I came across this old photo while cleaning out closets the other day.  It was taken back in 2003 when I was fresh out of high school, and singularly marks the beginning of my love for photography.  It’s a photo of Florence, Italy, taken right near the Duomo (the city’s central and most famous cathedral).  It’s very strange to me that I happened to stumble across it just days before we fly out to Florence to see our dear friends Josh and Lou, who happen to live within walking distance of the place where I took this photo seven years ago.  And, not only are we going to Florence, but we’re also going to London, where I was first introduced to the beauty of film and learned to use a darkroom.  So here I am, years after I fell in love with photography, making a living taking photos and heading back to the places where it all began.  I hope to return home with roll upon roll of beautiful images taken with a new perspective, not just on photography, but on the world I find worthy of being photographed.  Michelangelo said of his sculptures that the sculptor’s part was merely to discover the beautiful form that already existed within the piece of stone.  Perhaps this is true of photography as well.  That we as photographers do not create, but rather discover the images around us waiting to be captured.  Wish us luck on our adventure!

By the way, I took this with a disposable C-41 Black & White camera.  Do they even make those anymore?

Amy

Dad found Bandit in the woods one day on his way back from a hunt. He was just a pup, and seeing that he was in the middle of nowhere with no apparent mother or owner to care for him, Dad scooped him up and brough him home. He inherited the name Bandit from the recollection that my sister had of a dog from our childhood that ran away. I guess that made him a sort of reincarnated memory for us all, like he had some inherent nostalgia.

He was a great playmate for Pepper–the dog left behind by the previous owners of my parent’s house, who is also, as of recent and due to his age, no longer with us–and it is my own personal conclusion that Pepper’s death precipitated Bandit’s own passing, for Bandit sulked for weeks, ate almost nothing, and eventually wandered absent-mindedly into the road where he met his fate with a passing car.

We will miss these dogs.

Rest in peace, Bandit (you too, Pepper).

Here are a few images from the archives.

Bandit. Shot with Mamiya 645 on Fuji 160C.

Bandit. Shot with Imperial Mark XII on unknown roll of 220. 

Pepper and Bandit doing what they did best. Shot with Canon 5D Mark II.