Eric in His Room

I got into photography when I dropped out of school to join the circus... What that means is I went underground in Petaluma, living from house to house, couch to floor, under bridges where orange men crouch in corners and defecate. It was all too much, scabies-ridden babys-diapering moms with lesions, thumbs out trying to get to the big city.

And then there was one day when they just pulled me out. They, David Spindler, the mentor, like a father, but more a brother, now an equal. I had wasted away to about 110 pounds and had broken into my dad's house to get some needed sleep. The ants were starting to crawl everywhere, that's when David turned the mattress over and threw me in a car. David is my step dad and was on a mission to help. He also owned a black and white photo shop, THE FIRST BIG BREAK.