Throwbacks in Photography: "Travels with Tony" - 1995

Seeing old photographs, we get enamored by the memories we made
which will keep tugging at our heart-strings forever and ever...
Awijeet Das

by Skip Cohen
 
The other day my good buddy Glen Clark posted this picture of Tony Corbell from the IUSA convention and me. We were in the Platypod booth, and I was showing him the Platyball, the revolutionary ball head recently launched on Kickstarter.

Well, this image sent me straight to my stash of old photographs looking for something that had Tony in it. As I wandered through both prints and digital files, I realized I could do a book loaded with stories of the adventures we've shared during a 30+ year friendship.
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I have yet to figure out where the years have gone, but that old expression of "time flies when you're having a good time" couldn't be more appropriate. Put the two of us together, and within minutes the stories are going to flow, as each of us takes turns trying to top the other on a walk down Memory Lane. But the best thing about our friendship is that we're still having a blast and writing new stories every day!

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​It was hard trying to decide what to share this morning, and I settled on this grab-shot that another good friend, Jim Morton, sent me. The year is 1995, and we were flying someplace on the planet. The woman with the hot dog, Eva, worked for the factory in Sweden. She was in the US on a three-month assignment to better understand the US market and Hasselblad's role.

As you can see, we introduced her to the culinary thrill of an airport hot dog and a coke. But I picked this shot because there were two other things that it brought back.

First, Tony's got a mullet that tops anything Billy Ray Cyrus ever grew! Second is educating somebody from Sweden on the unofficial rules of travel.

Tony had arrived at the airport earlier than any of us and scooped an upgrade to first class. The rest of us were back in coach. As the plane took off, Eva turned to me and said, "Is Tony not an underling?" (Tony and I worked together for many years at Hasselblad. Since I was president, technically, he worked for me.) I answered that he was, but that we worked together. She followed up with, "Then why is he in first class, and we're back here?"

So I explained the rules of the road - whoever gets there first gets the upgrade. But I had to bite my lip and hold back from telling her that there was no "we," she wasn't even in the running for a first-class seat!

And that brings me full circle and back to why I love Throwback Thursdays. I've made it a routine to wander through old photographs once a week. Why? Because they're reminders of the journey, I'm on and looking in the rearview mirror now and then helps me appreciate where I'm headed next. 

Tony and I have shared hundreds of trips, practical jokes, and moments that helped to change both our lives. In fact, the original foundation for classes I teach today on marketing and business all started with help from Tony. And like so many of you, who also consider him a good friend - he's one of the most supportive and giving people in the industry. If he's speaking at any of this year's upcoming conventions, and you're there, run don't walk to grab a seat!

Take the time today and look through some of your old photographs. Those walks down Memory Lane will help you create more in the future!

Happy Throwback Thursday!

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