Dr. Ritchie in His Study

Portrait of a Rabbi. From the series "From Generation to Generation." dark image with raking light on face, hands, and books.

MY LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE
As a child growing up in England after World War II and primed on such heroes as Roy of the Rovers, Biggles and of course Rudyard Kipling, I wanted desperately to be a writer and tell stories. Unfortunately, I suffered from dyslexia, an impairment that was not truly understood or recognized at that time. When I discovered photography, I realized that it was the perfect medium for me to tell my stories.

What particularly appealed to me most about photography, and still does today, is its universal power as a language.

There is a great quote from Rémy de Gourmont (1858 - 1915) that, 'Life is a series of sensations connected to states of consciousness'.

This is what I tend to gravitate toward and want to capture when I make my photographs, those sensations and how we react to them. Not just pictures that shock or that are sensational or are of famous people but rather Us in everyday situations and how unique we are, even in the mundane.

Now, as I celebrate 50 years of making photographs, I thought I would delve back through my archive of negatives and post one image a week for the next year to share what has been an incredible journey.

-Bernard Mendoza