Greg Escapist

I’ve been referring to myself as a PhotoEscapist for a few years now. I bought my first ‘real’ film camera in 2003. I used it for a while, learning the controls, taking snapshots and not really developing the film. In 2005 I bought my first DSLR camera, the Nikon D70.

When I pulled that camera out of the bag and changed lenses, I would occasionally be asked if I was a professional. Not wanting to mislead, I would let the questioner know I was just a hobbyist, which would lead to some confusion ‘cause a hobbyist wouldn’t carry a camera you see on CSI, or in a dozen TV shows and mo...

I’ve been referring to myself as a PhotoEscapist for a few years now. I bought my first ‘real’ film camera in 2003. I used it for a while, learning the controls, taking snapshots and not really developing the film. In 2005 I bought my first DSLR camera, the Nikon D70.

When I pulled that camera out of the bag and changed lenses, I would occasionally be asked if I was a professional. Not wanting to mislead, I would let the questioner know I was just a hobbyist, which would lead to some confusion ‘cause a hobbyist wouldn’t carry a camera you see on CSI, or in a dozen TV shows and movies.

After a few of these encounters I decided I had to come up with a name for what I did. The title had to have two qualities. First it had to have Photo in it (like photographer or photojournalist) and it had to sound real enough to sound, well….real.

See, in my mind, a hobby is a way to get away from the pressures of the ‘real’ world and immerse yourself in something you enjoy…in other (much shorter) words, escape.

Put Photo and Escape together and you get PhotoEscape…throw on ‘ist’ at the end and you have a title. Throw ‘ism’ at the end, and you have the beginning of a cult err… or something (that would be PhotoEscapism, not PhotoEsacpistism).