I was in my mid twenties when I first became really interested in photography. I was teaching elementary school in East L.A. and taking classes at Cal State to get my teaching credential. In order to fill a few extra credits I signed up for a black and white photography class with my old Pentax K1000.
We had different assignments each week based on themes like, light, lines, shadows, contrast, composition, so many of the themes playing off of each other. After all, you can’t have shadows without light. I loved the way light and absence of light played such a huge roll in black and white photos. I loved the way I could manipulate the photo in the darkroom. And I also really loved how, as the class went on and I practiced more, my camera lens became a new way for me to view the world, even if what I was looking at was something I’d seen every day in passing. Like learning a new language and finally thinking in that language.
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