Two weeks ago or so I received a request from a follower of this site who lives in Florida concerning the Heiland Split Grade printing system. I couldn’t offer much but I knew at least one person who could, my friend Gary in the UK. I contacted him straight away and he agreed to lend a hand. Gary is a great guy and a terrific photographer, and I’m sure he’ll provide more useful information than bargained for on the ins and outs of the Heiland!
A few days later I had lunch with my good friend and photographer extraordinaire Paula Chamlee. I needed some help and advice regarding Monalog’s Visions of America project. I wanted to remunerate her for some curatorial help and we quickly agreed to at an extremely fair price for her time. But Paula also offered to be available to provide other assistance as needed, as one photographer to another. Why? Because that is what good people do. Thank you Paula as always! What goes around comes around!
The above having been said, I’ve met my fair share of absolute creeps in photography … either with egos the size of Texas or insecure needs to protect their “proprietary” methods … or sometimes both! Maybe you have too. Perhaps what goes around comes around for them too.
All I can say is many thanks to all the truly caring, supportive and unselfish artists I’ve met on my photographic life journey. You have given without expectations for anything in return and the difference you’ve made is profound. I wish you all the best, with my sincere hope that what goes around will always come around for you.
Stay well,
Michael
Good Morning Michael,
I had a chuckle when I read your article this morning, I thought I might have been the only one who encountered “proprietary photography secret’s, and ego’s the size of Texas”
I studied at the now defunct Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara California.
Underwater Photography and Photojournalism.
In my experience, the students who shared with me most were foreigners, from Japan, Iceland, Israel, Germany, France, etc. Not many Americans did besides the instructors. I actually had a partial scholarship there and to many of these students, English was a second language, and were struggling with the math, etc. So I helped them so they could stay enrolled in this very expensive for profit Institute. The payback return for me, keeping money in the coffer’s of the institute by tutoring their students and not having them leave, was receiving a letter regarding the loss of my scholarship directly from Ernie Brooks because my GPA dropped slightly from taking time to being his students unofficial professor. I framed that letter on my wall as a Never Stop Doing The Right thing reminder!
So I get it. I will continue to pay it forward as I have before, teaching 2 days a week in a Magnet school for years for free and donating anyone else that needs help. The world is so big, and I found it odd people kept their ” secret recipe” to themselves as they were going to eventually scatter the globe and be thousands of miles from each other, low competition 🙂 I also truly appreciate people who help me in my time of need as I struggle with new film photography hybrid systems.
My best,
Rob Coscia
Rob,
Keep doing what you are doing … it’s important and appreciated! I have done a lot of volunteer instructing as well. I get as much out of it as I give.
Best,
Michael