My first interaction with photography happened in the early 70’s through the lens of a vintage 35 mm film camera I inherited from my Grandfather. Back then, everything I knew about photography was self-taught. What I lacked in resources, I made up with passion and constant trial and error. I still remember that feeling I felt when I mixed up the order of the developer and fixer—utterly destroying my first ever film roll. It wasn’t a great feeling …
In the long list of my influences are Nadar (Gaspard-Felix Tournachon), Man Ray, Irving Penn, Gregory Heisler, Annie Leibovitz and more. Mid-20th century classic black and white journalistic photography has long served as a cornerstone in my passion to capture any moments and situations often overlooked in our stuffed daily routines. Every time I take out the camera to capture these moments, all of the day-to-day problems subside. It’s just the camera, the world…and me.
And though it’s a classic, black and white photography is still a niche where I feel most comfortable in. As Samuel Michael Fuller once famously said: “Life is in color, but black and white is more realistic”.
