I remember many things about our lives at the college. It was the year 1970 when we moved into a newly built faculty-housing complex, unit number 7 on River Ridge Road. The row of grey townhouses was built into a hillside. In these homes the front door opened up to the top floor of the home, which had the typical living room, dining room area and kitchen. Then downstairs there were 3 modest bedrooms with a single bathroom.

River Ridge was clearly for junior faculty members, and the block was filled with other faculty kids. It was the first and only time we ever lived on a block, and I think it reminded my father of his upbringing among the brownstones of his old Brooklyn neighborhood.

It was when we moved to River Ridge Road that my father took up photography. He shot black and white film with a simple manual 35mm reflex camera, and used the school’s darkroom to develop his film and do all his printing. I still remember the red glow from the darkroom lamps in the lab, and how he magically created prints by soaking sheets in trays filled with chemicals.