age 12

childhood excursions

Imperfect photos can tell interesting stories

12

These were among the first pictures I took with my dad’s old bellows camera that used 45mm film. His uncle had gifted it to him as my dad boarded the ship to emigrate to the U.S. — an impromptu act of love to a 21-year-old pursuing his dreams across the ocean. I was 11 or 12 and my dad had gotten a new fancy Nikon so I got this far more interesting and mysterious ancient thing with a pop-out, accordion-like bellows and zero instructions.

As an adult, I adjusted the color in Photoshop after scanning the negatives but the images themselves are straight.

The first person I showed them to on this website said they were “bad.” I love them, but maybe that’s because of the memories attached. Or maybe it’s because I no longer have that camera. I’m still kicking myself for not being more careful about what was in boxes I donated to Goodwill during a mass purge.

series 1 previous: guggenheim next: gifted danae