Throwback Thursday with David Anthony Williams

David sent me this collage along with a few more great shots.

"This is what I like about photographs.
They're proof that once, even if just for a heartbeat, everything was perfect."
Jodi Picoult*
​

by Skip Cohen

David Anthony Williams and I have been friends for a long time, going back to both Hasselblad days and then mostly through my days working at Rangefinder Magazine and WPPI. In 2004, he received WPPI's Lifetime Achievement Award. Besides being a WPPI icon for so many years, nobody's more genuine than David. He was caught completely off guard, and the emotions just flowed.

But this fun little tribute this morning isn't just about David, but the thousands of grab-shots we all have in prints, negatives, files on our computers, and especially our phones.

​A few weeks ago, I shared a large group of headshots of industry members from when they were seniors. For a second round in a few weeks, I put out a request for more artists to share their senior shots, and David had some fun with it. He shared a shot of himself as a teenager, then included a series of images from his growing up.

I'm saving his teenager shot for the next post of industry artists in their high school days, but the collection David sent over is too much fun not to share. It doesn't matter whether you know David or not; my point is the power of the grab-shots in our lives that tell our story.

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Just to keep David company, I grabbed a few of my own favorites. You'll notice mine are all black and white - that's because I'm older than David! Or as good buddy Scott Bourne likes to remind me - Matthew Brady captured most of the photographs of me back then!

Think about all the images you have from when you were a kid...pull a couple at random and then take a walk down Memory Lane and think about the stories they bring back. We're an industry that helps people capture memories. Over and over again, old photographs take us back to good times and yes, even bad times, but they prove the point that a picture really is worth a thousand words.

I've got a big request: how about some of you sending me 2-3 shots that tell a little of your story when you were a kid? No matter how old you are today, life was so much simpler back then, but no less relevant or contributing to who you are today. Send them as a DM on Facebook or email me.

Thanks, David! I miss ya buddy - we share so many great friends and memories!

Happy Throwback Thursday!

* I know I've shared this quote dozens of times, but I have yet to read one better that talks about the value of photographs!