From: "Collin Brendemuehl > What was your first published photograph?
(Yeah, I know I'm late on this topic, but I started and didn't have time to finish it earlier and just want to be part of the gang... :-) ) At the (university) School of Journalism around 1988 I published a few photos of myself along with a few essays and some dadaistic poetry I wrote for the school paper (a few hundred prints I'd guess). That's also when I slowly started picking up photography again, (although my journalist training was writing and doing television), initially by making use of the school darkroom to make prints of my own and the family b&w negs and dsuting off a Praktica kit I had got very cheap from my brother in law. (Oh, yes now I remember, I also bought a Minox, a amall "lens-fold-out" with a great 2.8/35mm lens. A great success among the girls, who thought it so cute that they never minded being shot by it, not even the shyest ones. (Got to get it working again - I guess it fell one too many times out of my chest pocket.) The first published shot in a regular news paper may have been October 1990 (although there was another piece on local politicians that may have preceeded it - I can't find it right now), when I (both in writing and shooting (b&w with Praktica + Cosina or Chinon 35mm (single coated) + cheap small manual only Agfatronic flash) reported on a historical "scoop" I made at the Swedish National Archives in finding a (Imperial) Russian war "treasure" (bills, coins, coupons, stamps etc) that the Swedish Army took at the end of a military expedition to Åland (the Aland Islands) in 1918. The first "photographer only" published shot, was in August 1993 when, at a local athletic competition, a young girl set a national record in "sixathlon" (I believe it was for the young ones). Local athletics, along with music, town planning/construction, some street life etc, is one of my "photo genres" and I was just starting out learning how to do it. I had missed most of that day's events due to some World Championship Atlethics on television the same day, and was actually about to leave the grounds. There was however this last event announced, 800 meters girls, and there was a mention of one of girls having the chance to set a national record for girls aged 13, why I stopped and shot a number of frames. (Still w Praktica + Chinon 135mm, some Fuji colour) Because of the results I called the sports editor of one of the papers and told him about it and that I had pictures. The next day they ran the story with a moderately sized picture (payed for) of the girl running. (As it happened, this girl developed her talent (she made the national team in javelin) and I have photographically been able to document a ten year carriére of hers. A rewarding collaboration.) >From then on I have published photos almost as much as I have been published in writing (or maybe not - haven't thought about comparing or keeping count before) Sometimes just one or the other, sometimes both. Thanks for reading (it got longer than intended), Lasse
