I got an email the other week from a media company in Ann Arbor. It was a request for environmental portrait photography for a client of theirs – a Metro Detroit shipping/trucking company. The dates lined up, details worked out fine, and I was on board with the project.
Who’s the client? Con-way Inc. Oh – cool.
So the project brief and shot list came… Hang on a second. Something’s not right. This isn’t Con-way’s address. This is the address for Menlo Intl. I know that because my father has worked there for years.
Phone call 1: to media company
Jon – “Hey, so just curious, how did you guys hear about me?”
Media – “Actually, by pure happenstance. We were Googling Detroit photographers and found you. I think it was through ASMP’s Find-A-Photographer search. Why? Just curious?
Jon – “Wellllll, as it so happens…”
Explanations of the coincidence and some minutes of back and forth ensue.
Phone call 2: to Dad
Jon – “So you don’t happen to know a Jane Doe, do you?”
Dad – “… …Why?”
Jon – “Professional curiosity.”
Dad – “Yeah. She works here. I’m in her office talking with her. What’s going on?”
Jon – “Welllllll, as it so happens…”
More explanations, back and forth, and discussions of serendipity ensued.
It really seems any more that my entire life is a bizarre series of linked coincidences.
Anywho, the shoot went swimmingly, my model was quite hilarious and easy to work with, and I got to indulge in my favorite aspect of photography – lighting environmental portraiture.
The odd part was meeting person after person who already knew me. Do you have any idea how weird it is when your model (a person you had never met before) has embarrassing stories about you as a child? Peculiar to say the least.
Check some of the shots!
– Jon
JonKPhoto 