Spike Kilmer

I’m Spike Kilmer and I’ve been a photographer for over 40 years. I started out in high school at 15 with a Pentax K-1000 and a darkroom my brother bought me. While in high school I managed to capture an image of a fugitive getting arrested by the police and I submitted it to the local newspaper. It made the front page. and I was hooked. After high school I started photographing local bands and people and cars. I wanted to be a hot rod photographer. I would get my wish years later when I began submitting images to a magazine called Hot Rod Deluxe. That magazine turned into Car Kulture Deluxe and the Traditional Rod and Kulture Illustrated, where I became an editor. All the while I was still shooting film for myself. Digital makes you money and film spends it. Ive been lucky to be published around the world, do gallery shows, and photograph beautiful models. But black and white street photography is what I love to do. I collect and use vintage cameras, with my favorite being a Nikon N90s. I have 15 of them to date. I shoot 4×5 and medium format often as well.