When I was seven years old I was suddenly rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a serious blood infection. Transferred immediately to Critical Care, I entered a life of glass walls, twice daily blood tests, a brief visit from death and an endless, white alabaster sky. But I was lucky, I survived (too many kids didn’t). I was released two years later. Although confined to bed for a few months, by late summer it was time for me to learn how to walk again; I soon received a Kodak Brownie camera as my reward.
This is the very first photograph I took. Looking back, it symbolized a welcome to a wondrous new world where I could explore, dream, and create without boundaries—the world of photography.
image by
Frederick Sharpe
Published as part of the “Early Works Project”,
curated by Laura Moya & Laura Valenti Jelen.
