1974 to 2024
In the fall of 1974, it was like any another lazy Saturday morning for me. I was 17 years old, just hanging out, and the phone rings. When I answered the phone in the kitchen I found myself talking to one of my teachers from school. Getting phone calls from a teacher was not usual. That didn’t happen very often. In fact that was the one and only time that ever happened. It was my Industrial Arts teacher at Fullerton Union High School, Ed Burns, and he had an intriguing reason for his call. He wanted to tell me about a job that he had just found out about. There was an opening for a part-time photographer at the local news paper, The Fullerton Daily News Tribune, and he thought I should apply for it. Up to this point in my life I had zero experience with photography. I had been in the dark room in his class only because I was the only student he could trust where he could not see what was going on in there. We used the sink in the dark room for rinsing out the silk screens and there was no photographic equipment in there at all. I pointed out to him that I really had no clue about taking pictures or anything about photography. He conceded that little fact, but insisted I check it out anyway. After all, he said, the worst thing they could tell you is no. I could not argue with that logic so I figured I’d give it a try.
I called over to the paper and set up an interview with the lead photographer, Jess Andresen. We met on the following Saturday and visited in the photo office for about two hours. I swear I don’t remember what we talked about, but I do remember that I enjoyed our conversation. Then he said we should check out the lab. When I walked in I saw an enlarger for the very first time and the chemicals used to make prints with. It was all foreign and amazing and kinda cool all at the same time. Jess put a negative in the enlarger and showed me how it worked (making the projection larger or smaller by raising and lowering the head of the enlarger, adjusting the amount of light and setting a timer for the exposure). Then he turned off the white lights leaving just the red lights on, pulled out a sheet of paper, exposed it on the enlarger and put the paper in the first tray where the developer is. It was like magic for me to see an image slowly appear on the paper! After the image came up all the way he washed it with water in the middle tray then put it in the third tray of fixer to stop the entire process. Then he said now you try it. I stood at the enlarger and Jess stood behind me helping me figure out how to manipulate everything. I felt like a marionette while he pulled all the strings. He put our paper in the developer, washed it and fixed it. Then he did the craziest thing. He grabbed our print and took it out to the main news room and showed it to the managing editor, Al Hewitt. I remember Jess saying something to the effect of, “Hey Al. Look what Jim can do”. I just stood there quietly with my eyes wide open watching this scene. Now, for all you folks reading this who are old enough to remember the TV show Lou Grant, Al was a real life version of Lou Grant. He was straight to the point, never mincing hiswords and always dead serious. Al stopped what he was doing, took a brief look at the print Jess was showing him and sort of grunted his approval. Just like that I was hired.
That was in 1974 and next year, 2024, will be 50 years of working as a photojournalist. It has been an amazing journey and it is not over. I've been given so many opportunities, incredible events, to see and document. Some events have been tragic, some beyond exciting, some colorful and boisterous and some simple and quiet. I plan to celebrate all these years by doing it more. I don't have the latest, fancy equipment and I don't want it because that is not what matters. I am a little slower and not quite as nimble but I have my eyes open and my wits about me. I’ll be fine and always just as excited to capture the moments I can find around me along with the crazy, amazing, interesting, beautiful people and their stories I get to share. There isn't anything too small for me to care about shooting or too big to intimidate and scare me away. Eyes wide open!
images that make you look…
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images you remember