Another negative brought back from the forgotten. It was taken on the North Side in 1994. The crowd gathered and was photographed from the South Side, Twin Towers, Waterview, and Statute of Liberty. I liked the shadow cutting across the city – fewer people over there, too. It is one of my favorite negatives from back in the day of film.

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With the eclipse on our minds this week, it got me thinking about the first one I photographed – Thirty Years ago, May 10th, 1994. Taken on film, I have prints of it in albums, but I hoped to find the negative. My son and I spent Wednesday night going through a bin where I kept all my negatives—thousands from the 80s to the early 2000s. We had fun going through all the old pictures/negatives. I found the one I wanted right at the bottom of the box. I photographed a few dozen negatives today, making them digital. I will be sharing more here as I process them, the 1994 Eclipse is first.

The most significant discovery of the search was not any images – it was the dates. 1993/1994 I took a step up, I stopped taking photos and started my path to photographer. The eclipse photo comes into play in that transition. It ended up being my first displayed and sold photo. I was working at a one-hour photo lab in Medway, which I would buy a few years later. We were all out front of the store looking at the eclipse – we did not have any glasses, we were using pin boxes and film strips, and there were a bunch of clouds filtering the light. A kid showed up on a bike wearing his Dad’s welding helmet. I borrowed it, held it in front of the camera, and took four photos. I developed the film and got these shots. I was so happy with them. The owner let me display the best one in the store. Later that day, a waitress who worked in the plaza saw it and asked to buy it.

I was just happy to have it displayed, and now it could be sold. This was huge! She asked how much for the 5×7 print. I remember struggling with the price. I had no clue what to say. I would have given it to her for free, just for liking it. My friends at the shop said I should say $20; I ended up telling her $15… and that’s when I was floored. “$15, wow, that’s steep… I guess that’s what starving artists do, try to get as much money as they can.” She was serious, she ended up buying it, but made sure I knew I had “sold it for too high of a price”. It has been thirty years, and that transaction still lives in my mind. Welcome to trying to make a living as an artist. It is still one of my favorite photos and lessons. I will always do what I can to get the photo and know value is a term without definition. As true today as it was thirty years back. And you can get an 8×10 of this week’s eclipse for $40 because I guess I am still a starving artist.

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1997, 5-speed Subaru Outback. This is my ride for a few days. I drive a truck, so this is a nice change. The heads turn as you drive by, could be the lack of hubcaps, the turbo features on the hood, the luggage rack… the whole package. Pulling up the High School to pick up Anna today, to witness her face, as she saw what one day will be her car… it is a moment you can not take away from a Father.

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