My Pictures: A history

I frequently find myself lusting after DSLRs and the output of others on the various blogs on the interwebz. Advances in technology and reliance of DIY photography has meant that there are now more people than ever picking up the craft and taking it much more seriously than the occasional snap. I would count myself as one of those.

For myself personally, it all began when I watched others taking pictures for their school slambook; this was back in 1999. We were coming to the end of a crucial point in the English education system, on the cusp of receiving our GCSEs, with major changes taking place soon after. Some of my class mates planned to stay on in sixth form (secondary school), whilst others - like myself, had opted for sixth form college instead, as it provided us with wider range of subjects at AS and A levels. In addition to the forthcoming educational upheaval, I had moved homes to a different area altogether before my final year, and a worry nagged the back of my mind, that these individuals who had come to mean so much to me over the previous fives years, would no longer be present in my daily life. It was a poignant thought, one that caused quite a bit of sadness, but one that I was resolute to fix with at least lasting memories for the future.

To ensure that I had something concrete to take away from my fabulous experience at school, pictures were a must, and so I badgered my parents for a camera,. Boy, did they get me a camera! It was a Vivatar APS (remember those?!) camera from abroad. I was such a proud owner of it as I snapped away my final year with many colourful outputs. Most of these have ended up in my own slambook, a book filled with pictures, thoughts from my school friends, many in-jokes, random things glued in and lipstick prints as my friends smacked away imprints of love for me to pore over many years later.  I still have the book and have looked through it many times since. It's a beautiful part of my past and I am glad I have it.

I loved the whole process of collecting these memories and I believe this was what set me on my way to becoming the snapper I am today.

So that's how it began for me.

P.S. I just had a look at the aforementioned Slambook and I forgot all about the friendship band, the newspaper clipping where I received my GCSE results and appeared in the local paper and the random bits of chocolate wrapper, ha. Probably better with pictures, but perhaps this ones just for my eyes only.