Mike Shell

Gay Quaker librarian and writer, happy with my helpmate Jim.

Though my images are mostly Southern (so far), I’m a long-ago transplanted Yankee: Florida (2000), by way of South Carolina (1965), by way of Boston (1960), by way of Ohio (1950).

Came out in 1973. Jim and I met in high school eight years earlier, when we were both still in the closet (not the same one, unfortunately, or we’d have saved a lot of time).

Jim

We became a couple in 1985, were married under the care of our Quaker Meeting in 1994, and got legal in Massachusetts on July 19, 2011.

Self-portrait

I’ve only had a camera during brief periods until now. However, I’ve been taking pictures in my head for 40-50 years. I finally decided I should try showing someone else what I see.

Currently I use a Canon PowerShot SX120 IS. Surprisingly powerful for a point-and-shoot…though the auto-focus insists on focusing on the grass behind the blossom, rather than the blossom itself.

I hope eventually to graduate to something without “training wheels.” :-D

Blessèd be,
Michael

Check out my blogs:

Walhydra’s Porch
The Surly Librarian
The Empty Path