Photography has always been part of my life.  I remember my father with his camera dangling from the strap worn around his neck more than I remember him wearing a tie.  My mother was often close by with a ready smile.  My first camera was a Brownie that I got for my sixth birthday.  I awaited with anticipation for the fuzzy, little, black and white images with their wavy borders delivered in little booklets. 

My father gave me his hand-me-over 35mm camera when I was in sixth grade.  I took exposures based on the recommendations of the Kodak company which printed guidelines on the box the film came in:  bright sun, open shade, cloudy.  My favorite was “open shade” because my favorite subjects were people and I liked the way the light illuminated, but did not overpower, faces.

As a teenager, I discovered the magic of working in the darkroom while listening to my favorite rock station.  Images came to life in the developer and were made indelible by the fixer.  Time and loneliness were kept at bay; I was in “the zone”.

And here I am, years later, still driven to make photographic images.

---Cheryl Hanna-Truscott, 2008