A little about the photographer
I grew up in a small town in western Wisconsin and have returned to living in a
small town.
I earned my first camera by selling magazine subscriptions on a newspaper route.
That lead to setting up a simple darkroom while in high school. I eventually
drifted west to San Francisco to attend college. Meanwhile, I had become
excited about making movies, and managed to shoot a documentary while serving
in the Army in Viet Nam. Upon my return in 1968, I completed the film while
working on my filmmaking degree. The 15-minute Viet Nam film is offered here.
At the same time I was rekindling my interest in still photography,
re-establishing a darkroom and becoming more proficient. I began selling some
of my images of be-ins and protests to underground newspapers, and occasionally
to aboveground newspapers and wire services. In 1972 I self-published a photo
book of my sixties photos (The Tri-X Chronicles). For more information about that book, click here.
Even after so many years, I still have all my photographic negatives, and
finally decided to construct this Web site with the help of my son Bruce. I’m especially interested in depicting the sixties to those who were born later
and have only heard a little about the original hippies, the music, and the
protests. Also, I think that many of you who lived during the sixties will
enjoy reliving the era.
After I finished college, my day job was with the Postal Service, and I ended up
making that my career. I continued to do a lot of photography and darkroom
work, though it tended to be less journalistic and more personal. I was only
too glad to switch to digital photography (and eliminate long darkroom stints)
when digital attained a high level of quality. And, of course, it offered
inexpensive color.
I am married to my indulgent wife Lorraine and we have a daughter and two sons.
bil paul
Dixon, California