Even if you know Mandy, you might not know she’s moving — to the beach! And not just to the beach, but to where her twin sister, Crissy lives. They are so close, and that they’ve lived apart for almost a decade is just unnatural. So this is absolutely a good thing, though of course I’m sad she is leaving.
Our personal history goes back to age 12 and our history with photography goes back to 2001, when Mandy went with me to buy my first Nikon SLR at Wolf Camera in Virginia Highlands. I’d lost my father to cancer that year, and through that loss, my need to document, celebrate and somehow preserve life through photos was born. (And my camera has been in my loved ones’ faces ever since).
Over the years, Mandy and I have had a lot of fun with photography, and I wish I could find all of the pics we worked on together to post here. Whenever we had an idea, we would jump on it, add to it and in this way I got to enjoy just another side of our friendship, that of creative partner. She (and her mom) had encouraged me to pursue photography professionally, and Mandy’s early involvement in the business as assistant/stylist was probably largely for me, I realize in hindsight. She was awesome at it, but the scheduling was so hard with kids and her other jobs, so I quickly learned to hold sessions solo, though I will always love her input and company when she can join them.
I’m sure there are more photos in our future (and definitely lots more fun memories!).
Thank you with all my heart, good luck and love you, Mandy!
