To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work. – Mary Oliver

MARK SCHUMANN

My first camera was an Minolta SRT 102 bought back in 1973. I remember well my father taking me to the Woolworth store in Vero Beach to find a SLR camera that would serve me well as an aspiring news photographer.

The previous fall, my father, who was the editor and publisher of the then weekly Vero Beach Press Journal, gave me an opportunity to photograph the cross country team’s end-of-season picnic. From that day on, I have enjoyed a passion for photography.

This past March, after taking a course at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in classic portraiture led by Norman Mouskopf and Kurt Markus, I resolved to return to shooting film.

These close-up images were taken this past week with an SRT 102 using a 100mm macro lens and Kodak Tri-X film. Just having a macro lens mounted on my camera causes me to look more closely, and to do the “proper work” of paying attention.