I recently came across some old photos I shot over the last twenty years or so.

Rather than let them sit on a CD for the rest of my life I figured I’d save them to my desktop, dust them off, and share them with you guys one image at a time.

Hope you enjoy them.

"Jamie in the Closet"

Jamie in the Closet

I shot this image of Jamie Coulson, my girlfriend at the time, standing in a large empty closet at a bed and breakfast we were staying at somewhere in the Amish country of northeastern Ohio. It was taken sometime in the fall of 2000.

Jamie and I started dating in 1996. When this shot was taken, our relationship was on the rocks, so Jamie planned a weekend-long retreat for us to reconnect. The weekend was a nice escape from Columbus and the bed and breakfast we stayed in was fantastic. I seriously had the best scrambled eggs there I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. Unfortunately, it did little to save our relationship. We broke up a couple months after this image was shot.

Before I continue you should know that it was for the best. Not only did Jamie end up finding the love of her life in a great and wonderful man named Dave (she is now Jamie Bowers), but once the usual end-of-relationship dust settled we were able to remain great friends. Jamie and Dave even came to our wedding in 2011.

Jamie as Lady Gaga and me as a... husband.

I shot a few rolls of 120 color film with my Mamiya RB67 that weekend, and took a few frames of Jamie standing in our bedroom closet because it was such a bizarre space. In addition to it being enormous, it had no doors, hooks, or rods. Essentially, it was just a little room off the bedroom that went nowhere and served no purpose.

There was a lightbulb hanging in the closet just above Jamie’s head. She’s holding the string in her right hand in the shot.

I feel extremely fortunate that I’ve been able to stay close friends with Jamie, and am grateful that I have old images (and memories) like these to remind me of those great times.

You’ll probably be seeing more of her,

-Shady