Today is a sad day in our neighborhood at the studio. My former neighbor Michelle contacted me last evening asking if I had a photograph from a shoot I did some 17 years earlier with her sister Lori who had just passed away. This almost knocked me over in shock because Lori was not of the age one would consider near the end of life at only 47.
I had known Lori and her sister from our South Scranton neighborhood since the late 80’s as a very vibrant happy-go-lucky person. They worked at Maseychik Insurance where I had my policies and were good customers of mine as well. Her obituary link is shown below at the end of this blog.
Part of the reason I wanted to publish this story, besides the fact we all will miss her terribly is that she was not only a warm, beautiful woman but she represented a time in my career when I was intensely focused on the art of producing the perfect studio image. Her portrait is shown here..
As you can see from this beautiful image Lori was a beautiful subject. We shot this for City Hair Designs as wall decor and promotional work but Lori’s family cherished the shot as well. Though captivating, it seems to reveal a melancholy that she was experiencing inside. Possibly, she knew subconsciously of her ultimate life path which was not apparent to the rest of us who saw her on the outside.
Everyone has a bit of that feeling inside. That nagging little whisp of a subconscious feeling somewhere that this existence could end in an instant. This is why I feel closer to God as I mature and start to think about the fragility of life I know there is a better life awaiting. Lori loved to dance. I am sure she is dancing in heaven right now.
I am so glad now I took this image. This is why we photographers do what we do. To have something left on this earth when it’s over that reflects our joy with the beauty around us and brings that joy back to loved ones left behind. Not a Snapchat memory but an epic memory! Especially that of our fellow human beings! Godspeed, Lori.
Obituary link: Times Obituary
