Film and Grain 'Clown after Work' | Santa Cruz, Ca ( Circa 2003)

It's a cold stormy day and I'm gearing up for 6 weeks of weddings that begin this Saturday. I've been preparing my gear, returning e-mails and mentally preparing for all the fun and work ahead. I'm also dreaming of packing a bag and heading to the darkroom for hours and hours on end- red safelight, the smell of fixer, the magic that happens in the tray. It's been a few years since I've developed my own film, my own prints- I wonder if I would remember the steps. Is it like riding a bike?

In my current digital world, juggling the balance of work and creativity- I've been slowly making room on my website for a gallery named film. I've been appropriately scanning my film and trying to make room for this very big part of my photographic past. During this process I came across one of my favorite sets. I think I named these images something like 'Clown after Work' when I displayed them for my class in 2003. (Thank you Ken Alley!) This set is not great technically, there is a ton of dust, they are super contrasty and even though I was shooting manually- it was all kind of a "shot in the dark" as to what ended up on the film. Even though the technical aspects leave something to be desired, what I love about these photos is my own discovery about portraits. This was when the marriage of storytelling of people and storytelling of place merged for me. I began to find my niche' within photography, and creatively I blossomed! I hope to continue sharing these old film photos of mine and to provide some insight into how I've arrived where I am today. Thanks for looking! Enjoy.