In junior year I shot and developed a few photos for the school newspaper. In doing so I learned about the school darkroom and the position of yearbook photographer. I don’t remember whether it was a class or an extracurricular activity, or even how I got the job. However, I do remember it was sort of like having a superpower.
I was in charge of a darkroom with all the black & white film, developing chemicals, and printing paper I could ask for, and all the equipment I needed. I had an official reason to show up for any school event – and had the run of the place when I did. And, if used sparingly, I had a credible reason to leave classes early, or come to them late: “sorry, I had a shoot…”, (with my camera bag hanging conspicuously from my shoulder). Like a superpower, playing the role of yearbook photographer defined who I was and shaped my activities that year – if not always to my GPA’s benefit. I remember this job fondly: I enjoyed developing film, and all the nuance and techniques of making enlargements. Most of all it was the first time I felt like part of a large effort – part of a team creating something memorable and bigger than ourselves.
Of the dozens of rolls of film I shot, a few dozen photos went into the yearbook. I still have all the negatives, a few prints, and a quandry. Through the ’90s and into the ’00s I wondered occasionally what to do with the negatives. Until recently there has not been a good way to balance the cost of publishing the photos with the small number of viewers who might want to see them. People responded enthusiastically a few years ago when I published some of these photos on Facebook. Around that time I also soured on Facebook specifically, and digital sharecropping in general. So once again I didn’t know what do with these images – these glimpses of a past I shared with a few hundred people.
Recently I decided to set up a website of my own to showcase the photos I took as yearbook photographer. I’m not going to monetize it. It will only be open to people who are in the yearbook. But at last I’ll be able to show all the photos I took to the people who were in and around the scenes when I took them. Details to follow . . .