So you want to hear a story?
(said in the most Marcus voice as possible - Borderlands reference right there 😅)
It all started with my Opa. As a young man in Germany, he took up photography (amongst a couple other things, like gymnastics). For him and my Oma, it was all about the stories the moments told. They would put together slides and get together with their friends, sharing the images and reminiscing over the good times they had, as well as the people they shared them with. With both of them going through WWII, photos became incredibly important memories to them.
That’s them there; Opa on the left and Oma on the
right, with my Dad in the back and my Uncle front and
center. In the next image, my Dad is on the
left, Opa at the back, Oma on the left, and
Uncle Guenther in the middle.
Opa was an avid photographer; besides getting all the equipment he could need for shooting, he also got ahold of his own darkroom equipment. Of course in those days, developing images was a lot more involved than now (with all the lovely digital stuff) but he was fully invested. I never got the chance to watch him work, but I wish I could have. To this day, my family still owns the albums of photographs he took over the years.
Fast forward to my Dad, who took up photography after my Opa.
Snapping photos and creating albums of 4x6 prints was the thing our family did; it was how we kept track of all the experiences we had together. It was the topic of conversation more often than not at family gatherings, and my Oma would still proudly show off the people in her cherished photographs. She now has wicked dementia, so those days are long gone.
As I grew up, I became fully immersed in everything photography.
🌿 From little film cameras I won in small contests in Elementary school and photo albums with sleeves
🌿 To point-and-shoots in high school when digital really became a thing (I apparently took waaaay too many cloud pictures)
🌿 My first Canon Rebel XSi after graduation, when my friends and I all had the same camera and we took photos of each other at the graffiti walls in Kelowna
🌿 And finally my professional setup
Over the years, I’ve lost many of my dearest loved ones, but thankfully my family documented every precious moment in our lives, so we will always have photos upon photos, and albums upon albums, FULL of these people being their authentic selves and the joy they shared in their lifetimes.
My Opa passed away in 2021 and I inherited not only his passion and skills but his old equipment as well. It was the end of an era (and to this day I still can’t believe he’s gone) but I plan to carry on his legacy through my own work, sharing with others what he started in our family.
We are all important and we will be remembered for who we are as people. There is only one you in this world, and you’re story is worth immortalizing!!
Fun fact; the camera above was one of Opa’s
Photography is in my blood. I’m here to share my skills with you and your loved ones so that you can have beautiful, touchable remembrances of the wonderful lives you led together and the epic, honest stories you shared.