by While recently going through my old photographs I came across this picture of me at 18. I’d always loved taking pictures, but during my first year of college I took a required photography course and started using a better camera.
It was one of the most fun and exciting turns in my life. Even though I wanted to be a writer since I was nine, making a living writing didn’t seem like the most practical idea so I decided I would make a living as a photographer instead, while still pursing my dream of writing books. That plan didn’t go so well, alas, but I stumbled into something that ultimately led to Echo, a social network I started in 1989. My first book was published in 1998, when I was 42.
I remember telling my therapist, when I was around 30-years old, that if I didn’t publish by the time I was 40 there was no point to keep trying. After 40 I’d be too old to enjoy it. Hahaha. I remember seriously thinking that!! Hang in there dreamers!
This is me at 18, in my college dorm room, with my beloved Pentax SP-1000.
Polished work boots and cut-off jeans, short hair and cardigans! Were any of the things in this photo cool in 1974? What about by 1994? They all became cool eventually. Was it you who made them cool? I’m beginning to think that might be the case, but these things certainly are mysteries…
Thank you for all of your hard work!
Haha.