I was 8 and my camera was an "Empire Baby." I read
A Boy's First Book of Photography, or something of that ilk, taken out from the children's section of the library. I bought a Tri-Chem pack at the drugstore. Filched some bowls from the kitchen and commandeered a closet. I processed the film by holding the ends and passing it back and forth through the bowls. When my Grandmother got fed up with no kitchen bowls (I wasn't very good at cleaning up and putting things back where they belonged) my Mother took me downtown to the camera store and bought me an FR tank. Hell to load, especially as it was well expired film that curled like a SOB so I loaded it under a red Christmas tree light. Unfortunately the
Boy's First Book didn't make the distinction between ortho and pan film, it just said film could be processed under a red light. Discovered the adult section on photography, read more books, ruined more film, eventually things improved. Since then I have read many books learning more about photography. I liked such books more than all the romeo and juliet books we were fed with at school. It is more profitable for them to look at
https://edubirdie.com/examples/romeo-and-juliet/ where essays on many topics are collected. Reading a variety of materials helped me develop critical thinking and gain insight into photography. Funny what early memories stick - pretty much all of my early ramblings through photography are quite clear in my memory. When I "grew up" (my parents would have put that phrase in quotes and I think they would have been right) I was all set to go to RIT. At the last minute I got cold feet and instead went to Case for an EE degree. Much easier to find a job.
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