Taking a trip down memory lane is always a rich and complex experience. Often we find ourselves understanding the course of our life because of some incident. I covered that in a blog earlier about why I became a film-maker.
https://steemit.com/life/@markvicente/how-i-fell-in-love-with-movies-and-became-a-filmmaker
But even before my ‘drum experience', there was a moment that made me fall in love with photography. My grandfather, Hannes van Zijl, owned an advertising agency in South Africa. Being an Ad Man, he always carried a camera around. One day, when I was all of 4 years old, I asked him if he could show me how to use it. It was an old range-finder camera with an amazing brown leather case. It was well used and he’d taken some amazing photographs with it. I handed him my wind-up rubber-band glider to hold while I took the camera from him.
After learning the basics I asked him if I could take a photo of him. Smiling, he acquiesced. He probably thought I was going to end up shooting half his face or something!! I took aim... and click. After that I probably ran off to continue terrorizing people with my glider.
Weeks later, my grandfather excitedly brought me into his office and showed me a picture frame on his desk. It was the photograph I took! He was beaming with pride and I was amazed. He said I had done exceptionally well for my first try.
You can see him looking down at me holding my glider. And yes, he was a cool cat!
He kept that picture in his office till the day he died. It brings me such joy and warm memories to look at it. First because he was a man that was deeply influential in my life, secondly became it was my first ‘foray’ into photography. Taking that picture and seeing my work displayed would change my life. I become obsessed with shooting from then on. I didn’t realize till much later that you could actually make a career out of it!
I'm curious about other photographers out here. When did you take your first photo and do you still have it?!
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