Talking Pictures: My photographic life

(South Baltimore as seen from the WTC  Photo by Bill Hughes)

Photography for me is capturing the moment, the emotion, and documenting the scene. It could be a dramatic picture of a social justice activist getting arrested in front of the White House and/or a fun#photo of a youngster exuding excitement about feeding a wild bird.

I’m lucky. I came from a working-class area that is made for taking photos – Locust Point. It is a peninsula that juts out into Baltimore’s Harbor, with historic Fort McHenry at its eastern edge. When I was growing up, it was heavily industrialized, but that has gradually changed over the years. Today, the residential element, featuring “Silo Point” Hi-Rise, now dominates.

I also enjoy taking photos of places and nature. There is nothing quite like getting a picture of glorious mountains, huge glaciers, and colorful creatures, like the splendid Orcas (the large black whales) of Alaska and Canada.

And, least I forget, getting a photo of the majestic condor in flight over Patagonia, Chile.  (The famed explorer Magellan gave the local tribes in this southern area of South America, the name, “Patagon,” which first appeared as a literary character in a 16th-century Spanish novel. Hence, Patagonia became known as that beautiful region bordering the Pacific Ocean shared by Argentina and Chile.)

When I traveled to Patagonia, I was able to take some photos of Cape Horn. To many, it represents the end of the known world! It became famous as a result of tales of explorers in their sailing ships trying to traverse its often dangerous waters and violent winds.

I really didn’t start taking to photography until about ten years ago. I’ve always enjoyed covering (writing about) antiwar rallies, protests, and celebrations of just about every description around Baltimore and in Washington, D.C., too. Then, it dawned on me,  that readers might also enjoy a photograph or two of the event to bring it fully home for them.

First, a little history. The invention of the digital camera has been a big plus in the evolution of photography. It opened up the art of photography to wider usage. Before the digital era, only a select few photographers dominated the scene. Now, it is an entirely new ball game. The arena is much more democratic as a result. It is possible for an amateur to get the “picture of the year.”

Digital cameras are easy and less expensive to use, with little or no hassle, unless you forget to put your memory stick into the camera and/or have your battery fully charged. Despite the built-in warnings on the camera, it can happen to the best of photographers. Trust me, it can rob you of a full day’s work of shootings. Pay attention to the ground rules. No exceptions.

Getting back to the subjects of my photography, Baltimore, the city of my birth, is one of my favorite topics. That goes also for all its diverse personalities, like its current State’s Attorney, the controversial but very competent, Marilyn Mosby. It is colorful characters, such as Ms. Mosby, that make it such a vibrant and exciting municipality.

From attending the annual HONfest in Hampden; to an old timers’ baseball ceremony (Baltimore Orioles) at Camden Yards; to a literary reading at Benn Ray’s Atomic Books (on Falls Road), it’s always a joy for me to bring those events and personalities who are featured, to life with my photographs.

That same principle applies to my photography of places, people and scenes on a global scale. For example, I would like fans of my photography to view a photo I’ve taken of a person or scene in a foreign country, and say to themselves, “Hey, I would love to go there someday.” To me, that would be the highest compliment on my work.

This site, https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-digital-camera-4070938, gives you a detailed history of the digital camera. It was Kodak in the early 1990s, that came to the front in creating a camera for Mr. and Ms. Consumer. Its history lesson ended with this statement that rings with the truth: “Today, digital cameras are everywhere.”

One of Baltimore’s most well-known photographers was the legendary A. Audrey Bodine. He was known as a “pictorial stylist.” Just about anybody seriously interested in photography, including yours truly, has one of Bodine’s books.

Some of Bodine’s publications have as their subject: trains, the Chesapeake Bay, city photos and industrial workers. Check out his site, to learn more about him and his art: https://www.aaubreybodine.com/. Bodine admitted in one of his publications that one of his most popular photos was actually taken with one of those cheap-oh $50 cameras. Go figure.

Let me finish up my discussion on the topic of photography by mentioning that 92 of my photographs, covering a wide array of subjects, are now available in my latest book.

Final word: Get that camera out of its bag and start taking those pictures!