In these analog days during the
late 1970s and early 1980s, I worked as a "backpack
journalist" for newspapers: I multi-tasked news gathering and
editing by carrying plenty of technical gear either in my shoulder bag
or Vega, nicknamed the "Vegimatic" by a fellow shooter because
of all the noises it would make when I urged it to hurry down the road
to a news event. It was my first car and I loved it until I moved to
Florida and needed air conditioning.
In addition to doing news
photography for small papers and the Associated Press in western Kansas
and eastern Colorado, I also did aerial landscapes, environmental
portraiture, industrial and wedding photography as part of my growing
freelance business. I even had my photos shown in several regional solo
and dual shows in addition to a state-level invitational show in Hays,
Kansas.
Then, I moved from rural Kansas
to the Big Apple to try to make photography my career. In the city, I
was a photography workshop administrator and teacher in midtown in
addition to being a photo assistant on the side. I even spent some
quality time working in a Chelsea (NYC photo district) custom house that
specialized in black and white darkroom work for trade photographers.
There, I made a living doing retouching by hand with a 000 brush and #3
Spot Tone bottle while honing my skills as a master printer of negatives
from 35mm up to 4x5 inches on graded papers. At times, I also printed
from larger negatives. Those were the days!
When my father became ill, I
moved to Florida to be nearer to him and my mother. Freelance
photography helped me augment the paycheck that paid my rent. After my
dad died and I finished graduate school, I pointed my career toward
investigative journalism, news research and teaching journalism in
newsrooms, academia, online and through multimedia.
Even though I haven't made my
primary living with photography for decades, my analog and now digital
cameras are never too far away as I still incorporate photography into
my teaching when ever I can. Plus, my favorite souvenirs when traveling
or kayaking are photos!
So, enjoy my stills, slideshows
-- some even have audio -- writing and occasional technical notes. I
will eventually be adding samples of my videos too, all in good time.
If you have any questions or
thoughts, send me an e-mail.
-- Deb Wolfe: dpwolfe@gmail.com
