I’d like to share a memory from my childhood that forms a large part of the nucleus of who I am today.
When I was a young boy around the age of eight, I saw my first concert and started to really discover music. My mother started taking me to Gordon’s Drugstore each month so I could lay down my hard-earned dollar for the latest Circus magazine.
I would read about my favorite rock stars, gaze at their photographs, and dream of a few things – being a rock star, being the person telling the stories, and being the person taking the pictures. As I paged through the monthly rag, I saw all of those worlds collide. I spent hours reading about my favorite music, and each story was usually garnished with a dazzling photo.
Like I read the liner notes of my records, I read all the tagline credits on every photo as well. There was one particular name that seemed to be etched upon almost every photo – Mark Weiss. This name would follow me for years.
From the photographs in Circus, to posters, to album covers; Mark Weiss was a name that was emblazoned on all the greatest images.
As I sit here today, I find myself being a journalist. When I step away from my desk, I will probably pick up my camera and work on something for my photography business. That’s two out of three dreams that have come true, and that’s not too bad.
Thank you, Circus magazine.
Thank you, Mark Weiss.
Thanks, Mom.
One more thing: Recently communicating with Weiss so many years after first seeing his work has been a real thrill. He is a very large reason I picked up the camera. We plan to do the interview on video via the Zoom platform, so I should have a clip to post of our entire conversation on the PN website. Thanks.
