©2010 Tony Hernandez Photography
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
the city [Phoenix] and my first real job.
After graduating high school, enrolling in Phoenix College, and getting my first real job, I was ready to set forth on a new and exciting journey in what I considered at the time, "the city". Even though I grew up on the border of Tempe and Mesa in Arizona, down the street from ASU, we were still kind of out there in the semi-sticks. Getting a job at the downtown Phoenix J.C. Penny's was a score. Not only did it make me some much needed coin, it put me close to Phoenix College and, it also introduced me to a whole new group of people who I didn't grow up or go to school with. It was a random collection of people from every age group, level of education, and everything in between. My job was a "Christmas gig" in the camera department. I had scored! Not only did I get to be around new cameras all day, they actually paid me to be there and talk to people about photography. It was a great start to where I wanted to go. Even in the late 70's, camera equipment wasn't cheap. So now, I got an employee discount on everything. When it went on sale, I got that discount too. And believe me, I used that employee discount as often as I could. After some register training, I was given a badge with my name on "blue" label maker tape and sent down to the basement where the camera department was. It was at the bottom of the up escalator so you got to see everybody eventually. The group I worked with was as eclectic as it gets. Bill, the "department manager" was a nice old guy with slicked back black hair, a 25 years employee pin from J.C. Penny's, and a true love for the old Cafe Figaro bar after work. I think he also went there for lunch but, don't quote me on that one. Al, another even older gentleman, reminded me of "grandpa Munster", only without the cape. He had the same attitude, but no cape. Then there was Trish. She had been hired a week or two before so, she had "seniority" on me and made sure I knew it. She was actually pretty cool but, she did have her "intense" side, which usually showed up the following day after I had called in sick because there were professional skateboarders from California in town who needed to be shown the local spots. I, (along with my friends) being a "helpful guy", felt it was my duty to do what I could to make sure they saw all the sites. If that meant I had to call in sick, that's what I had to do. It didn't happen "too often", a couple of times at most, but it was a great opportunity to photograph some of the best and most innovative skaters of the day. I had to go for the ditch! Selling cameras was fun. Because it was Christmas time, the place was hopping. Cameras of all types were going out the door. It wasn't until after the Christmas rush, that I was able to really get my hands on the 35mm's in the showcases. Minolta, Canon, Yashica, Pentax, Contax, we had them all, except Nikon, but that's another post. It reminds me of the scene from "Moscow on the Hudson" when Robin Williams, playing a soviet defector, goes to buy coffee and is overwhelmed by the selections. He begins to say .. coffee .. coffee .. coffee .. then passes out. It was like that, only with no accent or fainting. We also had a good selection of lenses, film and accessories too. I was like a kid in a candy store. It wasn't long before the "old guys and Trish" were asking "me" questions about the different cameras. I spent all my free time inspecting, working, and generally handling all of the showcase cameras. I still had my Canon TX so, working 35mm's was pretty natural to me. It got to the point, a couple of years later, where I was selling more of Canon's most expensive model, the A-1, out of J.C. Penny's basement than were being sold out of the various "professional camera stores" in the valley. The Canon rep for the area actually came down to the basement "to meet the kid who was putting in all the special orders" because he had already sold the cameras that were in stock. He became a good friend over the years and loved to tell the J.C. Penny's story years after when I would see him in a camera store while picking up film and Polaroid for my shoots.
It was a good beginning to my quest to become a "professional photographer".
And it was just going to get more interesting along the way.
©2010 Tony Hernandez Photography
It was a good beginning to my quest to become a "professional photographer".
And it was just going to get more interesting along the way.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Lakers beat the Suns!
Congratulations L.A.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The real world, college photography and, J.C. Pennys
High school was over. It was time to get a job, or go to college. I decided to do both. With a "not so stellar" academic record in my hands, enrolling at Phoenix College would be the first step. I was tired of the same old people and the same old stories. Everyone I knew who wasn't going to some prestigious school was going to Mesa Community College, the "default school of choice" for my high school. I figured Phoenix college would be a good change. It was far enough away as to add new people in my world, without having to change my life completely. Phoenix College, or "FK" as it is know to the ASU crowd, is a small community college in the downtown area. The demographic of the school is a bit older but, the overall crowd is still students fresh out of high school, with a generous dose of adults looking to change things up a bit. It would be here, that I would take some basic classes in order to attend the Art Center school of design in California. That was my plan at the time so, English, psychology, art and history classes were on the agenda. I figured since I was there, a photography class might be interesting while also giving me access to a darkroom if I needed to do some printing. The school was kind of known for it's photography department because of it's teachers. A couple were professor types and a couple were actual working professionals who supplemented their income by teaching part time. My first "teacher" was a crazy, distracted, boob obsessed professor type who had published a book or two so, he "was the man" in FK's photography department. He was a very confusing guy when it came to his critiques of student work. Some of the photographs he raved about were terrible technically, and visually, but he liked them and that was that. While other photographs he panned outright were some of the nicest shots I had seen to that date. He once got into an argument about a students "opinion" on a photograph which led to the guy walking out of the class, never to return. I was shooting a lot of skateboarding at the time. [It was the "new fad" that kids of the late 70s were doing all over the country.] When I wasn't at home, school or work, I was at the skatepark or an empty pool with my board and camera. The photos I would submit for class were shots of my friends skating. The class thought they were great. They had never seen anyone ride a swimming pool on a skateboard before [it was a very new thing at the time] so the shots would amaze them. My teacher, on the other hand, "didn't understand" what he was seeing. "Why is that boy in the air?" he would ask. "It looks like he's balancing on one wheel" he would say. I would just roll my eyes in the darkened classroom as my photos flashed on the screen through the slide projector. His idea of great photographs seemed to revolve around topless women with animal heads riding rhinos. Or, just topless women with animal heads ... period. A noble choice for him but, not exactly the kind of instruction I was looking for. As an adult, I now "kind of get" what he was going for as an instructor. He was less about the technical side of photography, [which is why I enrolled in the class] and more about the artistic side. During one of our classes, he was trying to convey a concept of thinking that no one was getting. Frustrated, he blurts out, "it's kind of like when your on acid!". At that moment, one of my classmates looks at me right as I look at him. We both begin to laugh out loud but tried to turn it into a cough so he wouldn't get pissed at us. Instead, he looks right at us and says, "See! those guys get it!" We again look at each other and bust out laughing. We didn't get it. We just thought it was a funny to imagine this crazy guy on psychodelic drugs. While it did explain the topless women with animal heads for me, it didn't add the photographic knowledge I was seeking. With frustration in the teacher growing, I found it harder and harder to make it to class. I finally just stopped going about midway through the semester. While still making it to my other classes, I had taken a part time job at J.C. Penny's camera department and I was starting to pick up more hours of work. When my report card came to the house after that semester, it was very good for me. Much better than my high school grades except for one class, Photography 101. There, on my above average report card, was an "F". It was the first time I have ever gotten an F in anything. And of all things to bag out on, it was photography.
After 30 years in the photography business, I still look back on that F with pride.
Why? Because people told me time after time, over and over, about my "high school dream" and how it would never work. How it was time to forget about being a photographer and get a "real job".
©2010 Tony Hernandez Photography
After 30 years in the photography business, I still look back on that F with pride.
Why? Because people told me time after time, over and over, about my "high school dream" and how it would never work. How it was time to forget about being a photographer and get a "real job".
©2010 Tony Hernandez Photography
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
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