Friday, March 29, 2024
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Vintage Photo: Girl and Cat Meet Camera, 1983

Kublai rolls around in the sun in one of my first photos, ever.
Kublai rolls around in the sun in one of my first photos, ever.

This photo is from the very first roll of film I shot with my fully manual Pentax K1000, my first camera ever, in October 1983, as I wandered around with it pressed against my face learning to see the world with one eye closed.

[35 YEARS AGO!]

And in black and white. I only shot black and white at first, probably because I thought it would help me learn composition a little easier, and I think it did. And Kublai was black anyway…here he is, my very first black cat having a good roll in the sunpuddle from the sidelights on the door. There was no zoom on the camera or I’d have zoomed in on him; I like the simple collection of light and dark shapes and the slight pattern of the rug, but I like the atmosphere of the whole room too, all very simple shapes and geometry which makes Kublai’s little shape on the floor stand out even more, and the bar of light seeming to point right to him.

This is from the same era, and the same cat, as “A Sunny Room”. It was shot with black and white film but processed in a color processing machine which gives it the sepia appearance. It’s interesting to go back to your beginnings with something like this, to see where you are now.

A Sunny Room

Look at those long hind legs! That always fascinated me about him. He was about two years old here.


A Few Memories Updated

Though the photos above were taken in later October, the house where I rented this apartment is just two doors down from the library where I regularly spend some amount of time, as I did this weekend, so I wanted to share them today. I parked in front of the house on Sunday afternoon very near “The Dripping Sycamore”…

The Dripping Sycamore.
The Dripping Sycamore.

…just as interesting today as it was when Kublai used to run out the door and climb up into the branches. Yes, Kublai was an indoor-outdoor cat when I moved in there, but it was when I lived here that I decided he was to be an indoor-only cat. I have a lot of fond memories of his sweet outdoor habits, and I am glad it all worked out well. This tree was narrower 35 years ago, but nearly as drippy, and I’d always seen a bunch of noses in its surface, noses with a black cat climbing up them. Those were also the days that I began enhancing my visual self, especially with the camera in hand. Someday I’ll do that sketch.

I took a photo of the front door too, pretty overgrown and shabby looking, but it still holds many memories for me even though I lived there only a few months.

The overgrown front door.
The overgrown front door.

Photos pulled “From the Archives” were taken by one or another digital camera of mine between 2002 and, well, yesterday, but usually they are older than that, and I had never had the chance to feature them. Vintage Photos are from my film archives back to 1983 when I purchased my Pentax K-1000 camera. They’re a fun way to “introduce” other members of my feline family who came and went before I began blogging, and to illustrate my feline family in general from days gone by.


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A Sunny Room

This photograph was taken in 1983, when I first got my camera and began photographing with black and white film. Kublai, the kitty who rescued me in college and truly began my life as an animal artist, was only about two years old. Read more and purchase.



Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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