Somewhere in the early 90s I was playing with my parents camera, an old soviet tank. Eventually I broke it because I was trying to understand how it works. Sorry dad...Then a few disposable cameras in teenagehood and then a sudden stop. Fast forward 20 years later I wanted to get into photography and a friend told me to get a 35mm to play around. That was it, in love with photography and my Olympus om1 :)
Great question Wesley. I got into photography when my grandmother gifted me her Twin Lens Reflex camera when I turned 16. I bought some film for it, got it developed, and I was hooked. I still dabble with film but I have mainly moved over to digital.
For me I can’t remember a definite start, but cameras have always been a part of my life. Since I’ve also aleays been a creative, it seemed natural for me to care about photography as well. From borrowing my parent’s camera, or the first time I had a mobile camera that provided snapshots of my pets and friends. One summer I suddenly took an interest in analog photography (no clue what spurred this), and since then I’ve done little else:)
I love being outside and I loved to write about the things I saw, but I don’t have the talent to paint or draw exactly what I see. This eventually led me to look at photography in the last few months and I got a Canon ae-1 which has been a blast to use.
so cool to see how things started out for you! i’d say for me it was that, as an early teen, i saw so many photos that i felt enchanted by and wanted to create images like those too. so i started out with film and got my first digital camera at 15 and haven’t stopped.
I started taking photographs on a family holiday to Alaska. I was given the camera, and because it wasn't film but a small digital point and shoot, there wasn't any restriction on the number of images I could photograph. I would shoot everything from flowers to landscapes to my family. It was just pure experimentation. From then on, I'd keep the camera with me everywhere I went.
I have Aphantasia. Which, if you’re not familiar with, is essentially like having a blind mind’s eye. When I sit and try to recall memories, I have no visual reference of those memories. I rely on my photography to provide me with the visuals that my mind can’t conjure up.
While living with that condition is not necessarily what originally motivated me to start shooting photos, (I started shooting simply because I moved from rural Northwest New Jersey to Philadelphia and while walking past a camera store one day I decided to buy a camera.) it has been a huge motivator for me to continue shooting photos of the things I see that interest me and that I want to preserve.
I started photographing at the age of 9 or 10 with a Sprite camera that my grandparents gave me. It was around the mid 1990s, so it was a film camera, with the shape of a Sprite can. I just loved the feeling of capturing my family on film forever.
Later, I took it up in my 20s. with an old Voigtländer that belonged to my grandfather.
Thanks for sharing your journey Wesley! It just shows when you follow your intuition and heart it leads to unexpected, beautiful places.
For me I always had an appreciation for photography and art in general but never believed I was a creative being. After my father passed away 4 years ago I picked up his old film cameras and started making photos since. I haven't looked back from then and it's become a deeply healing, rewarding, and fulfilling journey.
For me, photography first appealed as a way share the adventures my friends and i shared while exploring the Colorado mountains. I started with a point and shoot rented from the library and dumped piles of mediocre images onto early Facebook. It wasn't until college that I realized photo was something I wanted to take more seriously, and since my intro darkroom class, that film has become an integral part of my artistic practice.
Jan 23, 2023·edited Jan 23, 2023Liked by Wesley Verhoeve
I got into photography when I was like 10 years old because of my father, back in 1996. Started playing with his analogic Canon EOS 700 shooting subjects like my Legos in my backyard and my sister's cat. Then got to buy my own simple camera on a flea market saving my allowance money and the rest is history later getting into Advertising college. Simpler times lol
Loved the content and the trip into memory lane Wesley!
When I was in college in the early 1980s, I lived down the street from an old home owned by the founders of Coca-Cola Co. The house and grounds had been turned into an arts center. The arts center offered a range of classes, including one on photography and how to develop black and white photographs. I signed up. I took my camera and walked all through the city on Saturdays, taking photos of anything that caught my attention. Then, I went to the arts center darkroom and developed the photos. The darkroom was rarely crowded with other students. I had such a thrill seeing my photos come to life. I submitted images to a hometown newspaper contest and the university's art journal. My photos were published in both places. Taking, developing and printing photographs was my joy and I was thrilled to have found a hobby that suited my introverted nature.
Lovely letter. It came a good moment for me to read, personally.
My answer: I first started taking photos using my father and brother's cameras on hiking trips when I was maybe 8 or 10 years old. I just wanted to do what they were doing. Later, on similar vacations, and when I was older, I took to bringing along my own. :)
I started taking photos in my teens - I was probably 12 or 13 years old. It was my Dad's love of photography that motivated me to try as well. Now, several decades later, I am still using his old film cameras alongside my digital and film gear. Many thanks to my Dad!
For me it all started when meeting my girlfriend and spending the first months together with her. She owned a DSLR but did not used it a lot, but it caught my interest. I started to play around with it, enjoyed it and really felt in love with photographing beautiful (at least for me) things in my life. Now, maybe 4 to 5 years later, I'm constantly looking and observing my surroundings to find the beauty in our planet earth. To be honest, I cannot think about a life without a camera and the sense to observe.
I can't remember when exactly I started shooting - I've always played with my parents' cameras and as a '97 baby playing with disposables, it must have been at least since I was 5 years old. Our family had lots of photo albums so I always appreciated the act of documenting daily life. :)
Somewhere in the early 90s I was playing with my parents camera, an old soviet tank. Eventually I broke it because I was trying to understand how it works. Sorry dad...Then a few disposable cameras in teenagehood and then a sudden stop. Fast forward 20 years later I wanted to get into photography and a friend told me to get a 35mm to play around. That was it, in love with photography and my Olympus om1 :)
Great question Wesley. I got into photography when my grandmother gifted me her Twin Lens Reflex camera when I turned 16. I bought some film for it, got it developed, and I was hooked. I still dabble with film but I have mainly moved over to digital.
For me I can’t remember a definite start, but cameras have always been a part of my life. Since I’ve also aleays been a creative, it seemed natural for me to care about photography as well. From borrowing my parent’s camera, or the first time I had a mobile camera that provided snapshots of my pets and friends. One summer I suddenly took an interest in analog photography (no clue what spurred this), and since then I’ve done little else:)
I love being outside and I loved to write about the things I saw, but I don’t have the talent to paint or draw exactly what I see. This eventually led me to look at photography in the last few months and I got a Canon ae-1 which has been a blast to use.
so cool to see how things started out for you! i’d say for me it was that, as an early teen, i saw so many photos that i felt enchanted by and wanted to create images like those too. so i started out with film and got my first digital camera at 15 and haven’t stopped.
I started taking photographs on a family holiday to Alaska. I was given the camera, and because it wasn't film but a small digital point and shoot, there wasn't any restriction on the number of images I could photograph. I would shoot everything from flowers to landscapes to my family. It was just pure experimentation. From then on, I'd keep the camera with me everywhere I went.
I have Aphantasia. Which, if you’re not familiar with, is essentially like having a blind mind’s eye. When I sit and try to recall memories, I have no visual reference of those memories. I rely on my photography to provide me with the visuals that my mind can’t conjure up.
While living with that condition is not necessarily what originally motivated me to start shooting photos, (I started shooting simply because I moved from rural Northwest New Jersey to Philadelphia and while walking past a camera store one day I decided to buy a camera.) it has been a huge motivator for me to continue shooting photos of the things I see that interest me and that I want to preserve.
I started photographing at the age of 9 or 10 with a Sprite camera that my grandparents gave me. It was around the mid 1990s, so it was a film camera, with the shape of a Sprite can. I just loved the feeling of capturing my family on film forever.
Later, I took it up in my 20s. with an old Voigtländer that belonged to my grandfather.
Thanks for sharing your journey Wesley! It just shows when you follow your intuition and heart it leads to unexpected, beautiful places.
For me I always had an appreciation for photography and art in general but never believed I was a creative being. After my father passed away 4 years ago I picked up his old film cameras and started making photos since. I haven't looked back from then and it's become a deeply healing, rewarding, and fulfilling journey.
For me, photography first appealed as a way share the adventures my friends and i shared while exploring the Colorado mountains. I started with a point and shoot rented from the library and dumped piles of mediocre images onto early Facebook. It wasn't until college that I realized photo was something I wanted to take more seriously, and since my intro darkroom class, that film has become an integral part of my artistic practice.
I got into photography when I was like 10 years old because of my father, back in 1996. Started playing with his analogic Canon EOS 700 shooting subjects like my Legos in my backyard and my sister's cat. Then got to buy my own simple camera on a flea market saving my allowance money and the rest is history later getting into Advertising college. Simpler times lol
Loved the content and the trip into memory lane Wesley!
When I was in college in the early 1980s, I lived down the street from an old home owned by the founders of Coca-Cola Co. The house and grounds had been turned into an arts center. The arts center offered a range of classes, including one on photography and how to develop black and white photographs. I signed up. I took my camera and walked all through the city on Saturdays, taking photos of anything that caught my attention. Then, I went to the arts center darkroom and developed the photos. The darkroom was rarely crowded with other students. I had such a thrill seeing my photos come to life. I submitted images to a hometown newspaper contest and the university's art journal. My photos were published in both places. Taking, developing and printing photographs was my joy and I was thrilled to have found a hobby that suited my introverted nature.
Lovely letter. It came a good moment for me to read, personally.
My answer: I first started taking photos using my father and brother's cameras on hiking trips when I was maybe 8 or 10 years old. I just wanted to do what they were doing. Later, on similar vacations, and when I was older, I took to bringing along my own. :)
I started taking photos in my teens - I was probably 12 or 13 years old. It was my Dad's love of photography that motivated me to try as well. Now, several decades later, I am still using his old film cameras alongside my digital and film gear. Many thanks to my Dad!
For me it all started when meeting my girlfriend and spending the first months together with her. She owned a DSLR but did not used it a lot, but it caught my interest. I started to play around with it, enjoyed it and really felt in love with photographing beautiful (at least for me) things in my life. Now, maybe 4 to 5 years later, I'm constantly looking and observing my surroundings to find the beauty in our planet earth. To be honest, I cannot think about a life without a camera and the sense to observe.
I can't remember when exactly I started shooting - I've always played with my parents' cameras and as a '97 baby playing with disposables, it must have been at least since I was 5 years old. Our family had lots of photo albums so I always appreciated the act of documenting daily life. :)