"tonyp"

Artist - U.S.A

I still remember that summer afternoon I was at the age of 14. I just arrived home from my Boy Scout meeting and was enthusiastically perusing through my Scout’s Manual. I stopped, suddenly, when I saw a camera icon with the title “Photo Journalist.” After reading the pages over and over, I knew what I wanted to do , (I thought). I decided to take a typing class instead of wood shop. To my amazement, my Junior High school offered an after school class in photography.

I was mesmerized, the very first time I saw a photograph developed. I still remember the smell of Fixer. My father bought me my first darkroom set that same year for Christmas. Thanks Dad! He was so proud of me!

When I got my first job at 16, I saved money and bought my first 35mm SLR camera I then took Fashion photography classes with this talented retired couple. They taught me everything from composition to lighting. I read every article in American Photographer. I researched Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, GQ, and W. and devotedly studied the works of Richard Avedon, Francesco Scuvallo, Ansel Adams, Hiro, Gordon Parks and Pete Turner. Three days before my 21st birthday, I got my first picture published in The Detroit Free Press! I always had a love for drawing and painting. As a young boy, I would draw Super Heroes and dabbled in painting. While sitting at the dining room table, I decided I wanted to paint. I didn’t have any paint- I’m an only child, we know how to improvise. Wow! This looks pretty damn good, I thought. Then came computers! I love technology! I’ll be damned! I can shoot the picture, paint the picture and then digitally manipulate it. What control! How original! How me!