Making Pictures

From the time that we were very little, my brothers and I were budding shutterbugs. Our first camera...a Brownie of course. We had among the best documented of childhoods, as did our father with every significant moment forever captured on film.

My great grandfather, Mr. Charles Proctor was among other professions, a self taught photographer. In addition to freelance work, he was the photographer for a major corporation as well as an NFL football team. We learned very early on that everything is a photo opportunity. We would have made very good celebrities, as we were used to the cameras presence at every turn. I remember fondly the many hours our "Pap" as we called him would spend in his darkroom developing, printing..."making pictures." His love of photography, his passion was literally passed on to us, and his new "grandson", my husband to whom he was a mentor. My husband, who was already very good, has become an amazing photographer, and my kids also have a well documented childhood...they dare not open a Christmas gift, or blow out a birthday candle without first posing for the camera. It is a given. My kids also have a love for photography and have in their own rights become wonderful photographers. They have inherited the shutterbug gene.

As the digital age ushered in, my beloved grandfather passed away, but his legacy for many was left behind. The recipient of many awards and acknowledgements for his work his memory will live on. During his final days his love of photography was apparent. I was lucky enough to inherit the camera that he last used...even though he was not mobile, he spent his last days playing with his cameras and photographing things in his home and his family. At his passing, his photographs were donated to the Historical Society at Case Western Reserve in Ohio. He will be an inspiration to future photographers as well. His love for making pictures has been passed on to his lucky family.