heathergalaxy asks me five questions

1. 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.