From about the mid-1990s, the internet started to have a significant impact on the world beyond academia. By 1996, our family had an internet-connected PC but it was not until 1999-2000 that digital connections started to play a part in my photography. Digital cameras had been generally available from the mid-90s but they were expensive, and I persisted with my film camera for a while.
However, the late 1990s were a transition period when digital imaging came into my life after I acquired a flatbed scanner. I could now scan prints of my photos, manipulate them on the computer and email them to clients. I produced digital images for websites and print publications. One of the publications was a German magazine that published in English to help German school students learn the language. I took photos and wrote stories focused on the lives of teenagers in Australia.
The photo above, taken late in 2000, was originally submitted to the German magazine. It shows an Albany teenager who was fascinated by marine life. He had several aquariums in his bedroom, one of which was home to his pet marron.
I was happy enough to be getting published in a magazine overseas but then the marron photo was picked up for publication in a German text book, which was particularly satisfying.
Of course, even back then, anyone could publish a photo on the internet and it would be ‘international’ publication. These days, anyone with a Facebook or Instagram account is publishing internationally. Printed material was, and remains, a little different.