March 28, 2024

Your Life, In Pictures

Posted on August 1, 2014 by in EdNote

I bought my first 35mm camera when I was 23. Like our August cover, Twinkle Smith, I was introduced to the hobby by my dad. A twin-lens reflex model, Pop’s camera never met a family vacation, wedding, or friendly gathering it didn’t like.

“One day, you’ll be happy you have all these pictures,” he often said, as my siblings and I stared into the blinding sunlight, forcing smiles onto otherwise pained expressions, while Pop clicked photo after photo.

He organized the pictures, and later slides, into albums or carousels, creatively labeled “Panama City Beach,” “Jasmine Hill,” or “Our Little Baby’s First Birthday.” Though I lacked appreciation for it back then, thanks to Dad, much of our early and young adult lives are effectively preserved on film.

My brother Vic got the photo bug next, purchasing his first “real” camera (i.e. not plastic) in the late ‘60s at Capitol Wholesale downtown. He was a college student in Atlanta and the youth culture of the period was ripe for photos. It was a different time, when you could click away freely to your heart’s content without anyone thinking you were either a terrorist or doing surveillance work. One summer when Vic was home from college, his camera became the prop for an wonderful experience we both vividly remember.

It was election night for Alabama’s 1968 Presidential Primary, with George Wallace making the second of what would become four presidential runs. Camera crews from across the country followed Wallace’s every move and, at 20 and 16 respectively, Vic and I were determined to be part of the excitement.

Showing up at Wallace’s election night celebration as a reporter/photographer team, camera in-hand, we were uninvited guests to the event at the Governor’s House Motel. Standing directly in front of Wallace as he spoke, rubbing elbows with national news media VIPs, Vic clicked away to his heart’s content as I took notes on the celebratory primary speech. We were up close and personal at a thrilling event that likely influenced each of us to continue what became lifelong pursuits for us both.

In 1975 I purchased my own camera to document a post-college trip to Europe my best friend and I had long promised each other we’d take. I remember all the sites we visited, from the Irish countryside to the Berlin Wall, from Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne to the Roman Coliseum. But even more significant, the photographs I took help me remember the faces of people we met along the way. The old Irish gentleman in Wicklow, the crazy Cretan bus driver, the friendly California students in Munich’s Hofbrauhaus.

As years go by and mental images start to fade, the trip photographs that have long adorned my office walls have become some of my most-prized possessions. Pop was right all those years ago. I’m so happy I have these pictures.

Enjoy this photo-packed issue of Prime!

Sandra Polizos, Editor

Sandra Polizos, Editor

 

Sandra Polizos, Editor

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