Many years later, I too would take up photography. As he guided me to the purchase of a simple reflex camera, he offered advice – but only when asked. I was young and eager, wanting to play with different lenses and shoot color film right away. When I asked him what he thought, he said, "I would explore using that stock 50mm lens, and shoot black and white for a while. When you’ve discovered all you think you can find in black and white, then move on to a zoom lens and color film."

I ended up exploring the world through black and white images for several years. Every so often I would indulge myself with the occasional roll of color film. He was right, there was so much to discover in black and white – the color prints I would get back never satisfied me like the black and white ones did.