Photo Geek-dom

San Francisco Art Institute

In case you didn't know, I am a bit of a photo geek. Photography was my favorite class in high school. I did a summer photography program at the San Francisco Art Institute between junior and senior year. I even majored in photography in college. It started with developing black and white film and prints in the darkroom. Gradually I moved on to the color darkroom. Finally, after college finished and I moved home and no longer had darkroom access, I started to work digitally.

It's been a long time since I developed a roll of film. (Remember those?) It's also been a long time since I've written a zine. Furthering my re-visitation of that teenager I used to be, here's a poem* I published in Boldly Going Nowhere, the zine I produced over a period of 2 years.

"Ode to the Empty Film Canister

Oh, my empty film canister!
How I adore you!
Your curved surfaces
Gleam
Like motor oil on pavement
Slick
With rain.
Such perfection in your contours!
Such perfection is fit only for the gods.
So much possibility lies within you!
You could be a change holder,
The pennies and dimes would
Stack
Inside you
Like ancient
Corinthian
Columns,
Leaning Towers
Of Pisa.
You could carry the jewels
Of the one who owns you,
Keeping them safe
From predators.
Oh my empty film canister!
Such splendor in
Your
Heavenly
Figure!
Such rarities found only one place on this earth,
The place of your birth,
The
Kodak
Factory."
-Boldly Going Nowhere, Issue #1, circa 1999

*Part of me suspects this is actually an exercise from my AP English class, which would be further indication of my geekyness.