unsolicited suprise phone call from subject of a 2007 photo

Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels

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A few hours ago I received a phone call from Omar Gordon who I photographed on stage at the Ground Zero Blues Club in 2007. We had never spoken before although I had followed up about him from some of his fellow musicians. This photo has been in several exhibits as well as on my website including his name. Somehow he tracked down my phone number in Florida just to tell me that he was turning his life around, was clean of drugs, and working again as a musician. I was pleased with his update because this photo will be included in my exhibits in Cuba in a few months and I can give an update of his present status.

Last years photo caption was:
[FONT=&quot]15 year old Omar Gordon at the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale Mississippi. He is versatile and normally plays guitar. This photo was made 8 years ago shortly before he dropped out of school in the 10th grade and entered a dark period. His life has been up and down from playing with B.B. King to incarceration. He is turning things around in 2015.

I have always photographed with the moral guideline of never showing a photo or saying anything that I would feel uncomfortable in a face to face discussion with the subject.

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Ground-Zero-Clarksdale.jpg
 
Bob, that is really awesome news. I would like to meet Omar one day as news like this really revives my faith in humanity much in the same way as so many good people here on RFF the last eight years and at Emory University the last three years.

As we discussed yesterday, keep doing what you are doing. You are an inspiration for me, and others no doubt....:cool:
 
A win-win

A win-win

Dear Bob,

Good for you and good for the kid as well.

Sometimes things actually do work out for the best and I'm hoping this is one of those times.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
It is good to start Easter Sunday with a positive story and a nice photo.
Thank you for posting
 
That's awesome! I sometimes wonder if some of my random subjects in my photography practice will ever see themselves in my pictures and try to get in contact with me about them (for something good, I hope). Congrats!
 
Wonderful that he took the time to find you and tell you about his new life. It's a testament to your respect of the subjects of your photographs.
 
That's good to hear... and I'm glad that he was mature enough to not be too sensitive of your original caption.
 
Nice!

Each time (jazz) musicians call me it's because they feel they are entitled to money after I made a picture of them. I have stopped making pictures of musicians altogether because too many musicians threatened me with a lawsuit.
 
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