It's clear to me that my friend Steve has been there for me through an incredible personal and photographic journey, maybe without him even realizing it. This isn't the type of being there for one another where we call each other on the phone or make plans to hang out, no, it's more of one of those coincidences that doesn't hold so much meaning until you look back on it. Sometimes you never know where a journey is going to begin and when it might come to an end, but it's there. Today, Steve will find out the impact on both of us.
It began a few years back, when I met up with Steve and photographed him in the recording studio while he was writing new music. It was a time when I needed to be re-inspired and at the same time, Steve was going through his own journey and expressing it through his music. We are both creatives, we both have ways of telling stories through our own art.
During this time, I had one of the absolute best and worst years of my life. Looking back on a blog post I wrote a little over 2 years ago, I have realized that was where both of our journey's must have begun. If you have a moment, please give this blog post a read, it will really give you a preface of where we were in life at the time.
Much like a television series, there's a season premiere and a season finale. I guess you can say today is a season finale of sorts, and even though the story will go on, it's all about the story of what led us here today. I can't predict the future, but one thing I do know, this connection with Steve has definitely helped me get to where I am today in my own journey.
With not remembering the exact time frame, but shortly after I photographed Steve in the studio, without getting too far into it with much respect of Steve and his family. Steve went into a rough time in his own life, both personally and professionally. In fact, I hadn't seen or spoken to Steve for a while after that. I don't think much of anyone did, as he took much needed time off with his family, his health, and his personal growth.
For as long as I've known Steve he's always done so much for others, but this time, it was for him and his family. I really admire this of Steve as he went completely off the grid and did what was most imporant for him, being there for his family and himself.
At this point, I was extremely fortunate to randomly run into him at a local flea market with his wife, Jesse. It was so great to run into him, and thinking about it, might have been the first time ever I had run into him that wasn't at one of his shows or a music venue. On this day, I had brought my film camera with me and asked if I could take his photo with Jesse. Little did I know what great importance and affect this image would have on both of us.
I took a photo. A single photo. This wasn't digital, there aren't a hundred of photos to go through and pick out the best. All it took was one photo to capture the moment that holds so many stories to Steve and Jesse. According to Steve, it was a time of transistion with so much love and joy for him and his family. It captured all of it. Where he was, and where he is today, it was the beginning of something beautiful.
For years, I had been trying to search for the moments to capture, but in fact, the moments are the stories within the photographs. This was what I was looking for in my photographic journey. What began over two years ago, working on storytelling through my photographs, Steve was talking about what it meant to him, and with that, meant everything to me.
After that day running into him, I wanted to catch up with him more. I knew he had a great hobby with train sets and sculpting his own world his trains would ride through, so we made a plan to have me come over, chat, and take some photos. The idea was to share the photos and tell a different story, but honestly, the world works in myterious ways and I believe it was really a lead up to today.
I am truly honored to have been able to spend this time with him and take a few photographs. 
Today, Steve will take the stage for the first time in quite a while with new music and old friends. The past two years have been an incredible journey for us both, and it all began that day in the studio. I am so very proud of my friend, it's been quite the story to watch unfold.
I have the extreme honor of meeting up with Steve hours before the show to document the day and tell his story through the photographs. This is where my journey has led me and what I want to do more of, photograph and tell real stories. Steve has been a great inspiration, and like a puzzle, even though it comes in bits and pieces here and there, it all gets put together for a purpose.
I absolutely love to tell these stories through photographs and I'm so happy I get to close out this chapter with him, and even though we don't know what tomorrow will bring, it's been awesome taking this time to grow as people and artists, and I know we both look forward to everything that has yet to come.
After relaunching my blog yesterday, these are exactly the type of stories I need to tell. There's always hope, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, and although It may not happen right away, life is a process, and as long as you keep going, you can do this!
Today is for you, my friend, Steve.
