After I turned sixteen, my Father (himself a pretty talented amateur photographer) got me a Chinon CM-5 35mm SLR from K-mart (still have it, still works like a pro). Within a year or two, I was bit by the shutterbug. Unfortunately, as many may remember from the pre-digital days, when I had the inspiration to shoot, I lacked enough money for film and developing, or vice-versa. But when all the planets were aligned and I was in God’s favor, all was right. Here are a few samples of my work from then. (Note: Names of my subjects have been left out/changed due to senility or to protect the innocent.)
THE BUDDHA AIN'T SCARED, TULSA, CA. 1988
DEVOTION, TULSA, CA. 1988
MS. S.W., VILLA PHILBROOK, TULSA, 1988
MY FIRST TORNADO CHASE, TULSA, 1991
(My first was, still, the best. I found the wall cloud at the very southern edge of town, and tried to take pictures as it passed directly overhead, the winds from the rotation almost whipping my shirt off me. Of course, it did not help matters that I accidentally popped the back of the camera and was shooting with black and white. The cloud headed across the road and tried to create a funnel, but it did not finally touch down until it had virtually crossed the whole of South Tulsa. Ultimately, it ended up being an F-1 tornado, causing some minor damage.)
(My first was, still, the best. I found the wall cloud at the very southern edge of town, and tried to take pictures as it passed directly overhead, the winds from the rotation almost whipping my shirt off me. Of course, it did not help matters that I accidentally popped the back of the camera and was shooting with black and white. The cloud headed across the road and tried to create a funnel, but it did not finally touch down until it had virtually crossed the whole of South Tulsa. Ultimately, it ended up being an F-1 tornado, causing some minor damage.)
MS. M.A., SEATTLE, 1991
RAYOGRAPH EXPERIMENTS, TULSA, 1992
AT IKON, TULSA, CA. 1992-93
MS. C.A.H., TULSA, 1992-93
THE LAST THING A DEER CROSSING THE ROAD WOULD WANT TO SEE, TULSA, CA. 1992-93
JAZZ AT ECLIPSE, TULSA, CA. 1993
FROM A DAY OF COPPER HUNTING, TULSA, CA. 1994
SELF-PORTRAIT, ECLIPSE, TULSA, CA. 1993
