Fireworks

It all started when…

12am. January 1, 2008. Downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The very first photograph Ryan and I ever took together.

It was our second date, and there were definitely fireworks. Don’t worry, I will spare you all of those details.

The old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, or is it “ten thousand words”? Regardless, that old proverb holds true for this photograph.

Sitting close together, on a cold curb, in Court Square, for Downtown Harrisonburg First Night New Year fireworks, I pulled out my circa 2006, 1.3 megapixel camera, on my Blackberry 8100, and snapped this photo.

I’m sure that the Daily News Record, published a high-quality photograph of this fireworks show, but this image is the one that I love.

It was the only photograph I took that night.

There are no photographs of the traditional, southern “good luck”, New Year’s Day dinner, that Ryan and I cooked together that afternoon; but those memories are captured here in this photograph.

We prepped, and ate, those greens and black eyed peas, while talking incessantly. We filled each other in on the first 20-something years of our lives, while silently committing to moving forward together for the rest of them.

While sharing photographs, and the stories that went with them, we learned that we both had an absolute love for photography, of stories, and living a life worth documenting.

The dream of Swartz Company, was born that day.