This is me at 16. Myspace and Flickr obsessed, 2007. I was very attached to that red henley, which started out as a pajama shirt and wound up being my go-to “sweater.” One camera is a Sony Cybershot that died about three years later of Cantholdacharge. The other is a film camera, I forget what kind. Please also notice the lump in my pocket: a Nokia flip phone.
My friend, who would later be my girlfriend (and may not appreciate me using her name, so will be called “C”-- and no, that’s not the first letter of her name), took this photo on her film camera. Had it developed at Costco, probably. C, my other friend Y (also not related to her real name), and I all thought we were little photographers. I mean, we were, for all intents and purposes. I used Corel Paint Shop Pro to edit and was constantly updating my Myspace profile photo and layout.
This photo keenly reminds me of the feeling of that time. It’s highly nostalgic. The mixed CD’s, the time I came out of the closet, my crush on C, and generally what it was like being 16. I love that we deemed ourselves photographers and documented this time together. I look at this and can transport right back to it, and that is a sweet little gift to my 28 year old self.
