Right?! Couldn't have just been a normal rain. It had to be...

WAIT FOR ITTT...

...

A T-STORM!!

I was half laughing/half crying riding to the shop when the sky opened up. I screamed out loud in the most loving way possible "YOU MOTHERFUCKERRRR!!!!" 'cause it felt like a hilarious joke.

Charlie's and my ol' roomie from college, Antonio, gave me this piece of solace:

The people in our lives are always at some distance. We have to make plans and call and visit and travel to bring our love and connection closer. It requires logistics and effort to be with others. But when they die, they’re instantly with us—in our hearts and memories—closer than ever and for the rest of our lives.

Which is so true. My therapist also told me that grief is a reflection of how much you loved that person. It's essentially the yin to that yang. That it wouldn't hurt the way it hurts without an equal amount of love for them in the opposite direction. Both of these sentiments have been helpful for me... so I hope they'll be helpful for y'all too.

andysapp wrote: ↑Wed Aug 16, 2023 2:10 pm Charlie's and my ol' roomie from college, Antonio, gave me this piece of solace:

The people in our lives are always at some distance. We have to make plans and call and visit and travel to bring our love and connection closer. It requires logistics and effort to be with others. But when they die, they’re instantly with us—in our hearts and memories—closer than ever and for the rest of our lives.

Which is so true. My therapist also told me that grief is a reflection of how much you loved that person. It's essentially the yin to that yang. That it wouldn't hurt the way it hurts without an equal amount of love for them in the opposite direction. Both of these sentiments have been helpful for me... so I hope they'll be helpful for y'all too.

Antonio Alvendia? I know you guys are great friends but didn't know he was your roommate. If different Antonio then disregard it. LOL


Also, solid advice from the therapist. Noted.

Different Antonio! Antonio Alvendia did reach out to me about Tyler, which was awfully sweet of him.

andysapp wrote: ↑Wed Aug 16, 2023 2:10 pm
Charlie's and my ol' roomie from college, Antonio, gave me this piece of solace:

The people in our lives are always at some distance. We have to make plans and call and visit and travel to bring our love and connection closer. It requires logistics and effort to be with others. But when they die, they’re instantly with us—in our hearts and memories—closer than ever and for the rest of our lives.

Which is so true. My therapist also told me that grief is a reflection of how much you loved that person. It's essentially the yin to that yang. That it wouldn't hurt the way it hurts without an equal amount of love for them in the opposite direction. Both of these sentiments have been helpful for me... so I hope they'll be helpful for y'all too.

Thank you for sharing this Andy

I needed that today.

You are most welcome, my friend.

A few 35mm snaps I pulled from my archive.

These are the oldest I have of Tyler. This was 1998 when we were aspiring graffiti writers in art school. This was at the Civic Yard... which is long gone by now... but was one of the few legal places to paint back in the day.



Snaps of his wrecked EG6. This was the car he had when I met him. It was a 5-speed... and he loved this car!! I can't remember exactly what year this was... I'm thinking maybe '99. I do remember these photos were taken at the A-Tow downtown.



This is the only photo I have with Antonio (pictured right). The FOERST frame out of that Leica is always burnt like that from loading the film... and has always felt extra special to me. This one is no exception.


These are from that same trip to Chicago.





Various hunting trips in Columbus. It's intense how special these trips feel to me now.

These two. I told the story at the service... but I was sitting next to Tyler in class when Lauren walked through the door. I kid you not... time stood still. I feel like I saw every single spark fly... and e'en though they were both seeing someone at the time... I felt it in my soul that they would eventually get married. Looking back now it feels like it was all just meant to be.

Misc Rowdy hangs.

This was either the night he got the Silvia... or right when he FOERST got it. I can't remember exactly. He told me he was going to keep this car stock... and I actuallllllyyyyyyy believed him!!! It feels full-circle that this was the car parked outside the church for his service... and BOY WAS IT NOT STOCK.





I had just got my Sportster... so we were both swooning o'er our new loves.

Shop hangs.

This is one my favorite photos I've ever taken... from my FOERST roll of CineStill 800T. There was something about those FOERST few rolls of that stuff that I put through the Leica that I have NEVER been able to replicate. Some legit lightning in a bottle film magic. I remember naming this photo "Lightsaber Ceiling" back when I was still naming them for Flickr.






Will Roegge snapped this'n on my Contax.

These are from a random night that I came o'er to rip around in the Hako.
It is wild to me how all of these moments feel so significant now.
SO special.




I love this photo so much that it brings tears to my eyes.

Another garage hang shortly after he got his FOERST Skyline.

From the dM private day at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I told the story at his service that I was fortunate enough to accompany him to his FOERST Nopi Nationals Motorsports Super Show at AMS back in 1999. It is WILD to think that all these years later we would be renting the damn place out to drift together.

On the last production of Gymkhana... I wanted to do something special and revisit an old technique that I was at one time obsessed with... which were blind double-exposures. It had been several years since I had done any... and forgot exactly what settings worked the best. I didn't want to take a gamble on-set... so I asked Tyler if he would be my guinea pig before-hand and he graciously agreed. So I went o'er to Koru one afternoon and we burnt through a few rolls of film together. The photos that resulted with Travis would not exist without Tyler.

These photos are an all-in gamble. I fire through the roll once, rewind, reload and fire through it again. Because of that... I have no concept or idea of what images will overlap or how they will interact together. As far as photography goes... when these hit they are the highest of highs.

I had no idea at the time what these would wind up meaning. They are SO infinitely special to me... especially this FOERST one.

Those are all incredible! I love those double exposure and cinestill shots so much .