The Skunk River Review - DMACC

everywhere.” He catches himself admitting, “But not Australia. I never went to Australia. I don’t
know why.” His eyes transfix on something across the hallway, as he laments, “I never went there.”
Curt’s father died very young, and Curt would often call home to check in with his mom.
While his mother knew his focus was photography, she really did not know ‘what’ he was doing or
‘where’ he was. Curt remembers one time in particular when he called home to check in with his
mother. “I was in Bogotá, Columbia, in the middle of a minor revolution down there, a civil war. I
was talking to my mother on the phone ⎯ lucky I could find a phone. She asked, ‘What was that
noise in the background?’ I said, ‘machine guns.’ I was in my mid-30’s and she said, ‘I want you to
call me every week and check in, but don’t you ever tell me where you are again.” Curt laughs
and says, “So, that’s how it is.”
A true flavor of Curt’s adventures and their impact on his students is given by Gloria
Ekins, a fifty-six year old widow and mother of two grown daughters. “Curt told us we'd have a
pizza party on the night of our final exam, and that he had a slide show we could see. We didn't
know until that night that they were slides of prints he'd taken in Vietnam during the war in the
mid 1960's. He told us he was one of few, if any as I remember, that had the opportunity to do four
tours of Vietnam before there was such a thing as ‘embedded journalists.’ He was exposed to
danger as the soldiers were. Following close, keeping his camera clicking while on foot or in
helicopters, as things changed so quickly. They might meet a small group of villagers, including
children on bikes or walking, spend a few seemingly innocent minutes talking with them, only to
learn that as soon as they left, they had killed some of the US soldiers.
Everyone had to be considered dangerous, even women and children. He had pictures of
the children, some with pets. One shot was of a soldier sitting next to him in full gear, with
parachute ready to jump out the open side door of the helicopter. The next slide showed what was
left of the man moments after a grenade or shot was a direct hit. Curt said it was before digital
cameras and all shots were on film, which needed to be developed. With limited resources on the
battlefield, he'd process the film using diluted coffee, which gave the prints a sepia tone. The US
newspapers were anxious to receive any live photos from the field & his shots were well-received
and publicized.”
Gloria remembers well the lasting impact that Curt had on her and her classmates as their
class came to an end. “Our last evening, Curt gave us each a pocket size black and white photo
mounted on pebble board of a statue unearthed in China a few years ago. Curt was one of only
four photographers worldwide that was allowed to come and photograph the statues. The statues
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