FEATURES
Los Angeles Collegian — Wednesday, September 16, 2015
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‘DON’T CALL ME MR.’ NELSON: Darkroom Light Retires
Record-breaking heat and final grades characterize the transition from the end of the summer session into the fall semester. As seasons change, so does the student body. Occasionally, members of the staff change as well. Keith Nelson has witnessed more than 40 years of change at Los Angeles City College. For him, this summer will be his last as adjunct photography instructor and instructional assistant for the media arts and photography department.
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BY CLINTON CAMERON
hotography students know Nelson as the go-to person for cameras, lenses and other photography equipment. In front of a small office the size of two closets down in the basement of the Chemistry Building, a line forms to reserve darkroom time or check equipment in and out. Everything in the space is well organized. Checkout slips hang by clips to Nelson’s right. He wears a deadpan expression as he receives word from a student that a piece of equipment has been lost. After he ask for details about the missing item, Nelson tells the student he is required to pay for it. His easygoing attitude offsets any hint of intimidation. He’s done this before. “He didn’t make exceptions to the rules,” said Amy Oliver, longtime friend and former photography instructor at City College. “He was really fair and treated everyone equally. You knew what to expect.” Oliver first met Nelson at City College in 2002 as a photography student. By 2004, they worked together in the photography department. Even then, Oliver said she found it a challenge to figure out the fellow photography instructor and assistant. “When I first met him I was taking a color photography class,” Oliver said. “At first, I didn’t think he liked me because he had such a dry sense of humor.” Today, she describes Nelson as someone endowed with patience, understanding, authenticity and dedication. For Oliver, his dedication stands out the most; whether he keeps a machine operable while no one else seems to be able to fix it, or when he goes the extra mile for students. Oliver said every student with department ID cards, has him to thank.
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A LOT OF YEARS WORKING FOR THE SAME PEOPLE, IT’S LIKE WE’RE ALL FAMILY ... WE GET ALONG GOOD AND IT WAS GREAT.” KEITH NELSON, PHOTOGRAPHY INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANT
the program formally, I would not have my job today.” Nelson’s accounts of his beginnings in photography take him back to high school. He attended South Gate High School, 16 miles southeast of Los Angeles City College. His interest in photography developed after having to take a class on the subject as a requirement for graduation. “I took photography because of art,” Nelson said. “They told me ‘you need [an] art class to graduate,’ and I said ‘I can’t draw,’ and [they] said ‘well, take photo.’ So, I said ‘OK.’” After high school, he earned his associate degree in photography at East Los Angeles College. After working at the college for over a year, Nelson took a test to work at Valley College. “Out of 44 people, I came in [at] number two,” Nelson said. “But, the number one guy got the job there.” Meanwhile, his name sat on a list for more than year before he was contacted to work at LACC. A full-time position during the school months did not guarantee full-time employment for the summer. He found outside work to make up for the lost months. “When I first started working here, it was a ten month position,” Nelson said. “So, I worked a lot with a studio during the summers.” Located on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, the studio allowed for Nelson to polish his skills in photography. From Beverly Hills to the Malibu Hills he traveled and earned extra money shooting weddings. Sometimes, he was called to work for celebrities.
IF KEITH NELSON HADN’T CONVINCED ME TO BECOME A DAY STUDENT AND GO THROUGH THE PROGRAM FORMALLY, I WOULD NOT HAVE MY JOB TODAY. I HAVE A TREMENDOUS RESPECT FOR KEITH. I THINK HE IS ONE OF THE MOST NOBLE PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET.” DANIEL MARLOS, MEDIA ARTS CHAIR
“He made sure everybody’s picture looked as good as possible on those tiny little cards,” Oliver said. “He would fine tune each card one by one to make sure it was exactly right. I’d see him working there for hours on those ID cards. If he didn’t get one right, he’d do it until it was right.” Another LACC staff member who started off as one of Nelson’s students became department chair. When he first set foot on City College’s campus, Media Arts Chair Daniel Marlos enrolled in Nelson’s color photography class. According to Marlos, the path leading to his position as chair would not have been possible without Nelson. It was Adrian Wagner who ran the color photography program during the day, and once Nelson convinced him to take Wagner’s class, Marlos said he became fully immersed in the program and continued his education at LACC. “Because I earned my certificates here at Los Angeles City College, I eventually became the nighttime instructional assistant when there was an opening,” Marlos said. “Then, I went to grad school and when I earned my degree, I eventually started teaching here … if Keith Nelson hadn’t convinced me to become a day student and go through
“I got to see how the other half lived,” Nelson said. “We did Karen Carpenter’s wedding and Donny Most from “Happy Days.”” Negatives from the shoots belonged to the photographers and the customers would order prints from the studio. Nelson never had direct contact with the clients. There was enough work during the summer to supplement his income, but as hours working at City College increased, work for the studio became less of a necessity and less frequent. Nelson continues to work as an independent wedding photographer and he continues to shoot with film. “The last wedding I shot, I went back to the lab I normally go to and they said ‘we don’t process film anymore,’” he said. “A lot of the local labs I use to go to aren’t around any more.” Even though Nelson prefers to shoot in film, he admits that the quality of cameras gets better and better each year. However, he said he sees the short lifespan of newer cameras as an issue. “That’s the problem,” he said. “Every time you turn around, what you had two years ago is kind of like obsolete. You end up spending a lot more money … Digital is slowly taking over everything. A
lot of people still like doing darkroom stuff because it’s different. A lot of people work on computers all day and when they want to do something fun, they don’t want to do it on computers again. So, the interest is still there. The question is how long it will still be there. I don’t know.” Despite their age, for City College students Jee Hyun Lee and Karin Gonzalez digital photography is not a priority. Nelson has been their goto person for equipment and advice for the last four years. As Nelson retires, so do they. Because of the “three-peat rule,” Lee and Gonzales have reached the repeat limit for photography classes taken at the Los Angeles Community College District. Lee said she has decided to convert her basement into a darkroom and continue to practice her skills with Gonzalez who is already working professionally. “See, the thing about the photography department is that it gives you the skills and experience necessary to go and open up your own darkroom,” Lee said. “A really good one too.” Nelson affectionately refers to Lee as his “problem child.” When the phone rings and disrupts his explanation for how to use a piece of equipment, he jokingly asks if someone can take message and say that he is not there. In addition to checking equipment in and out of the department, Nelson also manages the donated photography equipment they receive. Lee and Gonzalez arrived to pick out things they may need for the darkroom. The ladies huddle around a side room in the office asking questions like excited children. They look as if they are at a photographers’ rummage sale. “What do you recommend that we do when we dry our negatives?” they asked. “Do you have old paper?” From the crowded side space, Nelson pulls out antiquated photography equipment to help Lee with her new darkroom. Much of what was donated is in excess of what the department needs and is given away. “I usually ask when [someone] donates something that if it’s something we can’t use, ‘do you mind if we pass it on to students who may need it?’” Nelson said. “Everyone’s very enthusiastic about making sure whatever that they no longer need, somebody else can use.” As things pile up, the two friends prepare to leave with their new old equipment. Meanwhile, a thick book of paperwork related to Nelson’s retirement awaits him in the checkout booth. There are forms and red tape to deal with now. As the photography and media arts department prepare to merge with fine arts, a new location is also on the horizon. This is something Nelson said he will not have to worry about. His last day is yet to be determined. “I’m pushing for the end of October,” he said. Once he retires, he can still return to City College and teach photography but that requires cutting through red tape, bureaucracy and time. For now, he said finishing personal projects and traveling are on his to-do-list. He reminisces. “A lot of years working for the same people, it’s like we’re all family,” he said. “So, we get along good and it was great.”
PHOTO BY CURTIS SABIR/COLLEGIAN
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