Introduction
The national media was
buzzing and the nectar that summer
of
1972 was a double dose of news
practically in my backyard: the
Democratic
and Republican National Conventions
in
Miami Beach. Everyone in Florida
seemed
either excited or apprehensive about
the
focus to the south,
just a couple of bus rides from the
Coral Gables home where I lived with
my
parents and two sisters. I had just
become interested in
photography earlier that year, and
the
important events seemed to me to be
the
perfect forge for my imperfect
skills.
From occasional film clips
on the local news, everyone was
reminded
that four years earlier, the
previous
national conventions in Chicago
triggered national outrage at the
oppressive brutality of police
countering anti-Vietnam War
demonstrations. So I suspected there
would be many interesting scenes to
capture
on film.
My first camera, a
Miranda
Sensorex 35mm, was a far cry from a
pro’s Nikon or Leica. I had just one
lens, the 50mm normal. I had
forsaken
purchasing any additional equipment
so I
could invest in a decent darkroom
enlarger, which I set up in my
bedroom
closet. Now I felt I could do
it all, but my actual photography
experience was minimal, consisting
of
exposing a few rolls with images of
pets
and school friends.
It had been just a few months since
I
learned the science and a little
more
about the art of photography as part
of
an architecture/drafting class
in junior high school. But as a
child, I
had absorbed and enjoyed the
photography
of Life Magazine. I
particularly
appreciated a Life book we
owned, The Family of Man,
with its
vibrant and emotional studies of
people
from around the world.
So, in spite of the numerous
misgivings
of my mother, I would set off one
sun-baked morning with my camera bag
and
just five rolls of black-and-white
film.
I soon found myself deboarding my
final
bus and walking toward the Miami
Beach
Convention Center. It was my trial
by
fire and
would be the first of two sojourns
to a
spectacle which would form a
foundation
for my romance with photography as a
creative outlet and
communications tool.