Early Venture into Photography

 One of my earliest ventures into photography started at the beginning of junior high school - grade seven (Sep., '78).  I used the school's camera (Ricoh 500 G) until I finally was able to borrow the money from the caisse populaire in 1981, to purchase my very own Canon AE-1 Program - my options were very limited at the Shoppers Drug Mart in the Wheatland Mall - Swift Current, Saskatchewan. 

But I digress, early in grade eight, a classmate (Alan) and I decided to do a star trail time exposure for a science project.  So, one evening we visited the teacher's home where he had the little Ricoh with a piece of tape to hold the shutter open.  We set up the camera in his front yard propped up on something so it would face straight up and not move.  After making two exposures, one 10 minute and one 15 minute we were ready for stage II.  Next, when back at school we had to process the film and make gelatin-silver prints to paste in with our reports on the experience.  I think we got a good grade ... can't really remember that part.

My how time passes ... and I think back to the thoughts and ideas about life, people and the world, technology and economics how they have been sculpted and changed ... how my naivety and simple ignorance has become informed by the hard knocks and unfair realities that plague life.  There is a growing frustration/feeling of helplessness as time slips from my hands like dry, hot grains of sand into a dark abyss.  I get older not younger and feel the discrimination of ageism creeping all around.  How much time do I have left before the movers and shakers, i.e., Canada Council, a certain art school, and the National Gallery recognise my contributions to Canada as a Canadian artist - if at all?

How can they recognise a rectangle with three strips of paint and pay over a million dollars to display something in Canada's national gallery made by a foreigner from the south, and yet, willfully ignore many amazing Canadian artists!

If only situations could have been different, why do some get all the breaks, "know" all the right people:  Ansel Adams, Yosef Karsh, Freeman Patterson ...   Don't get me wrong, extremely talented artists they are ...

Well, enough of that, I'll just keep plugging along as this life still has breath, because being a photographic artist is who I am and I don't need externals to tell me that or validate it (as nice as that would be), this is just who I am.