Whatcom Museum of History
Bellingham, Wa
Fact: I once had a photograph displayed in a gallery at the Whatcom County Museum. Let me repeat myself, I had a picture in a Museum! Be amazed. Be proud. But before you decide how amazed and proud you are of me, know this; I was in 4th grade. Hundreds of other elementary students from the local public school system were granted the same honor as I and my feature photograph was a 4x6 affixed to the wall by a couple of rolled up pieces of scotch tape. The louvre this was not. But still, pretty amazing right? Well, let me explain further. I technically didn't even take the picture. One day in class, my teacher took each student outside one by one. He had a disposable camera. I walked out with him and he asked me where I wanted him to point the camera. I pointed, he pressed the shutter button and took a picture in that general direction. To finish the assignment, he asked me to name the picture. I hadn't even seen it yet and I was tasked with granting a name to my fresh new piece of art. I succumbed to the pressure and said, "Nature". It was a picture of a big oak tree. Oak trees are nature. I named it Nature. Turns out "Nature" was my ticket to the big time. A few weeks later I received a flyer declaring my photo a "winner", meaning it would be displayed at the great Whatcom County Museum along with hundreds of other "winners". This was clearly a socialists idea of winning. Still, my art in a museum! My mom drove me down one evening while the gallery was on display. We sauntered around, gave quizzical looks and pointed at things for no reason like good art observers do until we found "Nature". The colors were dull, the tree was poorly centered in the frame and and subject itself lacked anything of real interest. But that was my picture. My picture displayed in a public forum for all to admire, gush over and simply sit in awe of. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that grand. But at least when my friends ask me "can you imagine what it's like to be a famous photographer?" I can respond, "yes, yes I can."
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