Photography: 1971-1981

I maintained a commercial photography studio in Cleveland, Ohio, for a short time in the late 1970s.

The colour photos shown here are scans of original printed ads done for advertising agencies & various other publications. Again, the b&w photojournalistic images are scans from the original 11x14 b&w archival prints. All the photography shown here was done ( pre-digital ) using Nikon F2 35mm cameras along with 4x5 & 8x10 sheet film view camera equipment. Kodak 35m Tri-x b&w was 'king'; it was my film of choice for doing available light photography. Kodak's Kodachrome was the 'king of colour'. None of the niceties & ease of image manipulation, as many of today's photographers take for granted, were available at the time.

Since these scans are copies of copies, the quality is somewhat degraded. I still need to convert many colour transparencies to digital for inclusion here when I can.

As mentioned, I used Kodachrome 35mm film (no longer made) for my annual report work & Kodak Ektachrome sheet film for the studio work.

My earliest interest in photography began in 1969. Still young and fresh out of the Navy, I fell in love with photojournalism; it became my passion. I only used b&w for my photojournalistic projects. The stark, graphic quality and timeless feeling b&w gives lends itself to be a superior choice over colour when documenting the human condition.

I was primarily self-taught, although I did attend The School of Visual Arts in NYC.

My photographic idol became, & remains, W. Eugene Smith. Most older photographers know of his monumental contributions to reportage & photojournalism. He photographed in various battle theatres during WW2, which resulted in many famous photo essays for LIFE magazine in the US. In 1975 towards the end of his career, he created MINAMATA, his masterpiece, a book exposing the toxic & deadly effects of mercury poisoning in Japan.

Gene was brutally attacked and suffered multiple permanent injuries by goons from the company he was exposing as a mercury polluter. Unchecked mercury poisoning causes endless and horrendous nerve and muscular damage.

I'm lucky to have bought a signed copy from the original edition printing in 1975 when I lived in NYC. I would urge all interested in the human spirit, especially photographers, to become aware of W. Eugene Smith's work.

I use the word/term idol very judiciously as I do with genius; I care deeply about words and their meaning. He was both, as was my other idol, the late Mother Teresa.

Please enjoy...