I have no idea where the film is. I was only nine or ten when I took these, and have moved eight times or so since then. My dad was a photography enthusiast (he lives but has other interests these days), and it rubbed off on me. The principal of my elementary school was a pro, and he took me on as a photography student when I was in first grade. There was a darkroom in a trailer at school, and I was developing my photos (with guidance) by age seven.
I had permission to do photography as part of the enrichment program that couldn't keep pace with a few of us, and I was already interested in historical architecture. Once a week, the principal would take me and one other student to some old building in the county and we spent a happy hour or two taking pictures.
This cemetery arch drips sometimes. The drops are dark like blood - I've seen that. Legend has it that if it drips on you as you pass beneath it, the next burial there will be your own.
This house is my favorite house in the world, architecturally speaking. It was built in the early 1900s, and is named for the first owner. I wrote a poem in fifth grade that chronicled the town's history through the perspective of the snake-eye window visible in the upper left. I wish I still had my print of the window itself, a nice close-up shot.
The poem I wrote was featured in the state history museum for a year. During that year, I got a call from the grandson of the guy who built the house, an old man who was grateful to have seen the poem and felt reconnected to the house by it (he was born in one of the bedrooms). He sent me a beautiful Tiffany vase by way of thanks. I recently received a notice asking for permission to use the poem in the town's tricentennial celebration in 2010.
The arch was shot with a Nikon Nikkormat 35mm, as was the house. I also used a Yashica Mat 124 fairly often. The pics aren't awesome, but they weren't horrible for a kid with heavy equipment, and I loved every minute of it...I think I'll get back into that stuff when I have more time.
