Both of my parents contributed to my fondness of history and objects from the past.
He contributed greatly to the Baobab - the family history.
The project, since we are not aristocrats, is not trailing the path of written historic records.
However, I managed to trace my family history only as far as the photographic proof has it.
So essentially, owe my life as a family member to the technology of photography.
So yes, I have tried to repay my debt to photography. In early 1980ies I have enrolled in the photography courses at the Visual Arts department of the local university.
I have spent everything I owned on a Pentax K1000 ($95.-) and a lens ($50.00).
The camera served me well, I've taken many photographs.I was receptive -I admit - to the magic of chemistry-based B&W development, but only as long as I could use technician-maintained lab in the department's lab. The moment I had set up by basement-darkroom it became a utopia.
Between work and a small kid - mixing chemicals....
Aha, and if you think that I would subscribe to the non-clutter concept of organization and get rid of that camera for which I spent everything I owned - no way ma'am. I am going to the grave with it.
I did let my son to cut his photographic teeth on it...
Here, you can see my proud baby, in the background you may see the proof that indeed I keep Susan Sontag and Camille Paglia at a safe distance...Look - they are separated by Art in the Public Spaces and The Poetics of Space, let me see... Even Semiotics and some book on Linguistics, must be Botha..
They are flanked by - wow - Love in he Western World, Derrida and old edition of C.Jung chewed by my friend's dog
(not the Master, the book dummy!)
