About 5, coming up on 6 years ago now, I was given a camera in my middle school art class to create a dynamic photo.
My middle school no longer exists, as a building. I remember distinctly the locker, though, that I used to take a photo. It was down a central hallway, where each locker was a bright orange.
I used a macro lens, I believe, in this photo. The way the orange light bounces off the locker and the lens to reflect into the ridges of the combination lock, the rusted over, cracked numbers and the gradient of the single color of orange is stunning. Ever since I took this photo, my love for digital work blossomed into what it is today. I don’t think I had ever been so proud of something I had made before.
I continue to share this work, from 2016, that means so much to me. It expresses how far I’ve come, and I would proudly present this as my first ‘work,’ or first ‘real photograph.’ It was the spark I needed.
It’s also interesting to note that a peer took a similar photo to me, but blurry, farther away, a dull, unedited color. We all printed our photos out in the art lab, and he took my photo and pretended it was his. He got in trouble, of course. I think about it from time to time.
– Vee Devendorf