Zen and the Art of Photography, by Robert Leverant, was last published in 1968,I recall reading it when I was in high school and at the time the book did not make an impact on me. Over the years however I can see the "truth" in some of the words I remember and dismissed. Photography can lead to enlightenment. I do not remember when I first started taking photos, I remember using a old (even then) Brownie camera to take photos when I was in the cub scouts. In 7th grade I was a a member of the camera club, I even remember having to give a speech in English class and giving it on different methods to develop film, B&W. In High School I was doing audio visual productions. As time pass other things took me away from photography but I always returned. My first published photograph was a black &white photo taken of a pavilion in the grounds of a palace in Seoul Korea. It appeared in the magazine section of the Stars & Stripes,in the spring of 1978. Shortly there after I had my first and second magazine articles published. They appeared in a tabloid style magazine called KORUS, it was published twice a month. I had attended the Miss Korean beauty pageant and had written a short article to go with some of the photos. I took them to the magazine office and the editor loved them. My timing was just right as they were laying out the next issue, and it ended up being the lead article. While we were talking the editor was interested in how easy I got around the city, which bore out my first “assignment” a article about getting around Seoul complete with photographs. Over the years I had a few more photos published and some success in photography contest. While stationed at Fort Gordon Georgia I worked with a man who owned a wedding Photography business. He worked as a government employee during the week and would shoot a wedding or two on the weekend. When his company was busy he would hire me as a second camera either to himself or one of his staff for large weddings. Before long, I was getting assignments to photograph small weddings on my own. Being transferred to Germany ended the wedding sideline, but I enjoy photographing the country side. When I retired from the military, I took a temporary job as a photographer doing school photography, you know picture day stuff. It was just intended to be a way to detoxify from military stress until I found something else. It was fun and the staff respected what I did, even giving me assignments that were reserved for the senior staff ( 3 years or more with the company) and holding me over for promos and sports events. Now it back to an amateur status, except I still do almost all the photography for seahorse. Recently I bought a new camera and getting back into it, I am starting to take short trips just to photograph.
