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heathergalaxy asks me five questions
2 May 2005 12:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amul1. When did you get into photography? Has it always been your career, did you fall into it, etc?
Oh, no, it's quite new to me. A friend of mine found a this blocky old Polaroid at a thrift store, bought it for me because he thought it'd look good strapped to the arm of one of my jackets. Christine mentioned it to her mom, who then sent me a TLR and a No2 Automatic Brownie (first portable camera ever sold to the public) for the next two gift giving holidays. Later that year, Christine's Great Aunt moved into a retirement home, and had to give away all her possessions. She heard through the family grapevine that I collected antique cameras, and gave me her late husband's entire camera collection, which he'd spent 80 years building.
I was suddenly overwhelmed with all these bizarre mechanical devices. I've always had a thing for old tech. I puzzled out the mechanics of them all, started buying books and hanging out at camera stores to talk to patrons. I stopped doing everything else. I decided to take a class, and fell in absolute love with B&W printing. For most of that semester, I was spending 50 hours a week in the darkroom, on top of my day job.
When I got laid off, I didn't really search for work. I just split my time between trying to mend things with Christine, and working in the darkroom. Angel, my best friend, called me one night and I told her (for probably the 6th time straight that week) that I was in the darkroom and couldn't talk. She called me by my Special Name, the one that demands my complete attention, and asked, "If you're going to spend all this time doing it, why not try getting paid for it?"
It was the lightning bolt that burned down the forest of my life. That question, and the consequences of considering it, tore apart every prison I'd ever built for the things I thought could never be, destroyed everything I was and wanted to be in a blazing inferno of possibility. Or maybe I was just high off developer fumes. We'll never know.
A few weeks later, I was living out of my car and sleeping on people's couches. I would interrogate passers by. "Why not, indeed?!"
2. What is your favorite city to visit and what has been your favorite city to live in?
I'd love to go back to Venice, only with a lover and not with my family. New Orleans was cool, but now too tainted with strange memories. Philadelphia is very nice, too, and I have some friends there I haven't seen in ages. But of everywhere I've ever been, Chicago has been the only place that ever felt like home.
3. Do you have any other big interests beside photography?
I have too many interests! I miss Christine's sewing machine. I design & play games (role playing and computer). I was once really into theater and movies. I like running fund raisers and non-profit events. I consider socializing to be a full-contact sport. But none of that, nothing in my life ever has compared to the joy of a closed room, a set of lights, a brilliant idea and a willing model.
4. If you weren't a photographer, is there another career that would be?
I used to be really into computer programming, and if I could do that for a living, I'd love to. If I could find the time to get involved, and if they could afford to pay me full time, I'd love to manage events for my father's temple. I'd love to get into movies, and have been trying to get gigs making movie posters. But most of those seem like daydreams. I'm extremely happy as a Starving Artiste.
5. What is your favorite photograph that you've ever taken?
Oh that's easy. It's this one.
Anyone wishing to interview me, or be interviewed by me, may feel free to ask.
Oh, no, it's quite new to me. A friend of mine found a this blocky old Polaroid at a thrift store, bought it for me because he thought it'd look good strapped to the arm of one of my jackets. Christine mentioned it to her mom, who then sent me a TLR and a No2 Automatic Brownie (first portable camera ever sold to the public) for the next two gift giving holidays. Later that year, Christine's Great Aunt moved into a retirement home, and had to give away all her possessions. She heard through the family grapevine that I collected antique cameras, and gave me her late husband's entire camera collection, which he'd spent 80 years building.
I was suddenly overwhelmed with all these bizarre mechanical devices. I've always had a thing for old tech. I puzzled out the mechanics of them all, started buying books and hanging out at camera stores to talk to patrons. I stopped doing everything else. I decided to take a class, and fell in absolute love with B&W printing. For most of that semester, I was spending 50 hours a week in the darkroom, on top of my day job.
When I got laid off, I didn't really search for work. I just split my time between trying to mend things with Christine, and working in the darkroom. Angel, my best friend, called me one night and I told her (for probably the 6th time straight that week) that I was in the darkroom and couldn't talk. She called me by my Special Name, the one that demands my complete attention, and asked, "If you're going to spend all this time doing it, why not try getting paid for it?"
It was the lightning bolt that burned down the forest of my life. That question, and the consequences of considering it, tore apart every prison I'd ever built for the things I thought could never be, destroyed everything I was and wanted to be in a blazing inferno of possibility. Or maybe I was just high off developer fumes. We'll never know.
A few weeks later, I was living out of my car and sleeping on people's couches. I would interrogate passers by. "Why not, indeed?!"
2. What is your favorite city to visit and what has been your favorite city to live in?
I'd love to go back to Venice, only with a lover and not with my family. New Orleans was cool, but now too tainted with strange memories. Philadelphia is very nice, too, and I have some friends there I haven't seen in ages. But of everywhere I've ever been, Chicago has been the only place that ever felt like home.
3. Do you have any other big interests beside photography?
I have too many interests! I miss Christine's sewing machine. I design & play games (role playing and computer). I was once really into theater and movies. I like running fund raisers and non-profit events. I consider socializing to be a full-contact sport. But none of that, nothing in my life ever has compared to the joy of a closed room, a set of lights, a brilliant idea and a willing model.
4. If you weren't a photographer, is there another career that would be?
I used to be really into computer programming, and if I could do that for a living, I'd love to. If I could find the time to get involved, and if they could afford to pay me full time, I'd love to manage events for my father's temple. I'd love to get into movies, and have been trying to get gigs making movie posters. But most of those seem like daydreams. I'm extremely happy as a Starving Artiste.
5. What is your favorite photograph that you've ever taken?
Oh that's easy. It's this one.
Anyone wishing to interview me, or be interviewed by me, may feel free to ask.
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I'm not above bribery
Date: 2 May 2005 18:27 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 May 2005 18:38 (UTC)and I'll try to think of some good ones for you
Re: I'm not above bribery
Date: 2 May 2005 18:45 (UTC)Step one would be knowing how to measure yourself. Step two is being able to pick out fabrics and patterns you like that complement each other's hue and washing requirements.
Re: I'm not above bribery
Date: 2 May 2005 18:49 (UTC)b-I got the measuring part, fabrics, etc. It's the machine I have issue with. That and what sort of stitch for what sort of fabric. That stuff. I had a bad experience (actually a few) and want a buddy to walk me through it. Or to be the one to catch the broken needle flying off the beast. I'm not usually stymied by machines, so this is an odd circumstance.
no subject
Date: 2 May 2005 18:56 (UTC)2. (obligatory I Watch Too Many Movies Question) You're on the run from a bunch of shadowy-government types. You're pretty sure your phone is bugged, but you need help. Who do you call, and how do you tell them, without tipping off the agents, that:
a)you're in trouble
b)you want to meet at a particular place and time
3. (obligatory I Watch Too Many Movies Question, number 2) Where are you going and where are you from?
4. (By now Obligatory Stolen Question) I am painting you, but you cannot be a form. You may only be a color. What color would you choose for yourself? Why?
5. Tell me about the first time you met me, from your persepective. What caused you to offer your modeling services to me? What were you expecting? Did I deliver? How did you tell Your Um, and what did he say in response? I've had the impression that I was the first unknown photographer you modeled for, tell me what that part was like, too.
no subject
Date: 2 May 2005 18:56 (UTC)Re: I'm not above bribery
Date: 2 May 2005 18:58 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 May 2005 22:42 (UTC)2. If someone asks you, do you still identify yourself as Hindu, and if so, why?
3. Careerwise, where would you like to see yourself five years from now, vs where you actually think you will be (assuming they are different)?
4. What character trait do you still identify in yourself that you want to change, why do you want to change it, and how might you go about doing it?
5. How has the geography and energy of Chicago affected you in contrast to those same qualities in Pittsburgh?
(I'm up for five from you)
no subject
Date: 3 May 2005 01:10 (UTC)Interview!
Date: 3 May 2005 01:45 (UTC)1. Given an infinate budget and infinate resources and time, what would be our ideal photo shoot consist of and why?
2. you have the chance to live as someone else for 24 hours (quantum leap like). Who and why?
3. you suddenly find yourself with full-time custody of a small child with no warning. who do you call for help and why?
4. the ghosts of christmas past present and future have come to help you change your evil ways. where do they take you?
5. mirimax has decided to make a "Clerks" like movie about you. where is it set, what characters and storylines might we see, and what is the soundtrack?
no subject
Date: 3 May 2005 11:11 (UTC)2. Why do you take pictures? When people look at your photos, what kind of responses do you get, and of those which do you prefer? How would your ideal viewer respond to your best image?
3. You list yourself as your own friend on LJ. What's up with that? How many people's blogs do you read? How often? Whose are worth reading (pimp your friends!)?
4. Where are you from and where are you going?
5. Socially speaking, what do you miss most about Chicago and your friends here? What would you like to make a point of doing when you get back?
no subject
Date: 3 May 2005 18:52 (UTC)Re: Interview!
Date: 3 May 2005 20:15 (UTC)no subject
Date: 4 May 2005 05:52 (UTC)Re: Interview!
Date: 4 May 2005 07:17 (UTC)