My interest in photography began as a child in Natchez, Mississippi. When I was eleven my father and his best friend Tom Gandy rescued thousands of abandoned glass and celluloid negatives made by three generations of our town’s photographers going back to the 1870’s. As men unloaded the boxes into our barn, they set me up with antique photo paper and 8x10 glass plates, and sitting in the driveway I learned to make sun prints. I have never forgotten the magic of seeing images emerge from nothing. Sorting and printing those plates became Dr. Gandy’s life’s work, and the subject of three books published by him and his wife Joan.
I went on to study and practice architecture, but since that day I have always taken pictures, always for myself. Except for a few small gallery shows, this is my first attempt to show my work. I hope you like it.
David Holmes Peabody
April, 2020