Throwback Thursday - Amanda and Photodex

If you never met Amanda, that's her - second from the right.

by Skip Cohen

​Now and then, one of the national magazines runs a story about a Hollywood celebrity from years back with the headline of "Where are they now?" Well, this isn't about Hollywood, but it is about a photo-industry "celebrity" and a manager, so many of us loved working with for a whole lot of years.

Turn the clock back to Photodex days and WPPI in the early 2000s. One of the most consistent exhibitors was Photodex. They were the leader in slide show software and incredible supporters of artist's copyright, especially when it came to licensing music. Just to put it in perspective, they set the standard for so many of the techniques you use today when putting together slide shows.

The marketing manager responsible for so much of their presence was Amanda Sahliyeh, today Amanda Eddy. If you were at any of the Skip's Summer School programs, Amanda was always there. She's continually been a great supporter of the industry and especially education.

So, where's Amanda now? I could be off a year or so, but she left Photodex a couple of years before they closed their doors. However, she stayed focused on her passion as an artist and opened a jewelry store in Austin, TX.

Click to visit Amanda Deer Jewelry

​In August, on Facebook, she posted:

Big news I can hardly believe! We just won Coolest Small Jewelry Store in America by INSTORE magazine. Thankful and so humbled by this honor! Just click on her storefront above to link to the article.

Second only to being in the store itslef, she's got a lot of fun jewelry on her website. Her niche is great-looking everyday jewelry, and with the holiday season approaching, wander over and check it out. I just bought Sheila a couple of pairs, and she loves them. So, from every day to fine jewelry, have some fun, and check out what Amanda's been up to with a click on her logo to the right.

Oh, and the "Thank You" note from Amanda above was almost as much fun as ordering Sheila the earrings. Amanda saw the order come through and put in her hand-written note. As I've written so many times, the best thing about our industry has NOTHING to do with photography, but the friendships that come out of everyone's love for the craft!

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