. Brendan was in one of my High School classes. But he did not take pictures like everyone else and honestly that was a point when I started to realize that pictures could be more than what I was thinking (and being taught) that they were. I don’t remember taking a class with Justin, but I remember seeing him in the halls with the other cool kids. Justin, wasn’t your locker up by the drama room on the 3rd floor?

The second part of my Photography Education was entering Dave Read’s Photography class at UNL. This was an important experience.
The third was my year in Japan in college, with the camera club darkroom to myself for all those months. No one to talk to about photographs, and this unescorted, unaccompanied, but encouraged (by myself and friend) time of my life was instrumental in learning about what I could do.
The Fourth act was taking Shelley’s class back at UNL for 2 semesters, and sneaking out of a women’s studies night class (and getting a D due to absences) to attend Dave’s History of Photography class which was held on the same Wednesday Evening.
The Fifth was all that led up to my 1st exhibition in Tokyo. The current time now might be #6 of many more parts, and it summed up by “Working, Working, and Working” on my work. I like to think that 8 or 9 will be Grad School but that point can’t be reached without the necessary preparation.

この写真ですね、たしか最初の写真だと思ってる。高校一年生の夏休みごろ、おじいさんの牧場で両親の安っぽいコンパクトカメラで撮った。
これから始まったかな？写真の興味。。。