Kidnapped by the Silver Faires

I am a photographer. I think I must have inherited a photography gene.  I have been addicted to photography since I was 17 years old, that's about thirty years or more of being a photographer.

Frolicking with the Silver Fairies

It started innocently enough. I has in high school,and took a black and white darkroom photography class. I inherited my grandfather's old 1944 Argus 35mm film camera at that time, as my father saw I was excited about the art of photography and bequeathed it to me. This was the beginning of the end for me. The end of a bland, art-less existence. I became obsessed: with photography, with the darkroom process, with riding around on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon just clicking pictures.

I was in love; truly, madly, deeply, as the saying goes. In love with the art of photography.

And, my grandfather was obsessed, too. He had a darkroom in his house in Maine, and spent a lot of time in there. I also inherited some of his lovely black and white photographs.

My Grandfather, Jack Leavitt, with my father, Jack Jr. circa 1924

Addicted to Photography? 
I went back to college in my 40's, and of course, signed up for all the photo classes, seeking a degree in Art with an emphasis in photography. I learned photoshop and entered the digital age. I still had to take a basic class in chemical darkroom photography (this was in 2004). I loved the darkroom. I became the goddess of the darkroom. I became a darkroom supervisor, and spent hours and hours there after classes. I could be there all night if I wanted, being a supervisor, with the keys. And often I was there until well after midnight. It was always ..... just one more print..... then I'll close up and go home. It got to the point where my husband would say to me as I returned at 1:30 am, "Where you kidnapped by the Silver Fairies again?"  Yes, I was. The Silver Fairies in this case being the Silver Gel process of developing film and black and white prints. Yes, I love the Silver Fairies, and I've been enslaved by them for years.

 As a photographer for about thirty years, I've accumulated a lot of negatives, slides, darkroom equipment, filters, cameras, and yes, massive files of digital photos.
 And so, what do we do with them as artists? They sit in our closet. We try to sell some, we try to publish. And then, with the advent of the internet......and blogging.....and websites.....yes, we can share our closet files with the world.

This blog will be part imagery and on my adventures as an artist and a photographer. I'll share my experiences with the changing landscape and the exciting new trends in the photographic world.
As fellow artists and photographers, or just plain art lovers, I hope you will join me on this journey. 
Keep clicking that shutter button.

Lily Silver, Artist, Photographer, Author and Historian