Welcome! It’s the first of a series of MDP posts and I thought there would be no better way to start things off than by telling you about my start in to photography. It’s a tale of adventure, mystery, and love lost and found… okay actually it’s none of those. This story may not keep you on the edge of your seat, but buckle up for a brief history.
It all started with my grandfathers. One just enjoyed photography as a hobby and the other was a photographer in the Army stationed at Los Alamos, and that family history not only provided some interesting cameras and equipment but sparked my desire to study photography. Picking up a camera and composing through the viewfinder changed how I saw the world. There was so much to capture and document, as well as an opportunity to create a new perspective and view of the world. I first signed up for photography in high school at Grosse Pointe South with Mr. Summers. That was sophomore year, and I spent three years of high school learning from a very talented teacher, learning and trying multiple methods in the darkroom including lithography, basic b+w film + print development, cyanotypes, hand coloring, polaroid lifts, etc… We developed everything, although there was no color lab, printed everything and mounted everything which was about as DIY as it gets. I ended up running with it and tried a lot of different things especially when it came to displaying images. I cut them up, used multiple openings on mattes, and really experimented – that was the highlight. There were a lot of low lights and if you’ve spent time in the darkroom you’ll know that film photography can kick your butt. I seriously spent hours cleaning dust off negatives, reprinting images and often failing but those magic moments when the developer started working and images began to appear on paper kept me coming back. All of that said, I guess I will be one of those ancient people who got started in photography at a time just before the explosion of digital imagery, but of course I wouldn’t have traded it.
After those three years of study it came time to decide if I wanted to pursue it further. I came pretty close to going to school for engineering, but in the final days of high school I decided to find a new college to go to that would allow me to study art and run xc +track (those were two of my requirements) and that decision brought me to Houghton College. I spent many more hours in the darkroom, and equal if not more hours studying ceramics, drawing, furniture design and graphic design as well. By my senior year I was firmly planted in film photography and had a strong graphic design portfolio as well. You can see some work from my senior thesis below that explored form and the body from an abstract perspective.
After pursing fine art work in college, I had a few years away from photography where I transitioned over to digital. I worked as a graphic designer, and continued to take pictures on the side and began pushing myself to try new things. I started photographing a few weddings for friends and had a few years of casual photography before I decided to make a business of it. It was a leap of faith, and this whole time I’ve been pushing myself to develop my own perspective as a photographer of people and relationships. I loved the challenge of the business and of course the ability to do something I love. I know there are a lot of people out there who have similar stories of how they got their start in photography so if you want to share let me know I’d love to hear!
by Mary Dougherty
5 comments