Photography, Film and Advertising - Throwbacks to the 90s

© Reddogs

by Skip Cohen

I apologize for the quality of the images below, but NOT for the memories, they bring back. We've set the Way-Back Machine for the 90s, and it's thanks to Terry Deglau and Bill Burbank. Here's the backstory:

Last weekend I flew to Latrobe, PA, for Terry Deglau's memorial service. I wrote about my good buddy in a previous post, but the fun of the trip was all in the memories it would bring back. Sitting next to Bill Burbank, we started sharing Terry-stories. Out of that conversation came Bill showing me photographs of the two ads above. Bill and Terry were both with Kodak back then - Bill on the creative team and Terry as the marketing manager and industry liaison for the portrait/social side of professional photography.

Jerry Constanzo, Bill Burbank, Skip Cohen, David Ziser and Terry Deglau in the middle

The two ads above featured two of the industry's most favorite and respected photographers, Ken Whitmire on the left and Al Gilbert on the right. They were featured in full-page ads in Kodak's Fantasy-Reality series featuring VPH and VPS films.

It was a fantastic time in the industry. Film was in its glory; Kodak was a powerhouse, and Terry led the charge. Supported by some of the finest photographers in the world, this ad campaign was just one of the memorable ingredients.

Four years ago, St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, did an evening event featuring Terry's work. Several of us reconnected for the first time in many years, and that's what I love most about this industry, the history. We all share the same love for imaging and as sappy as it sounds, Terry.

The fun of Throwback Thursday is always in the memories old photographs bring back. In terms of imaging, the longer you've been in the industry, the more changes you've seen, especially during the transition of film to digital. New photographers don't realize how small this industry really is - we've all been to the same rubber-chicken dinners together, watched each other's backs, and often worked for the same companies and on various projects. 

In terms of my buddy Terry, it's like the Kevin Bacon degrees of separation game, only Terry's at the hub. I couldn't be more proud to have been a part of his life and him a piece of mine.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote in Ulysses, "I am a part of all that I have met." Well, Terry is a part of so many of us, and as the reverend said in Terry's eulogy, talking about how warm and friendly he was, "Terry never met a stranger!"

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