Michael Thorpe is a photographer and instructor who has been teaching the techniques and the art of photography to high school students in the Kern County area since 2013. “I love it when I get to see that spark come alive in a student, when they get to see their own vision realized.”
Thorpe says, “I’ve been carrying a camera of some sort ever since I was a kid.” His first camera was a Kodak Brownie. “I remember saving my money and making a special trip to the drugstore for a roll of film and then asking my mom or grandmother to cover the cost of developing.” In high school Michael learned to shoot and edit video, which lead to a later career in television broadcasting, and in college he began developing and printing his own black and white photographs.
“I’ve been carrying a digital still camera since 2004. I still shoot black-and-white and color film, and I even shoot Polaroids from time to time, when I can get the film,” Thorpe says. He has a collection of cameras he still uses, including a YashicaMat 124, Olympus Trip35, Pentax K1000, Polaroid 450 Land Camera and, what he calls his daily camera, a Canon EOS 70D DSLR. Michael insists, “But in the end, it’s not about the tools you use, it’s how you use those tools to get the image you want.”
Michael Thorpe is currently showing at the Bakersfield Art Association Gallery at 1607 19th St, Bakersfield, CA.