Simon Girty 0732's photostream  

First, in reference to photography, my dad had a darkroom and developed his own work back in the early-to-mid-70s, and though I was interested I didn't get far with it thanks to a severe financial setback that hit my family in '76. I got a cheap camera in 1980 and began taking pictures at the home of one my best friends, who lived in a secluded spot which included a small body of water. For pictures taken with C-110 film with a little Minolta they came out really good. I was in and out of it from 1982 to 97, when I began buying disposable cameras, 27 shots each with 35mm film, no settings nor adjustments except flash. Then, in 2007, I got my first digital. I inserted a 2Gb card, the display told me I could take 1,903 pictures, and the disposable camera days were over.

My main places of interest are Portland, Oregon, where I lived in 1992, and Wilmington, NC, which is 120 miles from where I live now. The friend I had years ago lives there, and is in many of the pictures on this gallery.

I enjoy a routine of work, home, back to work, and back home again. On weekends I sometimes go to Wilmington, which is something I used to do every weekend, for six years. I used to go downtown, along Water Street and Front Street, taking pictures of old buildings, staring at women and muttering to myself. (It's a sad comment on our times that I was never picked up as a vagrant or wandering lunatic.) I have many friends, whom I enjoy seeing at work and out and about, and when I close the door behind me once I'm home I am glad all those wonderful people are on the other side of it. I'm kind of like a cross between Seymour in "Ghost World" and all 3 brothers on "Crumb"(without some of their squidgier elements)