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Hello Mr. Kaplan,

 

I hope that you can find a few minutes in your busy schedule to read this personal note. I was a photography major at SVA from September of 1972 to May of 1974. Although I did not follow through on my dream, I have not lived a life to be ashamed of. I've been happily married for twenty eight years and we have two healthy, good looking boys, twenty-one and almost sixteen. We live in a very nice expanded cabin in what was once a vacation community in a semi-rural area of Central New Jersey. We also have taken annual vacations, a great deal of them being fantastic ski trips in the Rocky Mountains of both the US and Canada. After two years of SVA, I embarked on a corporate computer geek career that has lasted until this day. It has afforded me all of the things I have just mentioned though, so I am grateful. Looking back to the decision I made to leave SVA, it is now fairly easy to to understand at least some of the reasons I altered my path in life. Probably first and foremost, I was not a very focused young man. I had many interests in addition to photography including music, girls, baseball, etc. Actually I probably have a form of ADHD. And perhaps my depression era parents didn't instill in me a strong enough dreamer/risk taking attitude.

 

Over the past few years I have developed a renewed interest in shooting. Nothing too serious. Up until a month ago I had been using a Sony point and shoot kinda thing. I just upgraded a bit and purchased a Canon Powershot S3. Again nothing too serious, but I love the 12x zoom and other convenience features. A few weeks ago on a Saturday I had the opportunity to take my boys to see the Photography Department on 21st street. It was the first time back in many many years. You can imagine the sensations I experienced when I walked into that darkroom of my past. My sons wanted to know why I didn't continue with my pursuit. I told them that there were various reasons, but I did point out that one particular reason was that I didn't feel enouraged by the faculty and peers at the school, pointing out that my work didn't seem to be morose enough for a great number of people there. I told them about the embarassment I felt when two years in a row I showed up with a young woman in tow at the annual year end show, only to discover that none of my photos were selected for the exhibit. I explained to them that it seemed to me that if you didn't aspire to create images similar to those of Diane Arbus, you weren't taken very seriously. However in the past week or so I realized that I forget to convey to them a very rewarding experience at the school. That was a brief time I spent going over my contact sheets with a teacher who excitedly marked them up with red and yellow crayon type things, showing me what I sense I had for movement and compositon in many of my images. He made me feel that those photographs were something special. After that personal session, I rushed out to develop those shots. Although the matte board they are on are somewhat yellowed, I to this day have displayed those shots proudly in my home, online and in my PDA. Up until recently, no one has ever made me feel anywhere near as good about my work as that teacher had during that session. Of course that teacher was you and I will be forever grateful for your encouraging efforts. Without them I don't think I would have ever revived my interest in what is rapidly becoming a richly rewarding experience. Over the past few days I have felt compelled to track you down to express my gratitude. I was extremely excited to find you amongst the facilty at SVA. If for no other reason than that you are alive and I have the opportunity to communicate my thanks to you. Attached you will find a picture my boys affectionately refer to as "Paulie Cigar" It get's a lot of play in my family lately. It was cropped from a shot that included a female SVA student standing behind me dressed somewhat like a gypsy. I will find the original and rescan it the first chance I get, making sure to include your pen written, somewhat humorous note at the bottom. Given the number of students who have crossed your path over the last thirty plus years, I would not be surprised if you don't recall taking the picture or even remember me. Of course I hope you do.

 

I don't know how you feel about Flickr, but I recently was invited to join and I have been enjoying many of the same type of encouraging comments regarding my work (new and old) that you bestowed upon me back in 1974. I hope that you can find a few minutes to check out some of my work:

 

It's funny but although not black and white, I am noticing that much of my work has the same qualities as my photos from back then. The best of my SVA work can be found in a set entitled "Old School". There's a set entitled "Hey I Know That Guy" that contains many pictures of me over the years. In addition to "Paulie Cigar", the cover shot was taken on the roof of the school by a classmate.

 

Please write back, if for no other reason but to confirm that you received this email and that you are in fact the Sid Kaplan whom I've been babeling about.

 

Thanks for indulging me,

 

Paulie Gee

 

Update:

 

Sid Kaplan and I spent a great couple of hours over coffee recently in the East Village. I left my camera home so it wouldn't distract me, so I don't have a picture. The one on the page below id pretty current though.

 

www.iceboxminnesota.com/kaplan/kaplan.html

 

Here's more on Sid Kaplan:

 

www.amber-online.com/sections/side-gallery/pages/weegee-p...