Top: March 2003 // Nikon FM2n, Nikkor 50 f/1.4, Kodak Tri-X 400
Above: January 2023 // Nikon D700, Nikkor 20 f/2.8
Above: January 2023 // Nikon D700, Nikkor 20 f/2.8
We're separated by five years in these photos, Dad and I, he 60 and me 55. We share a haggard daze in our respective post-work cocoons. He had pulled his Ford F150 into the driveway only minutes before his oldest son (me) bugged him for a pose at the end of a long day on a construction site, one of his last jobs before retirement. He knew then he was ready for a life free of scaffolds and wire-pulling on someone else's orders. A year later, we were helping him pull wire in a new house that he and Mom built. I bend and shape things, too, building words and pictures into things people read and use. After logging off at the end of my long day of toil as a designer, I drove myself straight to a recliner surrounded by books. It's weird to see our beards as bookends in these shots. We're different bears, but we respect each other's way of seeing the world. Whatever gruff is behind our scruff isn't very deep. We both share big hearts and give a lot away without (much) complaint. We share Nikon gear, too, and have plans to realign our photography adventures this year. There's plenty left to see out there.
