Julia Oesterl

Julia Oesterle Photographs 1970s

In the spring of 1972 my roommate/boyfriend handed me a camera and said, go shoot. The young boys in the top photo were on the first roll of film I shot. His shirt says, "Stolen from a Dirty Old Man". They were the first representative of what I came to refer to as the variable theroem of four or six. Over the years of photographing as a journalist, artist and general snoop of life I kept encountering the fact that men like to cluster in minimum groups of four and maximum of 6 in order to change tires, hang out or consider some of life' weightier problems. For additional exemplars of this theorem, click on the boys.

first roll of film...beginning of theorem of 4 or 6

Once I had accomplished film developing by fire ("here are the reels, the tanks, times and temperatures, good luck..." door shuts to total black"), I dove into calling myself a photographer and bluffing by way into all kinds of places. Until years later, when it hit me how little I knew about photography, I hadn't taken a course. Wasn't actually self-taught, as a I spent a great deal of time pumping information from other photograhpers. Started with the old standby money maker -- weddings. I kind of enjoyed them, but found too often that I viewed them through the eyes of a sociologist, who probably studied too much deviant behavior. I found myself taking two shots for the wedding party and one for myself. Another down side of the wedding business - it was crazy frenetic in the pursuit of perfection. Too often perfection read cliche. I just couldn't do the hands on the bible, but once.

I seemed to have direct connection with children, of which the Montessori training was a contributor. Friends and family started to ask me to photograph their children. My first large wall display of commissioned photographs was for the Lafayette Community Center. Fifteen years later, much to my shock the photos were still hanging there.

Shirley's boys

Hong Kong squatter's children at the airport