One of my favorite people died last month.
At seventeen, I’d already been out of traditional school for a couple of years. (Welcome, fellow dropouts!) I had trouble dealing with my peers and couldn’t handle high school, so I took an alternative path. With a little help from special people, I had a GED by sixteen and was taking courses at Portland Community College. My studies focused on writing and photography. I was mainly interested in photography. If I studied hard enough, I could be the next John Waters!
First things first. I’d learned a lot about film, but had limited still photo experience, other than a Kodak Instamatic that hung from my rear-view mirror. So I spent $180 on a snazzy Minolta SLR and signed up for basic 35mm photography at PCC. That’s where I met Paul Blixt.
Paul was an energetic man in his early 50s. He looked just like his picture, hair always perfect and smile omnipresent. His pleasant voice was easy to listen to, and after lecture he would be looking over your shoulder, offering constructive hints and asking pointed questions if he saw something problematic approaching. He’d let you fail, then explain where you went wrong.
He was a decent, principled man, stranded in a sea of hippies and students of “higher” learning. While he was hipper than he looked, he had a fatherlike presence that kept us in line. Despite his high morals, if he judged you, he kept it to himself. Except when it came to portfolio grading. His reviews were kind, but could be brutal to the ego of the uprising “artists”.
He hated solarised prints. Never, ever use a solarised print in your portfolio.
In a time when celebrities are dropping like flies, we tend to overlook the regular folk who quietly inspired a generation of artists and wannabe artists, while gently providing a positive role model for those of us who needed one.
A celebration of Paul’s life will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, July 10, 2009, in Kern Park Christian Church, 6828 S.E. Holgate Blvd., Portland, OR 97206. All his friends are welcome.
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