Finding Positive in the Negatives

My dad’s life was full of chasing and shaping the light surrounding us and within us. Dementia stole his light. Slowly. Cruelly. He died peacefully in our arms just nine days before this show opened to the public.

We grew up with tall tales of him spending time with Muhammad Ali, Johnny Cash, Walter Cronkite, President Carter, and thousands of others who reveal our shared humanity. I wondered how much was lore vs reality. Enlarging a fraction of his treasured 35mm negatives from 20 years of photojournalism reveals his pursuit of truth, equality, integrity, empathy, and grace. It’s astonishing how little and how much has changed from our analog to digital age.

This project started as a collaboration to bond together in the darkroom before his light fades. We had one beautiful day together, before he moved to memory care. It’s now a gift, to honor his first career, before he became a pastor, civil rights advocate, and chaplain, where he sat with people in their brightest and darkest times, “on the other side of the lens.” This is one of the greatest gifts a son could ever ask for — seeing the world through his father’s eyes. When memories float adrift, rudderless into the unknown, I find the positive in the negatives.

All artwork is available to purchase and will be printed 8×10, 11×14, or 16×20 with traditional darkroom methods or scanned and reprinted digitally for David’s original prints that are in the show.

Proceeds from the show will support Youth in Focus, a Seattle based non-profit where students explore creativity, practice risk-taking, and gain life-long tools to succeed in their futures through photography, and Hope Dementia who provide Support, Education, and Advocacy for the care partner and the individual living with dementia in the greater Vancouver, WA area.