Back in my early career as a budding photographer, I got my start capturing newsworthy events around my area as they unfolded. To find out exactly how and why this began, one would have to recall that old program called Lou Grant, which was on television in the late 1970's/early 1980's. In it, there was one character, the staff news photographer, who was simply called Animal. It was also along about this time, 1978 or so, that I began freelancing and my pictures were used by most of the local papers around me. I even became intimately acquainted with a handful of different said local newspaper's darkrooms, too. So, naturally, I acquired the nickname of Animal, which suited me fine, and I started following my nose to any newsworthy events I could find.
Daryl Anderson as Animal
Something that will always liven up the front page of a small, hometown paper, is the sight of a burning house or automobile accident. Of which, there have always been, and forever will be, too many. I have scoured my files and chosen just a few of the noteworthy images that have made the front pages and that, to this day, has somebody somewhere still calling me Animal. Maybe in a future blog, I'll post some more recent events that I have captured with one or the other of my cameras I use and have sold to one of those same local newspapers.
Before.... (above) And after.... (below)
