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Meet Your Photographer
Kodak Instamatic (Image from camerapedia.org)
I was around 8 years old when a camera first found its way into my hands.
It was a Kodak Instamatic. A small black and sliver plastic box. So simple that I had toys more complicated.
What I knew about photography at the age of 8 was this: You push a button. Do it again and again until you fill up a roll. Take it to get developed. You see what you got.
When I wasn’t filling up rolls of film with nonsense, I played with toys.
Like a lot of kids, I had tons of action figures. Unlike a lot of kids, I didn’t so much play with them as direct them.
I built sets. I staged scenes. If I didn’t think I got a scene right in my head, I’d do it again. I switched viewing angles for better composition. It frustrated me that I couldn’t get low enough to the ground for dramatic angles when my Hot Wheels cars “drove” by.
I didn’t consciously know I was doing this at the time. I was only 8. But this was how I always played with my toys.
One day, an epiphany. I grabbed that Instamatic camera and I photographed my action figures. Over an entire afternoon, I meticulously created sets and photographed scenes.
I was telling a story. With photos.
I’m no longer 8. My camera is a bit better than that old Instamatic. I sometimes still think it’s fun to push the button just to see what I get. I still tell stories.
My camera is often with me. You might call it my security blanket. I would deny it. But I know it’s true. If I show up without my camera, friends are only slightly less surprised than if I were to show up without a leg.
Some other things you should know about me:
My brain is like a fly strip for movie and pop culture trivia. Don’t be alarmed if I speak in movie quotes. Play along if you can. Humor me otherwise.
I enjoy fine wines and fine cigars, both in strict moderation. But I will say that tipping your photographer in cigars is never a bad thing.
I believe that on some instinctual level, all humans know it’s only a matter of time until the zombies show up. If you want to hire me to shoot a zombie-themed wedding, you will be my best friend for life. That is a fact.
I still photograph toys.
– Robert Wurth
"Lost at the bottom of the stairs..."