My photography “ah-ha” moment
I enrolled at Sheridan College for photography right after high school. Or I should say right after I stayed one more year in high school after graduating. To find myself…or as I like to mention it now play one more year of football. After the football season was over…I mean my high school career was over I headed to Sheridan on a mission. To take the world of photography by storm and become the next Helmut Newton.
Within the first semester I felt trapped. The assignments were very “level one”. I felt that I already knew black and white film and printing as I was already printing in color at my fathers studio for years. This is before photoshop and digital cameras. I time where you could go into a darkroom and create something that felt like magic. The image would appear right before your eyes, just like magic. You can laugh all you want about it but it was pretty cool.
Anyways back to the story…I Would turn in assignments on time but I put in a very low effort. It’s not that I didn’t care but I felt “above” it as many young people do. I never failed but I would just get by and as the months passed I just coasted. Until one assignment was given that changed everything. We were asked to photograph a cover for a fictional abstract art magazine. There was not one mention of a theme or guideline. Just make the image that you want.
I received the highest mark in the class. I will never forget my teacher Bob Hundert when he said to me after handing in that assignment. He asked how I came up with the concept? It was really just 3 empty wine bottles at different depths of field. I never really thought about it before but I knew right then and there that I wanted to make my own images and not what I though everyone else wanted.
That was my “ah-ha” moment.
CC
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