It seems that my last word blog was published in 2017, so maybe the completion of 75 trips around the sun is a good reason for a bit of reflection.

After my retirement from paid work, I morphed into a street photographer; in March of this year I reached the 10 year milestone of daily photoblogs (www.blipfoto.com/raspberryjefe).  Each photo published was taken on that day, and I just photograph people and their activities in what ever context they appear in.  So as of today, I have published 3708 photoblogs with an average number of 370 views per photo.

The daily photoblog exercise generates more photos than blip allows; my extras spill over into Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/97184393@N03/) where I have now loaded 26,400 photos with a total number of views of 16.8 million views (average over 630 per photo).  The vast majority of these photos are also street photos, meaning with some human content in them. 

In general, my mission is to photograph with respect building a sense of acceptance of the larger cultural milieu we live in

This fascination with people photography is not new.  Some 52 years ago I bought my first SLR and set up a darkroom in my bathroom, and I began street photography.  

This daily time spent on the street has brought me hundreds, if not more, new friends.  I have often said that strangers are just friends I have not met yet, and this year I was pleased to publish “Engaging Strangers” – an expensive collection of photos from Colorado, New York, Winnipeg, Waterloo and Zihuantanejo.    Most of the friends I have who could afford to purchase this 170 page book are no longer collectors of such tomes but my short run of about 30 copies is sold out. 

These 75 years on this earth have been good ones.  I have been blessed with a marriage partner, Agatha Fast for nearly 53 years, and together we have two wonderful daughters, Susan Jane and Alison Dawn, who together with their significant others, and two grandsons bring a lot of joy and inspiration.  Agatha’s Lola paintings are special  and  when I need direction vis a vis my photography, her counsel to me is “just show up.”  Indeed.

We have lived and worked in Canada, USA (Colorado), India, Mexico and Germany.  I have often described myself as a “vocational tramp” because I have had so many employment opportunities – as a teacher, Country Director with MCC India; Executive Director, Canadian Foodgrains Bank; a Vice-President with Palliser Furniture; Managing Director with Trojan Technologies Europe; CEO with iDE (Denver, CO).  Most of these roles involved international travel and I have had the good fortune to visit nearly 100 countries.  My camera was usually in tow.

Advancing age has brought some health challenges.  In my 75^th year, I had two knee replacements, and two cataract surgeries, and a suspected TIA (mini stroke).  Many years ago, my mother showed me Isaiah 40.31 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk but not faint.”  So I feel like I am in the walking phase of life!

Al Doerksen – May 10, 2023