One beautiful day, I discovered most of my fellows have only school day photos taken once a year … and I was shocked. My home was full of photographs: in albums, in files, or just in plastic bags – since I remember my self. I organized them, and made new albums, I loved to sit and just look them over again and again. I am not a big fan of TV, pictures are my best entertainment. When I look my own photos as a child, it seems to me I can recall those times, and many others that have not been captured, but come alive in my memory at the moment. I could not remember a vast part of my life if no photos.
Memories, even the most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly.
I am so blessed to have my dad a big enthusiast of photography since he have got his first camera in 1960s while being a middle school student. He was addicted to idea to make a portrait of all and everybody he lived by and met in his life. So, since I was born, I turned out to be his muse and model starting from my first days. I believe, I remember how I starred in the camera and tried to understand what does it mean to smile 🙂 I was not a smiley kid, but I love my photographs where I look my own way. I am glad my parents never asked me for “cheese”!
I grew up, and as closer to adolescence as less I wanted to be photographed. I learned that phenomenon much later, on my own child. After a careless childhood, there is a time comes when we start to be more critical to our appearance, and less concern to our parents’ requests. That were only them who wanted those photos on each occasion, not me. Me, who was not able to understand those days that
Those will be my own memories, and legacy for my children.
I loved to take a part in the darkroom magic with my dad in our bathroom on weekends. But the camera was a black box for me. It was too hard to take a photo and then wait till I have an occasion to use the entire film roll, and then wait to a free weekend just to reveal what did I get!
I had no choice though when our daughter was born, and I just should take dad’s vintage Zenith and capture her first portraits. After four years of struggle with the film camera and borrowing digital cameras from our friends time to time, we finally were able to by our own Nikon D50. That was a life-changing investment 🙂 There a passion was born.
Taking photographs became a way for me to seize the moment.
Since then, I followed my father’s footsteps, and photographed everyone you did not mind to stop by in front of my camera. First couple years, that was my own daughter and her kindergarten mates. Then, I felt I need more models and went out of the “inner circle” to other people homes to photograph their babies. After another year, I rented a studio and expanded my business including adults…
Now I am here, in the Sunshine State, resuming my business far-far away from home where my child and my passion were born. I am happy you are reading my story now, that means you found something close to your heart on my site. If my words and my photographs clicked to you, I would love to see you soon! I promise, you won’t regret this day when you first found me.
