I suppose have to start somewhere...I guess I did start somewhere, or sometime. I have a picture of myself when I was about 2 yrs old holding a camera (you can see it at (www.michaelarend.com). And I remember having my picture taken and also looking at photographs. At that time it was all Uncle Somebody or Aunt Somebody, or pictures of the lake, or boats, fish...stuff, just everyday stuff. I was was also always fascinated with looking through things. Magnifying glasses(great for killing ants),telescopes to make things close or very far away, kaleidoscopes, tubes, reflections. I was the kid that spent hours walking around the house with a hand mirror just under my chin looking down and pretending that I was walking on the ceiling. I would carefully walk around the light fixtures and step over the doorjambs and then go outside to stand on the sky. Or I might be found in the closet with sunglasses on, seeing how dark I could make it. I was always experimenting and looking at things in odd ways. An old Brownie camera was part of that type of playing and exploring. I could look down through the top viewfinder and out the upper lens. Everything moved in the opposite direction across the frame as I looked down. I was also always drawing pictures, rockets, monsters, and airplanes were my specialty. Making pictures with a camera fit me perfectly. I was a very visually oriented kid.

I am still (a kid).