I wanted a camera! 

From the time I could hold a pencil, I wrote stories, but I wanted photographs to go with them. Sometimes, my mother let me use her camera, but it was big and bulky, and I, a perpetual klutz, was afraid I might break it. Dad showed me an ad in The Quarter Horse Journal promising prizes, including a "Kodak Brownie Starmite" camera kit worth $12.95, to those who sold magazine subscriptions. My diary entries from that summer list the names of the 125 subscribers I sold. One entry says I went into the "bar" to sell a few and received a "talking to" by my Mom.      

   In 1962, developing a roll of black-and-white film—20 exposures—cost $1.25. The developing process took about a week by mail. Each print was an extra $.10. I quickly learned to use a magnifying glass to choose the images I wanted printed before sending them back. I'm sure I drove everyone crazy looking for jobs to pay for my "photography habit." One of my most successful methods was gathering nails and screws scattered around the ranch—just waiting to puncture a tire. Dad paid a penny each, and a gallon of rusted nails could buy several rolls of film. It was wonderful when I started developing and printing my own film.

Over 60 years later, although I'm now using a digital camera, I'm still chasing pictures that tell a story. Every shutter click is an adventure.

To order custom prints, please contact me at (308)430-0398 or email me at monihourt0@gmail.com