I love photography. Pictures capture tiny fragments of time and space but good pictures will pull the viewer into an entire story. That’s why I’m starting a regular InkLink column of photo essays that tell stories not often told in Manchester and around the state. I’m calling it New Hampshire In Focus.
My Background
I got my first camera when I was in high school, living in the suburbs of Chicago. One winter in the early 1990s, my mom gave me a point-and-shoot film camera for Christmas. That was still 10 years before digital photography came on the scene and 20 years before powerful smart phone cameras found their way into most people’s pockets.
So I started taking pictures – slowly at first. Back then, I was more interested in playing sports and music than snapping photos.
In my college years, as I ventured further from the familiarities of my home town, I brought my camera with me. On summer vacations I visited Colorado and Vermont. The summer of 1998 I went to Nicaragua to volunteer with a humanitarian aid organization. I took pictures and brought them home. My mom told me I had a good eye for pictures.
After college, I became a monk. I joined a monastic brotherhood that is dedicated to humanitarian service all over the world. For almost 10 years I lived and worked in Nicaragua, India, the Philippines, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Along the way I visited dozens of other countries. Unfortunately, I don’t have many photos from that time, since I renounced all of my worldly belongings.
From 2010 to Today
When I returned to civilian life and moved to New Hampshire, my mom reminded me that I like to take pictures and bought me a digital SLR camera. That re-started my photographic life – taking pictures of things around me – nature, friends, political protests, and novel moments in the street.
I’m looking forward to sharing with you some of the images that pass through my lens and the stories that go with them. I hope you’ll find something of value in my efforts. Maybe you’ll bump into me sometime. You’ll know its me if I have a camera stuck to my face.
Eric Zulaski is an amateur photographer living in Manchester. Share with him your photos of New Hampshire at NHinFocus (at) Gmail (dot) com
