Turning Back the Clock to the 80s

​by Skip Cohen

It's a perfect post for Throwback Thursday, even though I first shared the image above many years ago in a post about people who think procrastination is an art form!

Having spent my entire adult life in the photographic industry, I always try to be sensitive to copyright issues. I first saw the photo above on the Internet at least twenty-five years ago. A few years back, I wanted to share it in a post and decided to research who owned it.

Google makes it impossible for anything or anyone to hide for very long. Searching for the copyright, Davidson & Company, out of Atlanta, came up as owning the image. It took a little time to explain to one of their staff, who had no idea what I was talking about. Think about how it sounded answering the phone and hearing, "I'm trying to track down the company that owns the right to the shot of a guy with his head up his butt. Are you the Davidson & Company who owns it?"

A few minutes later, I was on the phone with Ken Davidson, and not only did he give me the okay to use it, but he also shared a little of the backstory. The story adds to my appreciation for the journey so many of us have been on in this industry. The image was shot on film and manipulated with conventional retouching. It was created for a commercial client in the late 1980s!

Click the banner below to check out more of Davidson & Company's work. You'll see some stunning images. On their About page, you'll see a number of testimonial quotes, all with a few common denominators of "extraordinary service, trust, Customer Service, quality, consistency," and the list goes on and on. They're a company that's stayed on course with their original goal—establish a reputation for being one of the very best!

A BIG thanks to Ken for allowing me to use the image, which he described as one of the most ripped-off shots in photography!

PS These people are professionals—do not try this at home. Any similarities to today's political personalities are purely coincidental!