In 1980, while I was in high school, I took a section of Art class on photography. They issued us each a Canon AE-1 35mm camera and some black and white film and told us to start shooting. I did so and made some moderately good shots, but in the process I fell in love with that camera. I loathed having to give it back, but I couldn't afford one of my own.
Over the next twenty years I occasionally thought back to that camera with some longing, but for various reasons never really tried to get one. (Mostly that I was still broke.) But that didn't stop me from wanting one.
Fast-forward to Spring 2001. It was suggested to me that a good place to look for a camera that was affordable would be a pawn shop. So one day I took a ride to the nearest one, and there in the case was an AE-1 identical to the one I had known. I bought it, took it to a local shop to be refurbished, and have been playing with it since.
So some of these pictures are of favorite places and some are my attempts to capture certain moods and such. I'm splitting this up into two groups- Hollywood Cemetery and everything else.
Hollywood Cemetery is a local site, an old historical cemetery here in Richmond. No, I don't have a morbid fascination with tombstones- instead I have a deep appreciation for the incredible sculpture there. Some of the angels are so lifelike that I almost expect them to breathe and stir as I look at them, and the detail and care that went into them is breathtaking. And best of all, they don't move.
So, if you can deal with the inevitable sadness that goes with such things, go check out the shots I've gotten in there. Otherwise go look at the rest of it.
Paul
