There's a time in every kid's childhood when he or she meets a Larger-Than-Life character and is in total awe.
Maybe it's a shopping mall Santa, an amusement park mascot or the magician who comes to perform at the local library. Or for boys and girls raised to be sports fans, it's the thrill of first seeing your favorite ballplayers up close and personal!
FANTOGRAPHY is a new book project by former San Diego Padres executive Andy Strasberg, who's been taking fan photos of his favorite players since he was a kid.
That's him at Yankee Stadium with home run champ Roger Maris above.
He's now on a quest to connect with like-minded fans to share similar baseball memories and has some intriguing observations about how the digital age has changed the way we treat the photographic record of our lives:
"Every day hundreds of baseball 'snapshots' taken before the digital age are lost as the original owners pass away and their belongings become trash. Ironically, for different reasons, the same fate is happening to today's digital baseball pictures. Once a snapshot is taken by a baseball fan with a digital camera/phone they are downloaded to a computer, never printed, and almost always forgotten."
You can submit your favorite fan photo at Fantography here.
Strasberg is specifically seeking contributions from non-professional photographers of players when they are NOT playing the game -- or other classic ballpark scenes from the majors or minors that capture "a poignant personal moment."
He's looking for "a long forgotten player emerging from the team hotel to board the bus to the game. Or a picture of a player in his baggy flannel uniform pausing near the stands for a quick portrait, with a sign advertising the local beer sponsor behind him. Maybe a cell phone snapshot of a rookie having a late night snack after a victory."
At Reel Profiles, we share Strasberg's philosophy about focusing on some of life's little moments that certainly don't qualify as typical milestones. Sometimes, interviewing your grandfather about a favorite childhood amusement park or his favorite place to sit at the baseball game might generate more engaging memories than a major historical event.
Let's face it, there are plenty of places you can see the footage of the Moon Landing, but where can you hear your grandparents or parents share their amazement on that day-- taking you back to the moment through their eyes?
All too often in personal documentaries, tribute videos and family history projects, the focus is on births, graduations, career achievements, weddings and deaths. Sometimes the best biographical stories surprisingly come from the "trivial" moments in between!
Sometimes we don't notice things are missing until they are gone.
That's not a feeble attempt to sound like Yogi Berra. But who knew that New York's iconic Greek-themed paper coffee cups were an endangered species and that so many people cared?
According to the New York Times, these cups define Manhattan as much as the Statue of Liberty and are coveted as film and TV props by directors who want their New York scenes to look as authentic as possible.
Cardboard cup salesman Leslie Buck, who is credited with redefining the city's coffee shop landscape, died last week at age 87. It's wonderful that he got artistic credit for creating the beloved cup, which features the simple customer service slogan "We Are Happy To Serve You."
The Sherri Cup Company in Kensington, Conn., estimated that it sold more than 500 million cups with the design from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Buck, who had no background in graphic design, used the Greek national colors, Greek fonts and iconography to appeal to the numerous diners operated by Greek immigrants.
Although he overcame unspeakable tragedies in his life -- surviving two Nazi concentration camps --he'll be remembered for a fun-spirited paper cup, which he called the "Anthora."
"On the street, it warms the harried hands of pedestrians," his Times obituary notes. "Without the Anthora, “Law & Order” could scarcely exist."
"...It is safe to assume that the Anthora and its heirs will endure, at least for a while, in the city’s steadfast precincts. For some time to come, on any given day, somewhere a New Yorker will be cradling the cup, with its crisp design and snug white lid, the stuff of life inside."
There are countless untold stories like Leslie Buck's out there, and our Reel Profiles documentary crews are devoted to capturing them.
What family or community stories would you like to preserve forever? Drop us a line and let's brainstorm about how best to honor and celebrate your unsung heroes!
What will be your business or career legacy? Do you admire any small business owners for how they treat their employees or customers?
ABC News just reported on the amazing story of Bob Moore and his decision to grant ownership of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods to his 209 employees.
Moore quotes the Bible's warnings against greed and notes some of the Wall Street scandals as the reason why he wants to share his wealth with the people who helped him earn it in the first place. He says he vividly recalls a time in his life when he worried about how he was going to pay his bills.
And the gift to his employees came as a celebration of his 81st birthday!
Do you know any men or women like Bob Moore? Consider capturing their stories in a Reel Profiles documentary or tribute video celebrating the role of small business in America.
Former presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted to the rumor that dogged him all during the 2008 campaign. Yes, indeed, he is the father of his mistress's baby girl.
Edwards just keeps on smacking it to his traumatized wife Elizabeth, who is still battling cancer. According to press reports, the child was conceived in the middle of 2007, right around the same time that John and Elizabeth renewed their wedding vows for their 30th anniversary.
We're not here to preach against the pitfalls of infidelity -- although we are on the record that we are wholeheartedly against it.
The Edwards case begs the question of family legacy. How will his other kids see their new 2-year-old sister? How will this wind up on the Edwards Family Tree?
Essentially, when you make a personal documentary about your family, you are faced with two choices. Do you want to be a journalist/biographer telling the story from a detached, objective perspective -- or do you want to preserve family stories and memories for future generations?
There is no right or wrong answer here. Some people embrace the warts of their ancestors, even wear it as a badge of pride (like finding out an ancestor was imprisoned at Alcatraz or was a prominent mafia hitman). Others find it shameful.
When you put together a family documentary, it is up to you about whether to enact your power of selective omission.
Unfortunately for Edwards, his dirty laundry cannot be shoved back in the hamper.
So how about you? If you are the family historian or family filmmaker, do you see yourself more as a journalist or more as a memory keeper?