1. Who I am now
My name is John Burch, a landscape, nature photographer. I have started to do environmental portraiture, single, or in-groups. I am located in Silverdale, Washington State. I primarily use a Hasselblad system. It was much easier to scan 35mm negatives when I first started, so I have more 35mm photos scanned than larger negatives (Hasselblad & larger). I now have a medium format film scanner (Minolta Dimage Scan) so I will be scanning more of my larger negatives.
2. How I got to be who I am now
Photographically my time started in Japan/Vietnam in the 60s. I used a Pentax SLR mostly. I also had various rangefinders, including the Cannon f0.97 50mm (soft until F8). While in the service in Japan Nikons were too pricey, as I had to feed my motorcycle habit also. In Japan & Vietnam not very much "Fine Art" was taken, mostly photo journalism (PJ is a pretentious way to explain snap shots). When I returned to the USA, I went to Phoenix College, Arizona & majored in photography. Started using medium format (2 ¼ Mamiya) & large format (Linhof 4x5), More Fine Art less PJ, I entered an photographic competition judged by Wane Bullock and my print was given a “Honorable Mention” & put in the traveling show. After two years of college and working in a studio, I partnered up with Bill, a fellow student, to purchase a studio in Tustin, Orange County, California. I had met a girl (Janet D.) in Laguna Beach, when we went to view the studio, we all were to go to Tustin together, Bill, Janet & I. Alas it did not work out as Bill got busted in Mexico for drug dealing (the stupid gringo made a large purchase from some one who approached him on the street), so he lost the car, the drugs, and as an amazing coincidence his fine was the exact amount of money he had with him, which was the rest of his half of the studio purchase money). Janet & I then headed to San Francisco to seek our fortune. San Francisco in the 70s was full of kind people who were looking out for our best interests, the landlords helped us by not renting to us "since you don’t have a job you will have to move out in two months, so it is best that you don't stay at all." The job applications all wanted to know where we lived (camping under the power lines in Daly City did not work). Finally I met David Kennedy (2266 California St) who took pity on us (Janet) and let us stay in his basement. We now had an address, so I went to work with San Francisco Ambulance. It was hell! The driver had a psychotic hatred of colored people (that is not what he called them). So I was subjected to a 10-hour diatribe each day. The shifts were "rotating" what that meant was that you worked a week of day shift, a week of swing shift, a week of graveyard shift, and then you were off for a week. I was tired all the time, & it was medical, not photography. I then found a photo job with Micro Reproduction Services (this was before copy machines. My job was to "photo copy" medical records on to 35mm micro film with a large camera with built-in lights. I was hired due to my medical experience not due to my photo experience, oh well; at least I was away from the psycho & the endless diatribe. I drove about 500 to 900 miles a month on a mileage & page copied commission, Janet went to work for HFC. We ended up going the swap meet route to make ends meet & sold all my cameras except the Nikonos II. I took over the North Bay Area territory & setup an office at Santa Rosa, CA. I had no time or money for photography then. When MRS changed the commission, I quit and found a job at Charlie's Foreign Car Repair in Fort Brag, CA. as a Parts Manager. This did not work out and I went on Unemployment that MRS had to pay since I had worked for them the longest. So with UA money coming in I got commodities (pre food stamps bulk groceries) and started commercial fishing. I worked part time (when the Salmon weren't running) rebuilding Volks Wagon engines & modifying VWs to run on propane for Point Arena VW. I took some non PJ "Fine Art" photos during this time (see Historical Photos California). After 2+ years of long hair, hippy commune living, Janet & I separated. She went back to Orange County, California; I went to Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii. In Hawaii my photography was mostly PJ & industrial landscape (boat yards). I got married and stopped taking Fine Art and only occasional PJ shots. My career as a commercial fisherman ended and I worked as a heavy equipment mechanic, working on large diesel engines. The construction business went belly up & I went back to college (Fire Science) & joined the Hawaii National Guard. While in the National Guard I was offered a job at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Radiation Protection. Things were now good. At that time I had a Nikkormat with the 43-86 mm lens (the only un-sharp lens that Nikon ever made). Since I was shooting slides it took me a while to find out about the “arty” softness. I purchased the Nikon FA with a 35-105 mm when it first came out and I have used it ever since, a fine camera. I transferred to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington State. I did a lot of fishing & competitive bird watching (Twitching) and some PJ photography (see how much better this sounds than snap shots). Then I had two fine children and that took up a lot of my free time (most of it). I allowed my priorities to be work, children, home. This now has been changed to children, photography, home, work, Life is good. More to come...
Galleries:
Historical Photos