In 1984, I was 26, living in San Diego, taking classes at SDSU, and bartending at the Blarney Stone Tavern. I had a very hectic schedule. I did not have a darkroom but I still had my passion for photography. I have always kept a project-based approach to this art form. Projects let me explore different styles and facilitates growth. Given this I began a photo project on Tijuana. I was free on Thursday afternoons. I would get into my red VW bug and drive to the border and walk across.

In the beginning, I stayed to the central area. As time went on, I began to go beyond the tourist areas. At first, I was nervous but that went away after a while. I was photographing with a Mamiya C330 twin lens reflex camera. It was a good camera for street photography because I did not have to put the camera in front of my face.

It was my desire to capture the energy of the city. It was full of contradictions. There were middle class and poor intermingled everywhere. Parts of the city were quite seedy. Other parts were very commercial. There were street vendors, kids, parents, shoppers, workers, musicians and energy all over. I was looking to capture that energy.

As I said, I did not have a darkroom. But at night I could develop the film that I shot. For a couple of years, I only knew these photographs from their negatives. I did not print any of them until I moved back to Providence and was able to build a darkroom. Of course, I was on to my next project (High School Portrait Project) and never really had time to go through all of them. Now, I finally have!

I went back in 1987 to visit. I took a trip down to Tijuana while there. I had a new camera, a Makina 67. What I found interesting in doing this project was the differences between the two sets of pictures. I had grown and changed in those intervening years. I took clear and direct portraits in the later photographs. Ones where I interacted with the subjects. Maybe I learned quite a bit from the high school portrait project. My exposures were much better. The negatives are sharper and clearer. Even the street scenes were more energetic. Looking back, I think I could do a better job today. But that Is not on the project list. It is what it was.