The Air Force trained me to be a weatherman, but after several years and as a form of punishment for so much bad weather in Oklahoma, I was eventually shipped off to Vietnam in 1964. Early on, my captain selfishly volunteered me to hang out of an L-19, a waif of a single engine aircraft, and photograph Vietnamese villages as a rather primitive form of aerial reconnaissance. I enlisted the help of a wonderful Vietnamese photographer, Chau Doe, who showed me how to construct a makeshift darkroom in an old army tent, process film in muddy water and make bad black and white prints that were actually used by helicopter pilots to plan missions. Other than the "cheating death" aspect of hanging from the plane, the aerial photographs were relatively uninteresting. At least compared to the photographs I got to take of events surrounding the initial buildup of the first two hundred thousand U.S. troops in Vietnam from 1964 to 1965. Now that I was appointed the "official" camp photographer, I gladly gave up my cloud counting and was able to photograph my little view of a "conflict" that was about to get severely out of hand. It was at this time that I began drinking heavily. Much to my surprise, the Air Force awarded me an honorable discharge in 1965 and allowed me to keep all my film. It was actually a wonderful experience that I would not trade as it was the first time I felt myself being able to "see" things.

When I got back to the East Coast, I was anxious to learn a trade and see what, if anything, I could do with my newfound hobby. It was the first time I realized that it just might be possible to take photographs and actually get paid for it. It was also painfully obvious that no matter how much fun it was to look through that lens, I had no real technical skills. While I have not yet had my photographic fantasies fulfilled, I did answer an ad in a photography magazine promising you could become "rich and famous and travel the world photographing beautiful women." So I did a stint at the "New York Institute of Photography" where I was schooled in all the basic technical skills. In fact, I became so highly trained and proficient that I was immediately able to land a job as assistant to New York fashion photographer John Foote for $65 a week. Although this was not a school, this is where my photographic education really began. I have fond memories of working with Mr. Foote. Many important lessons were learned at the foot of Mr. Foote...primarily, "always keep one back empty for the first 5 or 6 rolls until your subject loosens up" but most significantly, he introduced me to the strongest photographic influence of my life, Irving Penn!

( previous page ) - ( next page )

Preface - the Nashville Portraits - About McGuire - Buy Prints
News - Album Covers - Contact - Home

All of the images which appear on this website are
Copyright © 1972-2007 by Jim McGuire.
Reproduction without the expressed written consent of Jim McGuire is prohibited, immoral, and downright dangerous.