Member Since February 4th, 2010
Marc Weinberg Photography
I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1948. I was a premature baby, a fact that, I believe, significantly affected the way I perceive the world. Premature babies, at that time, were placed in incubators in pure oxygen. When they were removed from that environment, their very delicate retinas sometimes were damaged. That happened to my right eye, and I was very nearsighted.
I could see things clearly from only about an inch away. I never needed a magnifying glass. Details and patterns in ordinary objects jumped out at me. As far back as I can remember, I felt joy and fascination at seeing things that other people never noticed. And, because I saw everything through my left eye, I believe that my artistic, right brain hemisphere became my vision's main filter.
In 1959, my parents took me to Niagara Falls and gave me a Kodak Brownie box camera. That little camera changed my life. I loved taking photographs! I still have those first photos. I was hooked.
That camera became my constant companion, and it soon was supplanted by my Dad's Argus C-4. Then, I bought my first 35mm single-lens reflex camera with a 50mm lens, a cheap import from East Germany, and a 200mm lens. I was "off and running!"
I got married, went to law school, began practicing law, and raised a family. For a while there, I had much less time for photography.
In the late 1990s, my son became an adult, and the digital photography revolution began. More time became available, and I jumped in with both feet, buying one of the first digital cameras in 1998, a Nikon Coolpix 900. I never looked back. Breaking that bond with film was so liberating. I could shoot as many frames as I wanted, and I could see the results almost immediately!
About four years ago, I was returning to Frederick, Maryland, from my cabin in West Virginia when I spotted an ancient International Harvester pick up truck behind a house in Great Cacapon off Route 9. The truck was quite colorful, like Joseph’s coat, and its lines flowed classically. My eye fell in love, and I reached for my camera. Since then, I have spent countless hours haunting junkyards, body shops, and back roads searching for, and finding, my beautiful “weathered wonders.” They wait silently for me and beckon me to find and capture them so that you, too, can share their beautiful and glorious stories.
On March 1, 2008, I retired from Federal Government service. Now, I fill my time with photography, either teaching it at the local community college or shooting my gorgeous "weathered wonders"!
I am a lucky man; now I can dedicate my energies fully to my first love -- photography!