I meet Jason my freshman year at the University of Texas at Dallas. He was the photo editor for the newspaper and little did I know that I would want his job once the photography bug bit me. Jason and I got along really well from the start – he critiqued my work to pieces and I laughed it off and told him he was wrong. But he wasn’t, I just refused to admit it.
He taught me to roll film, tolerate hours of chemicals in the darkroom and teach the staff how important photos were for our little newspaper. He sent me out on all of the crappy jobs – including asking random students a “hot topic” question and photographing their image for a special section. And somehow I quietly evolved from a shy girl to the outgoing beast that I am today. Don’t believe that I was ever shy? I remember early on when he sent me to the club fair to find new recruits for the photography staff and I decided to pin a note to my back that said “ask me about joining the school newspaper!”. I didn’t get a single inquiry but I was emailed several pictures of my backside showcasing the note.
Jason is still my biggest supporter. He gushes about my work exclaiming “I always know one of your photographs!” and all the while he is quietly patting himself on the back, knowing that he taught me all of the composition and stealth ninja moves that I will ever need. And that, my friends, is so very true – I couldn’t have had a better mentor and friend so early in my career.
In 2004, Jason photographed my wedding and it meant everything for me to have him there and to hear him exclaim “OF COURSE!” on the phone when I called him. He’s camera shy, though, and the thought of getting photographed after all of this years I’m sure sent him into a minor conniption. Wednesday night sushi at Oioshii turned into reminiscing at the bar and lots of laughs, with a smidgen of photography involved.
Lastly, I want to formally thank Jason for giving me the single most important piece of information that I will ever need to know : if you ever run out of developer, you can use blood instead.
