It was the fall of 1993. I was turning twenty-one and had decided to go back to college after taking a couple of years off. In light of my return, I felt that taking some classes of a certain interest would help “motivate” me back into things. I chose two courses. One was a class in Creative Writing…the other, Photography. So here I was, going to my cousin’s camera repair shop to buy a used camera. Little did I know how much that purchase would change my life!
My first “real” camera was a 1970’s Minolta SRT-MC, a variant of the classic SRT-101 model. It was built like a tank, something I miss in today’s often polycarbonate digital world. It was an all-manual camera. No auto-focus, no program modes, just a match needle light meter to get a good exposure via shutter/aperture combinations. It took a little practice to do everything myself, but I got the hang of it.
My first assignment was to pick a subject and shoot a roll of black and white film of it. Yep, all 36 exposures based on that ONE subject. So I picked the Veterans Memorial statue in downtown Oak Park, IL. I wasn’t sure if I could exhaust a whole roll of film on this statue…but i did. I wasn’t even sure if there were any good shots. My instructor, Meg Gerken circled this shot on the proof.
And away I went…
© Mike Priorie, 1993-2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Your Name] and [Your Blog Name] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
MICHAEL A. PRIORIE 
Hi…my sister found your work recently and asked me to find you. She is wondering if you sell prints of your work…framed or unframed…she just wanted to support your work because it took her back to some great memories. Thanks!
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