Throwback Thursday in Photography - 1997

​I shared the image above at least five years ago, but there's a new chapter as my career as "Embroidery Boy" comes to a close. Here's the backstory and only because it's Throwback Thursday.

My apologies for the fold in the image, but it's a scan out of the 1997 Lands End Corporate Sales Catalog. Left to right, Chuck Gutierrez, Jim Morton, Bob Nunn, Bob Thompson**, Skip Cohen, Peter Power, Mark Mather, and Tony Corbell. 

Hasselblad's ad agency at the time created a campaign with the tagline, "Hot Stuff." We loved the campaign which featured double page spreads with images by some of the greatest artists in professional photography. Chris Rainier, Barbara Bordnick, Michael Grecco, Howard Schatz, Phil Borges, Jonathan Exley, Bambi Cantrell, Jill Enfield, and Lisa Murphey were all part of the series. Plus, the logo design was contemporary, and I had a growing reputation as "Embroidery Boy," putting Hasselblad's logo on just about anything I could find. 

Photo East, now PPE, was coming up, and I wanted to get all of us in logo shirts. Remember, this was twenty-two years ago, and most of us were still working trade shows in suits or sport-jackets. So, I wandered through the Lands End catalog and found polo shirts for all of us.

We sent the artwork to Lands End on a Monday, had the stitched proof by Wednesday morning, approved the order by the end of the day and had our shirts ahead of schedule, in time for the show. The service was incredible, and I sent a letter thanking their president. 

Lands End loved our story so much that a week later, they had a photographer contact us to schedule a shoot at the next convention. We had no idea what they were going to do or how they would feature us, but the exposure was remarkable. Not only was Hasselblad in a few million catalogs, but they tied in the logo on a picture of the shirt in a black and white newspaper campaign that ran nationally. They even tied us into the copy with the ad. 

Well, last week, my favorite Hasselblad shirt was laid to rest and formally condemned by Sheila. Over the years, it became my BBQ shirt, hanging-around-the-house shirt, and my most favorite to simply slip on to relax. Like an old pair of your favorite shoes - it finally died.

It came out of the dryer, and if you've met my wife, then you know there's no shortage of humor. She printed out a shot of a tombstone with the word "Beloved" and added, "Rest in Peace." I get that it's dead and looks like something worn out of a zombie apocalypse movie, but I still haven't thrown it in the trash! LOL

And here's the fun of Throwback Thursday - the image of all of us in the booth that morning for the photograph brings back so many memories. With each memory comes another story. With each story come smiles and even a tear now and then. While we can never go back, the photographs in our lives create a treasure chest of cherished relationships. They're never-ending reminders of the best part of the journey - the friendships made along the way.

​Happy Throwback Thursday!

**And Bob Thompson, next to me in the photograph, is due here tomorrow for a couple of days. You can count on the stories and laughs kicking off the minute he walks in the door!

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